Israel / en ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżand Hebrew University of Jerusalem launch research and innovation partnership /news/u-t-and-hebrew-university-jerusalem-launch-research-and-innovation-partnership <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżand Hebrew University of Jerusalem launch research and innovation partnership</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LntJBazg 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=MfpHV3qV 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=gjaoiSvt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Huji-weblead-Yonit-Schiller.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=LntJBazg" alt="An aerial photo of Jerusalem "> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>rahul.kalvapalle</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-07-03T15:49:59-04:00" title="Friday, July 3, 2020 - 15:49" class="datetime">Fri, 07/03/2020 - 15:49</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">U of T's partnership with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will allow faculty and students from the two institutions to combine their resources to carry out high-impact research in a variety of fields (photo by Yonit Schiller)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/rahul-kalvapalle" hreflang="en">Rahul Kalvapalle</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/coronavirus" hreflang="en">Coronavirus</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donnelly-centre-cellular-biomolecular-research" hreflang="en">Donnelly Centre for Cellular &amp; Biomolecular Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cell-and-systems-biology" hreflang="en">Cell and Systems Biology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/alumni" hreflang="en">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/anthropology" hreflang="en">Anthropology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/chemistry" hreflang="en">Chemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/computer-science" hreflang="en">Computer Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/institute-biomaterials-and-biomedical-engineering-0" hreflang="en">Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/molecular-genetics" hreflang="en">Molecular Genetics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/occupational-therapy" hreflang="en">Occupational Therapy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/physics" hreflang="en">Physics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>How did environmental conditions and climate change influence early human evolution? Can protein engineering be harnessed to block the virus that causes COVID-19?&nbsp; How do quantum mechanics affect biological functions, and how do our memory and learning work on a cellular level in the brain?</p> <p>These are some of the big questions that will be explored by researchers at the University of Toronto and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) as part of a new strategic partnership that will allow faculty and students from the two institutions to combine resources to carry out high-impact research.</p> <p>Each year, the University of Toronto – Hebrew University of Jerusalem Research and Innovation Alliance will select projects to receive funding of $150,000 a year for up to four years, with each research group comprising faculty drawn from both universities and covering a range of disciplines. The alliance will also occasionally provide one-time seed funding to help get promising projects off the ground.</p> <p>Initially launched with endowed funding of $5.9 million from the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University and the family of Roz and Ralph Halbert, the alliance&nbsp;aims to raise another $14 million and eventually construct an innovation pipeline between ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżand HUJI to connect the entrepreneurship ecosystems in Toronto and Jerusalem and provide student entrepreneurs with exposure to each other’s universities and markets.</p> <p>“[HUJI’s] mandate with respect to research is very closely aligned to U of T’s in terms of leading the world in a variety of areas, and that’s always the kind of partner we’re looking for,” said <strong>Alex Mihailidis</strong>, U of T’s associate vice-president of international partnerships and a professor in the Faculty of Medicine's department of occupational science and occupational therapy, as well as the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering.</p> <p>“We both recognize that international collaborations strengthen the research within each university, and that’s why we’re excited to partner with them.”</p> <p>He added that the timing of the partnership speaks to U of T’s commitment to forge ahead with research partnerships despite the challenges of working and collaborating amid the pandemic.</p> <p>“From an international partnerships perspective, it’s business as usual,” said Mihailidis, who is also cross-appointed to the department of computer science in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science. “We’ve not shut anything down and we’ve not stopped collaborations. We’re going full-speed ahead – it’s looking a bit different, but we are still moving ahead both with existing and new partners.”