Thinking Doing – ICL’s Social Flagship Project

ICL is committed to being a catalyst for the promotion of social-environmental processes and community resilience in Israel and in the Negev in particular, by driving profound processes of social empowerment and proactive citizenship. ICL’s primary mission, as a key player in leading change in the quality of life of communities in the Negev, is to motivate collaborative processes by establishing a network of sustainable communities that create and drive regional change through partnerships and by empowering local initiatives. An aspiration to ensure community resilience in the Negev region by strengthening its environment, economy and society resulted in ICL’s “Thinking Doing” program, a project initiated by ICL in collaboration with local and regional councils in the Negev \

Thinking Doing during COVID-19

In March 2020, coronavirus began spreading in Israel, leading to the first lockdown and realization that dealing with the pandemic would necessitate social distancing and lockdowns. Thinking Doing operations adapted to this emergency. ICL responded quickly, seeing that residents needed swift actions in response to community challenges regarding information, welfare and alleviation of solitude. The Company utilized its network of Thinking Doing activists and volunteers, harnessed the program and quickly adapted it, enabling ICL to support, within a short time, a series of projects designed to assist residents of southern Israel in dealing with the unexpected difficulties arising from the pandemic. Among these responses were educational and creative kits prepared for children of the Bedouin diaspora, and videos for the elderly prepared by teenage groups. A special video was also prepared as part of an informational campaign to minimize the adverse financial effects on kitchen ladies in Yeruham.

With ICL’s support, cultural activities occurred via Zoom, and on Independence Day a special trivia quiz about the State of Israel was arranged, with the participation of numerous families from the Central Arava regional council. In the Ramat Negev regional council, book club meetings were held for the elderly, who suffered from the library and bookstores being closed. In Dimona, box games were delivered to the homes of welfare-assisted families. A non-profit organization assisting children on the autistic spectrum and operating a care center, delivered, with ICL’s help, small trampolines to children, who require daily motoric activity at home. In Be’er Sheva, the Neighborly Neighbors project was conceived and realized, initiated by young people in the B quarter, who delivered pamphlets and flowers on Passover and Independence Day. They knocked on every door in the neighborhood, checking on the elderly residents and giving them a small gift.

This is the Company’s social flagship project, which serves as a platform for realizing ICL’s corporate responsibility.

The Thinking Doing Project – Active Communities Lead Quality of Life

The program, an ICL initiative, has been active since 2014 as part of a strategic process to promote partners and partnerships in the Negev. The program supports social and environmental processes, creates social empowerment and strengthens local identity, by creating a regional network of local entrepreneurs, who have both the ability and desire to contribute to the local community, as well as to the entire Negev region.

The program promotes close cooperation with municipal authorities and allows for the pooling of resources to improve the physical and social conditions made available to residents. Thinking Doing enables ICL to be a significant partner in the establishment of the Negev’s environmental, economic and social resilience.

Principles of the Program

The program provides professional and economic support to different initiatives in the Negev region in order to generate long-term change.
The program enables Negev residents to realize their dreams regarding the environment, the economy and society, while supporting initiatives that realize dreams that are relevant to everyday life and are based on the needs of the community.
As part of the program, local residents choose areas in which they wish to take action, such as education and community, improving public spaces and creating community infrastructure, strengthening the local economy, tackling environmental issues, etc. Local entrepreneurs partner with other local residents to implement their initiative in order to make a notable social impact.
During the process, a meaningful community effort takes place, with the cooperation of multiple local organizations.
In addition to professional and economic support, ICL allows its employees to contribute work time to volunteer in these various community projects.

Method of Operation

ICL, as an influential and major factor in Negev communities, acts as a catalyst to drive processes that establish the joint effort of business, environment, and community organizations, to strengthen the Negev’s resilience, and aids in building a social, environmental, and professional network as part of its community activities. Various projects and initiatives are supported within this framework, including long-term projects that promote change by pooling resources for greater empowerment and creativity in the community space.

The Thinking Doing Project enables individuals and the community to use and initiate practical tools to realize local visions related to the environment and society. This allows the formation of community and environmental initiatives in the various Negev communities, with the purpose of building an independent and active community that promotes both environment and society. Throughout the development process of a project within the “Thinking Doing” program, local residents select areas in which they wish to focus their activities, such as education and community, the local economy and environmental resources. A community representative is appointed to lead the project in each initiative or type of activity.

This is a significant community program, initiated and supported by ICL, with the active cooperation of numerous local organizations. ICL contributes both funds and volunteer time of its employees to the various community projects.

