The Fund supports and activates extra tools that may vary from time to time to
reinforce the organizations:

Regional coalitions:

Jerusalem:
Sustainable Jerusalem Coalition
In 1998, with the ongoing support of the Green Environment Fund, a group of professional architects and planners at SPNI/Jerusalem and the Forum for the Future of Jerusalem founded the Sustainable Jerusalem Coalition (SJC). Backed by thousands of residents active in its 52 member organizations, SJC has evolved into a very real presence in the city. Today it is able to effectively oppose development plans that are incompatible with viable development, while promoting alternate plans at the local level.
SJC's many committees are involved in numerous campaigns and issues affecting the
quality of life in Israel's capital. While significant progress has been made, many issues have yet to be resolved. SJC's successes include crusades to rescue the Jerusalem and Mir Forests and the Gazelle Valley, and ongoing campaigns focusing on the development of the city's new Master Plan, the Light Rail Project, the Promenade development proposal, and expansion plans proposed for Jerusalem's western hills.

Tel Aviv:
Tel Aviv Center for Environmental Action
Tel Aviv-Jaffa is a good place to live yet the challenges the city faces are numerous as the
quality of its life is constantly threatened by irresponsible economic development.

The Center's professional team includes experts in planning, public policy, community members and the media. Most activities focus on strengthening community leadership and
increasing the participation of Tel Aviv-Jaffa residents in the city's planning. A worldview of
social and environmental justice motivates the Center to maintain full cooperation with neighborhood committees and local activists. It is also involved in promoting a concept of
transportation that focuses on the resident-pedestrian as opposed to the automobile, in
preserving the remaining open beaches in the city, and in protecting the city's gardens and
parks.
Thanks to the generous support of the GEF the Center has been able to promote the following projects: expansion of activities by the "Green Forum" - a coalition of community
groups acting to promote an environmental agenda for the city; significant involvement in
developing the city's new Master Plan; presentation of viable development principles and an
alternate plan for the Yarkon Peninsula, Northern Tel Aviv and Jaffa coastlines; advancement
of the cause of public transportation in the city, and protection and conversion of open spaces
for neighborhood use.

Haifa:
Derech Haifa Coalition
Derech Haifa ("Haifa's Way") the grassroots arm of SPNI's Haifa branch is composed of 16 local environmental groups that have united to ensure that the public's voice is heard in all matters affecting quality of life in the city. SPNI provides Derech Haifa with a secure base, reinforces its impact on municipal and planning authorities, and assists with local
activities and campaigns. It also provides Derech Haifa with information regarding planning and construction projects, offers technical and legal advice assists in organizing protests and provides administrative services.

Derech Haifa's campaigns include: protecting Haifa's coastline and unique wadis (valleys)
from development and helping to keep them open to the public; promoting the preservation of the city's open landscapes and preserving the fabric of its historic neighborhoods.

In addition GEF supports the annual environmental conference
"Environmental Power"

Environmental Power Conference

With the support of the Green Fund, every year at the end of winter SHATIL organizes an environmental conference in Israel. The first conference took place in 1999, after a decade of growth and development in the environmental movement set the stage for a countrywide event of this kind. Since then, the conference has fast become a central event in the Israeli environmental movement, with more than 300 people participating annually. The conference provides activists with a unique opportunity to network, create new contacts, share information, and undertake joint projects, thereby strengthening environmental organizations

Topics addressed at the first conference included open spaces, shore protection, air and water pollution, and public participation in planning. People were also introduced to activism tools such as building coalitions and partnerships, and utilizing legal and planning mechanisms. Participants at this first annual conference overwhelmingly indicated its importance and usefulness to the movement.

The second annual conference was held in 2000 and dealt with the connection between environmental and social issues. Sammy Michael, the writer, introduced the day, which was spent learning about environmental justice, the local effects of globalization, and examples of cooperation between Jewish and Arab activists. The final session focused on the important role of the media in the movement.

In 2001, the conference focused on environmental organizations in the context of civil society. Professors Arza Churchman and Elisheva Sadan gave an opening lecture on the different functions of the individual and the community in environmental issues and in civil society. Topics discussed included the connection between the environment and politics, and between
quality government and environmental protection. In addition, the conference focused on pressing current challenges such as the struggle against the Cross Israel Highway. The final session focused on the public sector and the establishment, and their roles as either rivals or partners to the environmental movement.

The fourth environmental conference dealt with "Agenda 21" in preparation for the global summit in Johannesburg. The opening address was titled "Existence: Business Unusual" by Dr. Lea Ettinger from Heschel Center and "Harmonious Environmental Protection" by Shlomo Shoham, the Knesset's Commission for Future Generations. Study groups considered the major accomplishments and setbacks that took place between the Rio Summit in 1992 and that in Johannesburg a decade later. Recurring topics such as the challenge to open spaces and air pollution were discussed along with other critical issues such as transportation, food and agriculture. The closing session of the conference dealt with current events and their role in the local municipal elections.

The fifth conference, in 2003, was held in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv, one of the city's poorer areas, to help participants focus on the role of the city in the environmental movement. Topics that were addressed included coexistence between residents and businesses in an urban setting, the role of green parties in municipal government, consumerism and the temptations of a city, and the question of restoring to a city some of its former charm. The conference concluded with a Florentine circus that integrated different poems about Tel Aviv.

The environmental power conference has become the annual event of the
environmental movement in Israel.

Regional orientation meetings

As of 2004, the SHELI Fund holds regional orientation meetings with SHELI grantees from nationwide. These meetings are targeted to create networking opportunities for local environmental activists and foundation members, and to learn about the additional assistance tools available