</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/MC-embed.jpg" alt>The funding will enable Professor <strong>Michael Chazan</strong> of U of T’s department of anthropology in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science to work closely with&nbsp;geologist Ari Matmon at HUJI’s Institute of Earth Sciences to build a more comprehensive picture of how climate affected the evolution of early humans in the Kalahari Basin. The basin covers more than 2.5 million square kilometres across South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Both researchers&nbsp;developed an interest in the Kalahari – Chazan as an archeologist analyzing early evidence of human activity and Matmon as a geologist carrying out dating techniques to study the evolution of the landscape – and they’re now looking to combine their perspectives.</p> <p>“The next phase of work with this funding is to expand Ari’s geological work, particularly looking for evidence of wet environments, so we can try and understand when there was a shift to modern arid conditions,” said Chazan. “At the same time, I’ll be working in the town of Kathu in South Africa, which is a major mining area today, and we’re looking at some very large sites and trying to understand what the conditions were when this place supported large groups of people.</p> <p>“So it’s a really new area of study that combines geological perspectives on how the landscape and hydrology evolved with an archeological perspective which is asking – in more narrowly focused locations – what the human behaviour was and what was drawing people to these sites.”</p> <p>Oron Shagrir, vice-president for international affairs at HUJI, said the partnership brings together “the two leading universities in Israel and Canada,” and that the call for research proposals resulted in several exciting submissions.</p> <p>“In these challenging and unprecedented times for societies and universities alike, international partnerships are an invaluable source of support and inspiration,” said Shagrir, a professor of philosophy and cognitive science. “They are not only an important asset and tool in advancing universities on all levels, but also serve as a valuable platform to promote and support collaborative research projects.”</p> <p>Chazan points to his project as an example of how the two universities can combine their respective strengths.</p> <p>“At U of T, we’re strong in terms of field archeology and geophysics,” he said. “Hebrew University is particularly strong in looking at the evolution of landforms over the period of the last two to five million years ... [and] that requires some very specialized labs.”</p> <p>Among the labs that Chazan and his students will have access to is a high-tech facility that “blocks out any modern magnetic signals” to precisely study fluctuations in the earth’s magnetic field. “Having access to that is a major asset for the project and for our students, who get to learn how to operate in that kind of system,” said Chazan.</p> <p>Meanwhile, <strong>Sachdev Sidhu</strong><strong>, </strong>a professor appointed to U of T’s Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, the department of molecular genetics and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, will be working with Professor Julia Shifman of HUJI’s Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Science to study how the fast-growing fields of protein engineering and design can be leveraged to develop treatments for diseases, including COVID-19.</p> <p>Their project will use insights gained from past outbreaks of coronaviruses to understand the functions of the proteins that power SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – and to develop molecules with the potential to disarm the virus and pave the way to a potential cure.</p> <p>Additionally, the ¸ŁŔűĽ§×Ôο– HUJI Research and Innovation Alliance is providing $5,000 in seed funding to two projects.</p> <p>The first will see Professor <strong>Dvira Segal</strong> of U of T’s departments of chemistry and physics and Professor Roi Baer of HUJI’s Fritz Haber Research Center for Molecular Dynamics and Institute of Chemistry explore the role of quantum processes in natural and engineered quantum systems.&nbsp;</p> <p>The second aims to better understand how the brain acquires and stores information in order to help prevent and treat debilitating memory and learning disorders. The principal investigators are Associate Professors <strong>Sheena Josselyn</strong> and <strong>Paul Frankland </strong>of the department of physiology in U of T’s Faculty of Medicine, Professor <strong>Melanie Woodin </strong>of the department of cell and systems biology and HUJI scholars Adi Mizrahi, Ami Citri and Inbal Goshen.</p> <p><strong>Ronald Appleby</strong>, a ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżalumnus and campaign chair for the partnership, said the research efforts made possible by the partnership speak to the two universities’ “shared commitment to advancing interdisciplinary teams of researchers and students working on translational research, bolstered by mutual respect and friendship.