The School of Sustainability will initiate and support the development of new environmental programs and innovative teaching methods, encourage interaction between students and faculty, and will promote interdisciplinary environmental research based on the existing research infrastructure at Bar-Ilan University.

Israel’s rapidly growing economy poses significant threats to its natural resources. Israel must invest more in developing advanced, multidisciplinary research on environmental and sustainability issues and train personnel who can cope with such risks. The environmental problems facing Israel – and the entire world – are many and varied: industrial pollution, urbanization and 2 overcrowding, the energy crisis, water shortages, the problem of waste and plastic, protection of biological wealth and natural resources, and more. Coping with these challenges requires multidisciplinary expertise ranging from geography to chemistry, biology, law, philosophy ,medicine and education. The school will offer several unique teaching programs, including programs in the Department of Geography and Environment, Law, Life Sciences, Medicine, Humanities, and more. The synergy that exists between the university researchers and the way in which they can lead interdisciplinary research are what will give the school its uniqueness in a way that does not exist in most universities in Israel.

Over the past decade, there has been a steady increase in public awareness of environmental challenges in Israel and in the commitment to environmental action, which is also reflected in the career and education choices of young people in Israel. The demand among young people for environmental studies is expected to continue to increase in view of the significant growth in employment opportunities in the green sectors, resulting from the adoption of environmental policy programs in the EU, the UK, the US, and many other countries.