The Forum was established in 2019 by a group of Jerusalem residents whom were taking part in a European Commission programme called ConSensus. ConSensus' goal is to create joint municipal and citizen proposals for policy on the topic of water in the city. The JGF is now spearheading the forum together with the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahum. In the past few months the Forum has solidified goals, initiated a course of action and meets in the municipality regularly.

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The first meeting of the forum convened all municipal representatives dealing with water preservation, Shefa (Public Works Dept), Environment Department Development and Technology Dept, KKL, The Botanical Gardens, SPNI, non-profit organisations in urban gardening, community garden professionals and activists. In a fruitful and productive discussion Jerusalem was touted as an example of a leading city in this field which has convinced Richard Edelman, from ConSensus and Chair of the POWER Project of the EU who was in attendance to “nominate Jerusalem to preside over the first iteration of a forum of 30 European municipalities to address challenges of climate change, migration and gender equality.” 

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Assisting those who seek to make our city a better, cleaner and greener place to live is a top priority for the Municipality and the Jerusalem Water Forum, which today secured commitments from the city to connect all community gardens to the municipal grid, provide the remaining 30% of public gardens and parks with digitized ‘smart’ water irrigation systems and include more water saving techniques and smart gardening education in the municipal curriculum. 

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Naomi Tsur, of the Jerusalem Green Fund said: “The first meeting of the Jerusalem Water Forum, hosted by Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan Nahoum at the municipality, has brought together civil society experts and activists, together with professional and elected officials in City Hall. As head of the Jerusalem Green Fund, which will lead the civil society team in this partnership, I see a real opportunity to impact water policy in Jerusalem, as well as a chance to work with the EU and with other cities in Europe and around the world”.

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"The Jerusalem Water Forum is proof that Jerusalem is the leading city in Israel on smart technologies, the founding of this forum is critical in bringing all the main players in the field of water preservation around the table and multiply our strengths in tackling the challenges.  Most significantly this also puts Jerusalem on the world map as a leading player on water preservation techniques. Sharing our knowledge and experience has always been part of our contribution to the world as light amongst nations"

 

 

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