</p> <p>“The attention paid to research in engineering and medicine, the sciences, the social sciences, humanities, and law reflects our mutual interest in creating novel solutions for some of the most pressing current issues,” Appleby said.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 03 Jul 2020 19:49:59 +0000 rahul.kalvapalle 165121 at ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżlaw student helps reform trans rights in Israel /news/u-t-law-student-helps-reform-trans-rights-israel <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżlaw student helps reform trans rights in Israel</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-05-01-ido-katri.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=uouLPi2B 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2018-05-01-ido-katri.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=Sj7Z69IR 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2018-05-01-ido-katri.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=m6jqGON7 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2018-05-01-ido-katri.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=uouLPi2B" alt="Photo of transgender woman and attorneys"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2018-05-01T13:40:19-04:00" title="Tuesday, May 1, 2018 - 13:40" class="datetime">Tue, 05/01/2018 - 13:40</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">From left to right, Ido Katri at Israel's Supreme Court earlier this year with attorneys Hagai Kalai and Haya Erez, for the case of Doreen Bilia (third from left), a transgender woman who was held in solitary confinement in a men's prison</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-law" hreflang="en">Faculty of Law</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/human-rights" hreflang="en">Human Rights</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) student at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law&nbsp;is seeing the payoff for his advocacy and research work on the rights of trans inmates&nbsp;in Israel's prison system.</p> <p>Until now, the unspoken policy has been that prisoners or detainees whose&nbsp;gender identity was "ambiguous"&nbsp;should be kept in&nbsp;administrative segregation. Thanks to <strong>Ido Katri</strong>'s work and that of his colleagues in Israel, the prison service recently announced that it&nbsp;will no longer keep transgender inmates in isolation.</p> <p>The changes along with Katri's involvement have been featured in various Israeli media, including <em>Haaretz</em>.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-transgender-prisoners-won-t-be-put-in-isolation-anymore-1.6009178">Read more at Haaretz</a></h3> <p>“What we've achieved so far is pretty much more than what I had envisioned when we started doing this research,” said Katri, whose&nbsp;graduate dissertation is on gender self-determination around the world.&nbsp;“All of this happened within 18 months.”</p> <p>Prior to coming to ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżin 2012, Katri had been working as a human rights lawyer in Israel and Palestine. He co-founded the grassroots action group, the Gila Project for Trans Empowerment, and helped start&nbsp;Transgender for Social Justice, the first registered association under Israeli law&nbsp;dedicated to promoting gender diversity. He also worked as a lawyer for the Gisha Center for Freedom of Movement, fighting for the rights of residents in&nbsp;Gaza.</p> <p>Here in Canada, Katri was named a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar&nbsp;and a Vanier Canada Scholar in 2016. He's currently working on “Troubling Gender Self-Determination,”&nbsp;a legal ethnographic project documenting the rise of trans political and legal demands, working under the supervision of<strong> Brenda Cossman</strong>, professor and director of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.</p> <p>As part of his work comparing laws related to trans people in both Canada and Israel, he began researching Israel's prison system. He and another colleague, Lihi Yona of Columbia University and the Israel Democratic Institute, soon found that trans people were being kept alone in small cells, in a separate part of the prison. It wasn't until the duo brought to the Israeli Supreme Court the case of a transgender woman, Doreen Bilia, who had been arrested following a fight with neighbours and kept in solitary confinement in a men's prison, that authorities were forced to disclose their unwritten policy.</p> <p>A lot of Katri's&nbsp;research and uncovered data was used in the petition itself. Katri also began lobbying politicians&nbsp;at the same time, and soon the Supreme Court demanded the prison system put its policy in writing, forcing authorities to make reforms they declared in court and then document it as policy, Katri said.</p> <p>Katri is currently in Israel as a visiting scholar at Tel Aviv University. Along with completing his dissertation,&nbsp;he hopes to turn his sights next to comaprative research on trans people's participation in the military in Canada, the U.S. and Israel.