On December 6-7, 2019, 20 participants completed the final workshop of the 2019 Change Agent Course for Arab and Jewish Planners. The weekend program included a lecture, panel discussion and a tour of Peki’in/Buqei’a village in northern Israel.

This remarkable course was the fifth to be run jointly by the School for Peace and the Arab Center for Alternative Planning (ACAP). The day included a lecture given by ACAP director Samer Swaid. In a panel discussion, participants heard from architect Jewish architect Hadas Even Tzur about her work in Peki’in/Buqei’a. She described her successful intervention to prevent the construction of a new highway that would have cut through this historic village, marring its beauty and impinging on the lives of the residents. Samer Swaid voiced his amazement at the heartlessness shown by the authorities behind this destructive plan. Even Tzur’s decisive intervention is a perfect illustration of the kind of action we hope that the course graduates will achieve.

Peki’in/Buqei’a’s magical atmosphere provided a perfect backdrop to this final workshop, and a wonderful place for the participants to part and go their separate ways. But very soon they will have the opportunity to meet again, for in two weeks time we will be convening a meeting in Nazareth for the graduates of all five planners’ courses. The purpose is to create a network of activists that will have a significant and lasting influence on urban planning throughout the country.