הקמת גינה קהילתית - טיפולית במרכז הטניס בירושלים, לזכר רס״ן דוד שקורי ז״ל

Venatata NGO is working to realize the Forest-City vision in Israel, to make cities in Israel more green, shaded, and beneficial. We introduce nature into the city:

we plant in urban spaces, we set up therapeutic and community gardens, plant in courtyards, grow vegetables on rooftops, in balconies and homes, to contribute to balancing the climate, create clean air, carbon fixation, heal the soil, create ecological continuity throughout the area, promote sustainable economic growth and encourage a culture of planting and caring for trees as a tool to educate and connect between people, and between people and the land. We do all of this, while strengthening the social and geographical periphery, bringing together communities, involving and supporting fringe groups, people with disabilities and special needs.

The essence of the association’s methodology is the connection of man-land-community. We work to introduce nature into the city, rehabilitate man and the environment, turning healing through nature into a recognized rehabilitative and therapeutic instrument in all of Israel’s rehabilitation institutions. We work from the understanding that healing a person in crisis is directly linked to healing and rehabilitating the community and environment he is a part of. A person who sees a tree grow, and who takes part in the act of sprouting it – grows himself and comes to life.

The association is operating several projects to realize the Forest-City vision in Israel:

1) Forest-City project – turning cities and towns in Israel into Forest-Cities – green, shaded, with clean air, beneficial to the environment and the inhabitants.

It’s a large urban project that is tailored to the place itself - an integrated and in-depth process of turning the town into a “Forest-City” in Israel. The first step takes place in collaboration with the local council, a process of mapping and characterizing the town and the needs of its residents. The next step is defining the needs and choosing the planting areas around the town and its institutions.

Accordingly, planting events take place in public and private spaces: boulevards and main thoroughfares, shade islands are created, planting of fruit forests, setting up therapeutic and community gardens in rehabilitation institutions, in the schools and in the hearts of neighborhoods. Other activities include composing and integrating educational programs for the schools – which involve garden work, environmental education, and green leadership - setting up a greenhouse for urban agricultural entrepreneurship and distributing grants and scholarships for residents to take part in the greenhouse and the project, involving and running a community to increase awareness to the environment and these subjects.

2) The 100 project – Setting up 100 therapeutic gardens in 100 rehabilitative institutions throughout the country.

The institutions care for the elderly and holocaust survivors, youth at risk, new immigrants, soldiers with PTSD, people with disabilities and special needs, victims of sexual assault, the mentally frail and fringe communities on the social and geographical periphery of Israel. Each garden is a holistic ecosystem, part of an ecological continuity formed of many square-meters of greenery and which becomes a vibrant hub of life and color and an instrument of therapy through nature, for the inhabitants of the institution and the community.

3) The 100,000 trees project – a project to plant 100,000 trees around the country, with an emphasis on planting in cities and creating green strips of land in agricultural areas and around towns. The project includes hundreds of planting events which take place around the country involving companies and organizations, volunteers and surrounding communities, setting up tree nurseries and realizing a unique program: “Trees searching for land” – a smart system created and run by the association – to connect between people who would like to plant, landowners, professional advisors, producers, and donors. As part of the program, the association is distributing thousands of trees to individuals, to rehabilitation institutions and schools, farmers, and agricultural, social and environmental entrepreneurs. All this while accompanying and training for correct planting and maintenance, reporting and monitoring of each tree that is received and planted, in order to encourage a culture of planting and caring for trees.