The Operational Model

In-depth mapping of the community and the local municipality’s needs ,including a study, and introductory meetings with community opinion makers.
Structuring a process with the municipality, in full coordination with officeholders and civic sector organizations operating in the area.
Establishing or counseling a professional leading team in the community
Formulating and publishing calls for proposals for communities to drive the process
Counseling and leading community initiatives
Supporting the creation of a professional infrastructure of entrepreneurs and officeholders
Promoting new calls for proposals every year; each call for proposals is reconsidered according to the development of ongoing Thinking Doing projects and the community’s needs
Linking ICL volunteers to initiative operations on the ground
Concentrating proposals on anchor institutions and community-building processes in the communities
Convening Thinking Doing leader forums for peer learning, familiarization with ICL’s objectives and creation of regional collaboration
Creating young leadership, through scholarships for students, who serve as a significant human resource for Thinking Doing projects

Thinking Doing Project in Yeruham

The program began as a pilot project in the town of Yeruham and has been in operation there since 2014. As a result of the program, a regional network of local entrepreneurs was created, with the ability and the desire to contribute to the local community and to the entire Negev region. Together with Yeruham residents and the town’s local leadership, and by connecting with the town’s agenda and the mayor’s vision for sustainability, the program supports social and environmental initiatives of the local residents, thereby aiding in rebranding Yeruham as a sustainability-fostering town.

The connections and partnerships between various organizations in Yeruham, the empowerment of social entrepreneurs and the motivation of partnership processes have promoted the establishment of significant institutions in the community and driven community-building and space-altering processes. These changes and significant activities are apparent on the ground. Yeruham has seen the establishment of significant anchor institutions and unique collaborations leading to meaningful social activity. This activity places Yeruham at the forefront of social action and as an international model for community change and growth. This model of activity was the first of its kind in the Negev and serves as inspiration for additional municipal authorities in the Negev, who have since joined the Thinking Doing program.

Successful projects in Yeruham include, among others:

Construction of a network of community gardens and community meeting places, including community libraries.
The Shade Trees project – establishing a model whereby the town’s statutory planning now includes adding and maintaining shade trees in public areas;
“Improve the World” (Tikkun Olam) community crafting workshops – a local project that evolved into a regional network of active workshops (Ramat Negev Regional Council, Mitzpe Ramon, and soon, Dimona and the Tamar Regional Council). The project currently includes a crafts program in the municipal education system and community activity courses, re-introducing knowledge of traditional crafts to children, teenagers and adults.
The Wagon project – a project promoting woodworking and design next to one’s home. Following the operation of the first “wagon” in Yeruham, the project was expanded to the Ramat Negev Regional Council and Mitzpe Ramon, to be followed soon by a project-operated wagon in Dimona, Tamar Regional Council and Beer Sheva. The Yeruham wagon arrives at the town’s neighborhoods and takes an active part in driving community neighborhood renewal operations and developing community gardens.
Training courses in design and repairs, aimed at personal development of participants and further impact on public spaces.
Collaborations with the Young at Yeruham Association for the empowerment and training of local students.
In 2020 a traditional crafts center was established in Yeruham for wood, clay and soft materials. The center, in collaboration with Kulna Yeruham and Sapir College, operates as a vocational program for students of the Culture Studies department at Sapir College, serves the educational system and the community at large. The goal is to expand this activity to all Negev settlements and to establish it as a magnet for artisans and artists who wish to experience various crafts and artisanal traditions.

Thinking Doing Ramat Negev

The Thinking Doing program has been in operation in the Ramat Negev Regional Council since 2017, following to initiatives proposed by local residents. The 2020 call for proposals has been adapted to the COVID-19 reality, with an emphasis on outdoor community meeting places. Eight open spaces have been established or developed, led by local communities. Entrepreneurs take part in a local forum engaged in peer learning, forming a council-wide concept of the outdoor space model adapted to the needs of Council communities and the requirements posed by the pandemic.

The workshop and wagon: workshop activities are broad and expansive. The workshop played a leading role in responding to acute needs arising during the first months of dealing with the pandemic. An array of summer jobs for teenagers needing income, guidance for teenage groups in the communities on joint activities, establishing a new wagon, “the Kettle” a tea and talk area for teenagers and the elderly in the communities.

Thinking Doing in Dimona

The Thinking Doing program began operating in Dimona in 2019. During 2020, local connection was established through linkage to the local community center and through other municipal collaborations. The “Springboard” project will be launched soon, bringing the community woodworking workshop and wagon to Dimona, to serve in guiding projects with local youth centers, creating sitting areas, enhancing urban landscaping and constructing alluring vista points. In addition, a municipal call for proposals was published in 2021 inviting residents to propose and promote local initiatives within the program.

Thinking Doing in Be’er Sheva

2020 was defined as a pilot year for the Thinking Doing program in Quarter B in Be’er Sheva, and it concluded with significant and meaningful work done by dozens of local entrepreneurs, both young and elderly. ICL now looks forward to city-wide activity including all neighborhoods. During 2020, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic, various projects were executed in the Quarter B neighborhood, including the Tenement Building Film Festival, which introduced a culture capsule into the urban landscape. Unique films were made starring local residents and screened on the buildings themselves. ICL aspires to transform the festival into a city tradition and to hold it on a regular basis in various neighborhoods of the city.

On the municipal level, development and conceptual work is carried out to create a program tailored and complementary to the urban community renewal program.

Thinking Doing in Mitzpe Ramon

In Mitzpe Ramon, Thinking Doing activity focuses on the workshop. A woodworking wagon leads activity in the older neighborhoods, while supporting the formulating house and neighborhood committees. In addition, the wagon arrives with volunteers at public areas to hold community activities while constructing and upgrading those areas.

Future Plans

In 2021 the plan is to extend activities into additional Bedouin settlements and to establish a network of strong communities that support one another.