Tomorrow’s Spaces: Introduction

Posted by eJP | August 11, 2008 | Category: Symposia, Tomorrow's Spaces |

Table of contents for Tomorrow's Spaces

Tomorrow’s Spaces: Introduction
Tomorrow’s Spaces Part 1: Access Israel Association
Tomorrow’s Spaces Part 2: Circles of Justice

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Facing Tomorrow, President Shimon Peres’ first annual conference took place in Jerusalem, May 13-15, 2008.

This international convocation examined the trends and developments that are mapping the future with the hope of serving as an incubator for proactive responses. The conference consisted of three interweaving dimensions: the global tomorrow, the Jewish tomorrow and the Israeli tomorrow.

Facing Tomorrow was envisioned as a laboratory for practical initiatives intended to nurture the practical initiatives of Israel, of the Jewish people and of humanity. “…and will afford it the intellectual fertility, curiosity, and enthusiasm any meaningful consideration of tomorrow requires” (Israeli President Shimon Peres).

One component was a featured exhibit, “Tomorrow’s Spaces”, an original exhibition of entrepreneurial projects, designed to provide a stage for leading scientific innovations strategically valuable to our future as a State, a people and member of a community of nations.

eJewish Philanthropy brings you an introduction to the exhibition along with a brief look at the eleven featured projects from the social sector of Israeli society.

The Exhibition Synopsis: Since the beginning of time, the world’s history has been intertwined with the achievements of Jewish philosophers, visionaries, scientists and inventors who transformed the lives of nations and people through their ingenuity.

These men and women have influenced every aspect of life: social thinking, culture, philosophy, religion, science, medicine, industry, technology. And yet, despite these varied realms of achievement, all these people shared a common link: they all sought a better, more just and more advanced future for all mankind. This proud list of Jewish accomplishment has been reinforced with the establishment of the State of Israel. Since that day, hundreds of internationally acclaimed inventions and innovations were made here and went on to make a decisive contribution in the fields of science, agriculture, medicine and technology. From the cherry tomato to ICQ’s instant messaging, from Netafim’s drip irrigation to Teva’s groundbreaking medication. In its sixty years of existence, a small country, deprived of any substantial natural resources and under permanent existential threat has turned into a giant in innovation and research that contribute to a better future worldwide. There is no equivalent to this ratio between population size and the impact of ideas here conceived. There is no other nation of comparative size that has been such a font of creative contribution to the world. This heritage has motivated the conference steering committee to seek out the new ideas, products and technologies that will help shape the face of tomorrow. Those who wish to shape tomorrow face myriad challenges: developing alternative energy sources, conserving Nature’s resources, prolonging and improving human life and much more. One can find Israeli initiatives aiming to address nearly every one of these challenges. A large team of experts came together to help us locate and carefully select the most mature ideas, those already in various stages of implementation and with proven concepts. Ideas that purport to provide a unique, pioneering solution to the problems and challenges they seek to address. Of the hundreds of applications the panel of judges reviewed, sixty projects have been selected. It wasn’t an easy choice. The panel looked at many brilliant and novel ideas developed by tireless entrepreneurs seeking to resolve the world’s problems with that rare combination of effective and practical solutions. The sixty projects on display are a representative group of these initiatives. They provide a glimpse of contemporary “Jewish genius” and Israeli resourcefulness in a wide variety of interests. We believe that among these projects lie the potential seeds of the next breakthrough, the next revolution in Israel and the world. The desire for a better future and solutions for the problems of tomorrow in the Israeli-Jewish and global spheres is one all conference participants must share. This desire also permeates the tens of thousands of Israeli entrepreneurs, inventors, researchers, scientists and industrialists who stand at the forefront of Israeli innovation. They are the secret of Israel’s success and endurance and the reason it is so important to the entire world, as the cradle of a better future. The Social Projects: (all information on the projects was provided by the project)