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Green Festival in Haifa — Ideas, Events, and New Connections

The Yarok Festival is a long-standing ecological event brand that for many years was held in Jerusalem and became a symbol of sustainable living and environmental thinking. This year, the festival expanded to include Haifa, where from June 5 to 7, 2025, a series of vibrant “green” events took place. The festival was organized by Letizia Piatelli with the support of the Haifa and Bay Area Nature and Environment Forum.

We, the Russian-speaking volunteers, decided to join local environmental activists and become part of the Yarok Haifa organizing committee. We helped with logistics, ideas, and promotion, and proposed several initiatives of our own.

🛠 Events Organized by Other Initiatives

In addition to our own activities, other organizations participated with a wide range of events:

• Re-Haifa Public Group — a roundtable on creating a culture of repair, upcycling, and sustainability in Haifa; a platform for sharing ideas and developing cooperative practices.
• Gardening Workshops and Eco Walks — outdoor events helping residents discover urban nature, plants, and sustainable gardening methods.
• Environmental Lectures and Seminars — discussions focused on waste reduction, mindful consumption, and zero-waste lifestyles.

🌱 Our Own Activities

• Swap-Party — exchange of women’s accessories and small items where everyone could bring unused things and find something new.
• Tiny Eco Heroes — Give Your Toys a New Adventure — a toy swap and creative workshops for children and parents, focused on building hybrid toys and creative reuse.
• Roundtable on Furniture Repair and Recycling — discussion about why furniture should not end up on the street and how to encourage repair and reuse.

🤝 What’s Next

• Make such events regular and diverse
• Expand the format to include more workshops, creative actions, and exhibitions
• Engage people from various communities — children, parents, seniors, students

Our experience at Yarok Haifa shows that when different initiatives work together — when Russian-speaking volunteers join forces with local green activists — we can achieve a meaningful impact: the city becomes more sustainable and more aware.