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 01 May 2018 17:40:19 +0000 ullahnor 134496 at Israel mission: strengthening student mobility, research and physician training /news/israel-mission-strengthening-student-mobility-research-and-physician-training <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Israel mission: strengthening student mobility, research and physician training</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>katie.fong</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-06-07T10:59:22-04:00" title="Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - 10:59" class="datetime">Tue, 06/07/2016 - 10:59</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Tel Aviv University: “Our institutional engagement with Tel Aviv University is both deep and expanding,” says U of T’s Vivek Goel (Photo by Jaime Silva via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/terry-lavender" hreflang="en">Terry Lavender</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Terry Lavender</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/students" hreflang="en">Students</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/international" hreflang="en">International</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Partnerships in research, entrepreneurship, innovation, student mobility and training for Palestinian physicians&nbsp;were just some of the outcomes of the University of Toronto’s participation in a recent mission to Israel led by Ontario Premier <strong>Kathleen Wynne</strong>. (<a href="/news/business-mission-israel-shows-ontario-serious-about-innovation-says-u-t-expert">Read what ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżinnovation expert Dan Breznitz has to say about the mission here</a>.)</p> <p>¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżwas well represented in the mission led by alumna Wynne. The ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżcontingent included <strong>Judith Wolfson</strong>, vice-president of international, government and institutional relations, Professor <strong>Janice Stein</strong>, senior adviser to President <strong>Meric Gertler</strong> on international initiatives, and Professor <strong>Lynn Wilson</strong>, the vice-dean partnerships, Faculty of Medicine.</p> <p>Professor <strong>Izzeldin Abuelaish</strong> from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health also travelled with the Ontario delegation on behalf of his charity organization, Daughters for Life.</p> <p>In all, the business mission resulted in 44 new agreements for the province valued at more than $180 million, according to Wynne. The U of T-specific agreements included:</p> <p><strong>Biomedical science</strong></p> <p>U of T’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering is collaborating with the Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem to support student research and study abroad, clinical and academic faculty travel, and research collaboration. The Jerusalem-Toronto Bio-Innovation Partnership will provide support to students in engineering, biology and computer science to conduct research in the partner country over a 12-week period. An intensive eight-week educational program – the Transdisciplinary Innovation Program – that weaves together computer vision, big data, and bioengineering will also be offered to ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżstudents, enabling&nbsp; work under the mentorship of Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs, and the opportunity for students to pitch ideas to investors.</p> <p><strong>Social Work</strong></p> <p>U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare have entered into a partnership facilitating student exchange and practicum placement. Under the agreement, full-time graduate students from each university are eligible to study at the partner university and, in the case of University of Toronto students, also participate in experiential learning during their coursework in Israel.</p> <p><strong>Big data and health</strong></p> <p>¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżand Tel Aviv University will stage a joint conference on big data and health in Tel Aviv in the fall of 2017. The conference will be the second held by the two universities under an agreement to foster and promote research collaborations. The first joint conference, which focused on bio-imaging, was held in Toronto in May 2015.</p> <p>“Our institutional engagement with Tel Aviv University is both deep and expanding. Nowhere is this more palpable than in the medical sciences,” said <strong>Vivek Goel</strong>, U of T’s vice-president for research and innovation. “The upcoming conference brings together top scientists and researchers from the two institutions working together on the application of computational and data sciences to pressing health challenges.&nbsp;&nbsp; I am confident that it will spark further collaboration and joint research opportunities across these areas.”</p> <p><strong>Innovation and Entrepreneurship</strong></p> <p>¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżsigned a Memorandum of Understanding with Israel’s Start-Up Nation Central aimed at deepening ties between the innovation ecosystems in Canada and Israel. The partnership will connect University of Toronto faculty with Israeli start-ups and link up ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżstudents with internship opportunities at Israeli companies. Stein noted that Israel has one of the highest rates of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world.