Making Ripples: Shared Environmental Projects and the Prospect for Peace

“Can a difference in thought have a consequence for peace? When Israelis and Palestinians work together sharing resources to conserve water to grow crops and food, can it change perceptions and ripple out to others and toward peace? This is what I wanted to focus on.”

Courtney Owen is describing what motivated her to develop her thesis on Water Cooperation and Peace in Israel and the Palestinian West Bank for a Masters in International Environmental Affairs from American University (2014). After graduation, Courtney addressed the International Peace Research Association Conference in Istanbul on “Water, Cooperation and Peace.”

Effective peace-bridging is less about policy and more about bottom-up, grass roots movements. That’s the ripple effect, from person to person, that can change policies.

Courtney’s fieldwork in a Palestinian community near Tel Aviv involved working with an Israeli-Palestinian partnership to install small residential wastewater units in individual homes that converted waste water to usable gray water for plants and home agriculture, such as vegetables and date and olive trees. The primary purpose was to inform the household of the health safety of the gray water for agriculture. That was the first change in perception.

“When we told the people in the household that the wastewater unit was Israeli technology, and that this installation was a partnership between Israeli and Palestinian companies, they were surprised. And it created a mental shift,” Courtney explained. “It made me realize that when you change a perception, when you begin to see another as a person, a person helping out in the community, then it isn’t a hard line. It’s a building of trust between two people – then you are making ripples, because others start to see too.”

Is the goal of peace realistic? Maybe it’s better to simply focus on small gestures, “piece by piece”?

At the end of the project, Courtney recommended in her report that to improve a peace-building effort, the communities should be more aware of the Israeli-Palestinian partnership in creating safe water, so that they could become more involved in it. Could this be a real bridge to peace since water is so scarce and valued by all?

Oh no, was the reaction. The companies specifically did not want to promote peace-building as an objective per se. It was not their goal, and they didn’t want to highlight or publicize, just focus on the merits of wastewater conversion to usable water. Even though there was a positive shift in perception? No, framing the partnership and project in peace terms and objectives and promoting it as such was not acceptable – it was seen as a “bridge too far.”

Courtney describes the follow-on discussion as very insightful to the struggle for peace in this long-troubled region. She listened to their concerns to get a deeper understanding of what was behind their reaction. “The goal of ‘peace’ makes each side feel like one of them has to give up something, that it is inevitably win-lose. In this particular project, I saw it as win-win,” explained Courtney, which revealed a second disadvantage: “I am a westerner, neither Israeli or Palestinian, so from their perspective I don’t get why the very word ‘peace’ can be a negative trigger.”

The take-away for Courtney through this experience was that it is even more important to identify small, environmental projects that establish connections and build trust. The community comes together to help each other because they need each other in solving environmental issues. You don’t have to call it “peace” when you are actually demonstrating it, side-by-side, in order to live. For Courtney then, it is “How can I help figure out what those projects can be that bring people together, peacefully? No one loses, everyone wins.”

For instance, in this same community there was trash contaminating the neighborhood. How effective it would be to work together to clean it up, first in the home, then the neighborhood…then talk about it with other neighbors and promote working together. The future? Those kids in the neighborhood may some day be policy makers! Peace is built step by step, piece by piece.

Why we wrote this:
The International Day of Peace
aligns with the Global Climate Strike
in September 2019

What are the most effective core qualities that help people bridge to peace?

“When there was an immediate negative reaction to my recommendation for peace-building opportunities for the Israeli-Palestinian partnership, I was instantly sad that I upset them,” Courtney admitted. “So right away I stepped back – where is this frustration and anger coming from? What do I need to know about this person? They will tell me. I just need to help them unpack and express it. This can happen when they feel a trust and are willing to share something very deep. And I listen. Then ask for more. And listen some more. I learn what I need to know to find agreement, a bridge.”

How do you nurture inner peace so that you can connect with others?

The best meditation experience for Courtney is being outside on a beautiful hike to connect her to a sense of calm. “I am always amazed at how beautiful nature is, the wonderment of it.”

Perhaps the biggest benefit of her nature walks is seeing how the environment connects us with each other. “Every person relies on the environment in some way. When you are on a hike you see that we all want to share in the same thing, the awe of it – we aren’t thinking about politics or opinions or policies – we are all connected in that moment of sharing beauty together.”

The shared connection, active listening and nurturing empathy in order to build trust and come to a context for agreement, these are essential qualities for Courtney’s work on the resolution of challenging issues. “I just can not accept inequality or unfairness – we are all one in this shared environment. And we all want the same thing, the same basic needs of survival, food, water, shelter, safe environment. So I always bring any critical issue down to the individual person: what are they dealing with, and what would I do if I was dealing with this?”

Make Your Own Ripples: How can you build bridges – for environmental progress and peacemaking – piece by piece?

Courtney’s Tips for your next hike or walk around the office:

• Be aware of others, be observant, expect to see someone who would welcome encouragement. Don’t be self-absorbed – offer a granola bar!
• Be encouraging: say, “looking great, keep it up – see you at the top!” (or the trailhead, or the next meeting). Don’t pick out a weakness (“are you ok?”), instead be encouraging.
• Be alert, be listening and above all, be prepared to act if someone needs aid. Don’t freeze, step in and do something, anything. Don’t wait. Look, see, act.

Big Take-away: Climate Change and Peace look overwhelming if we expect policy changes to fix all the problems. So don’t wait for the big policies to happen, take small steps on your own, in your neighborhood and community. It makes a difference right there, right where and when you can do it.