Constraints to assets, waste to resources: integrating green technologies in a novel pilot project for drylands

The semi-nomadic Bedouin of the Israeli desert have been undergoing sedentarisation which has affected both their lifestyles and their livelihoods. A multi-disciplinary team has been working on the planning and design of a sustainable farming project for a Bedouin community. A site of 40 ha located in the semi-arid Negev desert serves as a pilot project integrating green principles, practices and technologies, aimed at improving production process and economic potential through soil improvement, recycling of wastewater, solar energy and co-generation, composting of solid waste, biogas production, green buildings, and the re-introduction of indigenous species of vegetables, medicinal plants, herbs and spices that have been marginalised. With integration in mind as the main guideline, the design team aims at utilising each activity's waste as the resource for another activity, preferably onsite, through rigorous scientific evaluation and economic cost–benefit analysis. The project is already under construction.