</p> <p>“We are delighted to be joining forces with Start-Up Nation Central to expand our knowledge of the innovation ecosystems,” she said. “The experience that each brings will be of great mutual benefit in unleashing our shared potential.”</p> <p><strong>Palestinian physician training</strong></p> <p>U of T’s Faculty of Medicine and Munk School of Global Affairs will join forces with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and university partners in Palestine to support continuing education for physicians, including the development of a digital platform for the delivery of physician training, to be facilitated by the Munk School’s Digital Public Square.</p> <p><strong>Health Informatics</strong></p> <p>Over the next four years, faculty from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health will share best practices in support of the Jerusalem College of Technology’s development of a master's degree in health informatics. Institute director <strong>Adalsteinn Brown</strong> said the IHPME will share its experience in health informatics to develop a foundation for future collaborations.</p> <p><strong>Student mobility</strong></p> <p>Israeli students in engineering, medicine, business and global affairs will be coming to the University of Toronto for research projects made possible with the support of Global Affairs Canada. The new Canada-Israel Innovation Initiative for Student Mobility will award up to 10 scholarships annually valued at $10,000 each.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Daughters for Life Foundation</strong></p> <p>The Daughters for Life Foundation, which was set up by Abuelaish after his three daughters were killed by a tank shell in Gaza, awarded 49 postsecondary scholarships to Palestinian and Israeli women at ceremonies in the West Bank and Jerusalem, attended by Wynne.&nbsp;The foundation is also providing scholarships and fellowships that will allow Israeli and Palestinian women to attend institutions in Ontario, including U of T-affiliated Women’s College Hospital and the TRIO Fertility Treatment Practice.</p> <p>“Education is the key to escaping a life of unrelenting poverty and hopelessness. In particular, education of girls and young women can make our world a more humane, free and peaceful one,” Abuelaish said. “The Daughters for Life Foundation is proud to give these promising students a boost toward completing their degrees and fulfilling this vision.”</p> <h3><a href="https://flic.kr/p/545h28">(Visit Flickr&nbsp;to see the original of the photo at top of the story)</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 07 Jun 2016 14:59:22 +0000 katie.fong 14209 at Parks, planning and public spaces: Toronto can learn lessons from Jerusalem say ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżstudents /news/parks-planning-and-public-spaces-toronto-can-learn-lessons-jerusalem-say-u-t-students <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Parks, planning and public spaces: Toronto can learn lessons from Jerusalem say ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżstudents</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>katie.fong</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-06-07T10:19:41-04:00" title="Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - 10:19" class="datetime">Tue, 06/07/2016 - 10:19</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">A pirate-themed public park in Jerusalem. The city actively involves children in park design. (Andrew Althouse photo)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/terry-lavender" hreflang="en">Terry Lavender</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Terry Lavender</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/shauna-brail" hreflang="en">Shauna Brail</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/city" hreflang="en">City</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/jerusalem" hreflang="en">Jerusalem</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em>“Jerusalem is a city of neighborhoods.”</em></p> <p><em>“Only deputy mayors are paid in Jerusalem. What is the impact of city councillors being unpaid? Who can afford the position?”</em></p> <p><em>“How to design public space - who is using it? Fence or no fence?”</em></p> <p><em>“Unique street art creates aesthetically pleasing urban environments. Toronto, take note!”</em></p> <p>Those were just some of the social media posts from <strong>Shauna Brail</strong> and nine ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżstudents during a recent trip to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. (Scroll to the bottom of this story for more tweets about the trip.)</p> <p>Brail, an associate professor (teaching stream) in urban studies and U of T<span style="line-height: 20.8px;">’</span>s presidential adviser on urban engagement, led the undergraduate and graduate students – mostly from departments in the Faculty of Arts and Science – through different neighbourhoods in Jerusalem, studying urban regeneration, inclusive public spaces and place-making. The six-day trip, hosted by Hebrew University’s Urban Clinic, was funded mostly through the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University endowment fund. The students did not receive academic credit for the trip.