Bar Ilan, much more than a green campus

ANT KATZ

The campus area has rapidly expanded and today includes 80 buildings and 300 laboratories on its grounds. It has over 33 000 students in all eight faculties, and approximately 1 700 faculty members teaching 8 000 courses in 52 departments. All this makes Bar Ilan Israel’s largest university.

Meticulous attention has been paid to the design, ornamental gardening and artistic landscaping during this enormous growth period and in 2005 BIU won the Council for a Beautiful Israel’s Award for “The Most Beautiful Campus” in the country.

RIGHT: One of the massive BIU
campus’ stunning buildings

During the university’s expansion, different environmental aspects have been taken into consideration and were reflected in the various areas being developed. Even today, alongside its academic activities, BIU is investing great efforts into implementing the principles of sustainability and environmental citizenship, with the aim to trim down its “ecological footprint”.

Thanks to these efforts, this year Bar Ilan’s campus won the official recognition of the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection as a “green campus”.

As with many other academic institutions around the world, BIU is focusing its efforts on improving and promoting environmental care in four major areas, according to its website. These are:

Community and education – BIU encourages students and faculty to initiate and participate in activities that promote environmental protection and preservation of landscape values in the community. These activities are a part of the ongoing actions by the Legal Clinic, Student Association, Faculty of Life Sciences, and in the School of Education at the university.

Operations – The university applies the principles of sustainability on campus by installing advanced technological aids for preserving water and electricity. In addition, it promotes conservation of resources and assimilates among workers and students the principles of recycling paper, cardboards, textiles and reducing waste intended for landfills.

Academic – BIU promotes research in the field of environmental protection and the development of energy-saving measures. Courses are also available on environmental preservation for students from all departments in order to increase environmental awareness among them. This means they have a campus designed to be green from the get-go, by the students and for the students.

Campus gardens – Developing the campus and its gardens, which have always drawn inspiration from Jewish ideals and culture, have resulted in the creation of “Story Gardens”. Strategically located among the university’s buildings, these gardens serve as open museums and points of reflection of the university’s world view, one that combines Jewish tradition with modern technology and research.

• Contact SA Friends of Bar Ilan University on (011) 887-6766 or faye@kaplan.co.za for more information 

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