Subject: Solar energy conference

SSolar Conference Announcement:

For a full color invitation please open the attachment:



March 14, 1999, City Inn Hotel, Ramallah

Dear Colleagues,



Under the auspices of the Palestinian Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Friends of the Earth Middle East and the Palestinian Hydrology Group with the support of UNESCO's World Solar Commission extend to you an invitation to attend a Symposium entitled "Solar Villages for the Middle East". The symposium is part of the FoEME Middle East Solar Energy Zone Project. The Symposium will be an all day event to be held at the City Inn Hotel in Ramallah, on the 14th of March 1999. Transportation to and from the hotel is being arranged from Jerusalem. See registration form below.

The symposium will present the findings of research commissioned by Friends of the Earth Middle East regarding the viability of investing in four villages in our region in order to convert them into solar energy demonstration sites. Villages chosen by our scientfic partners to be the most appropriate and desired to be solar powered by the village people themselves include Arab Kaabneh village near Hebron, Kibbutz Samar near Eilat, Qatar village near Aqaba and New Bassaisa village in the Sinai.  The one day symposium will be a unique opportuinity to hear from both the village people and the scientific community on how solar technology can both improve the lives of people in the region and in the process bring them closer together.

The symposium seeks to inform participants about the viability of the  solar village program and attract media attention and financial support for actual project implementation.


Symposium Goals and Objectives
1. Take a concrete step to promote the use of renewable energy in the Middle East.
2. Place the issue of solar energy on the agenda of decision-makers, the media and the general public.
3. Find regional solutions to the global energy / climate change problems.

This program is undertaken through a grant of the Joyce Mertz Gilmore Foundation/USA. FoEME is grateful for JMGF assistance. FoEME is also grateful for the support of UNESCO's World Solar Commission.







 9:00-10:00 	Registration.

10:00-10:45	Opening Session:
	Mr. Munqeth Mehyar / Chairperson's welcome
Dr. Yousef Abu Safiya  / Palestinian Minister of State for Environmental Affairs 
Dr. Boris Berkovski / Secretary General, UNESCO World Solar Commission
Dr. Shmuel Brenner / Deputy Director General Israeli Ministry of Environment
Dr. Abdul Rahman Hamad / Head of Palestinian Energy Authority

10:45-11:00	Coffee Break
Scientific Session:
	Palestinian Local Community Representative
	Dr. Marwan Mahmoud / Palestinian Solar Energy Expert
	Discussion
	Kibbutz Samar Representative
	Prof. David Faiman / Israeli Solar Energy Expert
	Discussion
12:30-2:00	Lunch
Qatar village Representative
	Dr. Malek Kabariti / Jordanian Solar Energy Expert
	Discussion
New Bassaisa Representative
Dr. Salah Arafa / Egyptian Solar Energy Expert
	Discussion

3:30-3:45	Coffee Break
Closing Session:
Mr. Abu Hijleh / Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature Concluding Discussions	


SYMPOSIUM REGISTRATION FORM
Please print clearly


Last name: ___________________ First name:_______________   Institution: ___________________________________________
Postal Address: _______________________________________
Town:__________________	  Post Code: __________________
Country: ________________
Telephone: ______________     Fax: ___________________
Email: ______________________

Transportation
( I will use the provided Jerusalem-Rammallah transport 
(free of charge).
The bus will depart at 8:45 am sharp from The Hyatt Regency Hotel on Mount Scopus.




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Friends of the Earth Middle East
E-mail: FoE@ecopeace.net
Website: www.ecopeace.net
Date: 5/1/99
Time: 6:25:28 PM
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