</p> <p>Brail said she has been to Jerusalem many times, but learned a lot by seeing the city through the eyes of the ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżstudents. “They were just terribly insightful about challenges and issues. I was impressed with their maturity but also with their ability to understand.”</p> <address><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__1126 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/brail_and_students_0_0.jpg" style="width: 680px; height: 453px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Back row: Michelle Kearns, Nathan Stuart, Andrew Althouse, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem&nbsp;Tamir Nir, Shauna Brail, Jonathan Chow, Mark Fox Front row: Ella Gil (Hebrew University Urban Clinic), Izabela Molendowski, Tiferet Nashman, Jessie Ji Huang, Eliza Eaton</em></address> <p><strong>Michelle Kearns</strong> was one of those students. A master’s student in planning, Kearns said she was struck by how well organized and clean Jerusalem was. “Bike lanes are always protected; pedestrians are completely separated from traffic, the LRT system was easy to use, and traffic lights are specific – with separate signals for pedestrians, cyclists and traffic.”</p> <p>Despite the many differences between the two cities, Toronto can learn from Jerusalem, Kearns said. “I would like to see Toronto take more risks with planning for transportation.” She gave Jaffa Road, one of Jerusalem’s major streets as an example.</p> <p>“A few years ago, the entire street was redeveloped and turned into an LRT-only street, with an integrated pedestrian network. The curb separating traffic and pedestrians was levelled and the street turned into an open, flat, public space with the occasional bike and LRT running through. The planner we met spoke of huge opposition to the plan, since all parking and private cars were removed from the street. However, after the transit-only street was built, it turned into a huge success with businesses experiencing improved sales and many more people on the street.”</p> <p><strong>Eliza Eaton</strong>, an urban studies undergraduate student, agreed that Toronto can learn some lessons from Jerusalem. In particular, she said, Jerusalem is good at planning for local residents. “We saw a lot of neighbourhoods and public spaces that really took into consideration the people who live there as opposed to just putting in something for the general population. The planners really considered the local populations in the neighbourhood.”</p> <p>Jerusalem is also better than Toronto in creating spaces for children, Eaton said. In Jerusalem, children are actually involved in planning playgrounds, she noted.&nbsp;“Kids are the real experts of public space.”</p> <p>But Jerusalem can learn from Toronto’s experience in turn, Brail said. “We are definitely ahead of Israel in the way we treat our public housing,” Brail said. While in Jerusalem, she gave a public lecture about Toronto’s success in transforming public housing in Toronto’s Regent Park.&nbsp; “In Jerusalem, they are also struggling with an aging , declining stock of public housing. When public housing sites are&nbsp;redeveloped, residents are forced to either pay higher rents or find alternate housing in another location.&nbsp;Some of them were a little unbelieving that&nbsp;<strong>public housing&nbsp;</strong>residents were guaranteed equivalent housing at the same rental rate when Regent Park was redeveloped.”</p> <p>Both Eaton and Kearns said they were glad they went on the trip. “I would go back in a heartbeat,” Kearns said. “I still have so much to learn in Jerusalem. It's a place of an incredibly complicated history and tension and I just barely scratched the surface during my time there.”</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="storify"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="no" height="750" src="//storify.com/shaunabrail/uoftjeru-crew-hebrew-university-study-tour/embed?border=false" width="100%"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/shaunabrail/uoftjeru-crew-hebrew-university-study-tour.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="https://storify.com/shaunabrail/uoftjeru-crew-hebrew-university-study-tour" target="_blank">View the story "UofTJeru Crew: Hebrew University Study Tour" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 07 Jun 2016 14:19:41 +0000 katie.fong 14208 at Business mission to Israel shows Ontario serious about innovation, says ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżexpert /news/business-mission-israel-shows-ontario-serious-about-innovation-says-u-t-expert <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Business mission to Israel shows Ontario serious about innovation, says ¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżexpert</span> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lavende4</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-05-30T09:48:04-04:00" title="Monday, May 30, 2016 - 09:48" class="datetime">Mon, 05/30/2016 - 09:48</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne setting out on the business mission to Israel (photo courtesy Government of Ontario)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/terry-lavender" hreflang="en">Terry Lavender</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Terry Lavender</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/global-lens" hreflang="en">Global Lens</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/munk-school-global-affairs-public-policy" hreflang="en">Munk School of Global Affairs &amp; Public Policy</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/innovation" hreflang="en">Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/trade" hreflang="en">Trade</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Ontario premier <strong>Kathleen Wynne</strong> returned May 19 from a five-day business mission to Israel that emphasized innovation, research and development and resulted in&nbsp;44 new agreements valued at more than $180 million.&nbsp;</p> <p>Wynne was accompanied by representatives of Ontario’s business, health and higher education communities –&nbsp;including the University of Toronto. <em>¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżNews</em> spoke to&nbsp;<strong>Dan Breznitz</strong>, co-director of the Innovation Policy Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and chair of Innovation Studies, about the business mission.</p> <p><strong style="margin: 0px 30px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, &quot;Lucida Sans Unicode&quot;, sans-serif; line-height: 13.6418px;">[embed_content nid=14194 (class="additional class")/]</strong></p> <p><strong>What purpose does a high profile, multi-participant trade mission like this one serve?</strong></p> <p>We need to put visits like this in perspective. Their main aim should be to finalize deals that have already been decided, open a few channels for future consideration by meeting face to face and establishing more personal networks between the two sides. However the real goal of these missions is political and declarative, showing the interest in making these collaborations work at the highest levels</p> <p><strong>Could the same results be achieved in other ways? Are such missions necessary?</strong></p> <p>Some of these missions are necessary at certain time points. However, to be honest, most of the work needs to be done through constant effort from both sides over several months and years. The real benefits from these relationships take years to fruit to completion</p> <p><strong><img alt src="http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/dan_breznitz-196x275.jpg" style="width: 196px; height: 275px; float: right; margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;">Can Ontario expect tangible benefits from this mission?</strong></p> <p>Like all of these missions this should be seen as a process, the tangible benefits might be a few agreements signed which otherwise would have taken months or even years to be completed. Ontario has lot to learn from Israel, and Israel can learn a lot from Ontario since our economies are very complementary and there is a lot of good will on both sides.</p> <p>However, what might be the most important thing that Ontario can gain from this relationship is if we learn not how to copy Israel’s innovation policy, but learn how to devise our own. Israel has been a true pioneer since the early 1970s in effective innovation policy, if we can learn not what the policy has been, but how to approach the subject so we can quickly devise, experiment scale-up policies that&nbsp;work and close these that do not, that would be a most valuable lesson, and would make this trip a truly unique success.</p> <p><strong>Kathleen Wynne writes that the visit will “help establish Ontario as a top innovation and knowledge economy partner and investment destination.” Is this a realistic expectation?</strong></p> <p>The visit does indeed signal that the premier is serious about innovation and innovation-based growth, if, and only if, this would be followed with sustained efforts, experimental and creative policies, and true engagement with Ontarians then we can look back at this visit and see it as a turning point. But getting to be a globally leading hub of innovation-based economy needs time, patience and serious investment in terms of correct policies and resources. Israel started this process in 1968 and it took more than 20 years for the country to become a leading innovation hub. There is no cutting corners in this process and we should all hope that the premier will keep on pushing the agenda and ensure that it continues even after she leaves office.</p> <p><strong>¸ŁŔűĽ§×ÔÎżand other universities have participants in the delegation. What benefits do Ontario universities gain from the mission?</strong></p> <p>Israeli universities are not only global leaders in terms of academic excellence but also in terms of technology transfer and entrepreneurial education. We can only hope that this mission would lead to deepening the already very deep, relationships between Ontario’s universities and Israel’s top universities.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 30 May 2016 13:48:04 +0000 lavende4 14125 at