The Arena for Social Change

The Arena for Social Change is a student civil society engagement educational initiative aimed at introducing students to Israeli civil society and encouraging them to take part in it in various forms. The Arena for Social Change allows students to better understand the social challenges Israel faces and to actively develop their ideas and skills for how to best address those challenges at the level of the non-governmental sector. Mentored by experts from the Israeli civil society - social entrepreneurs, volunteers and managers of nonprofit organizations - students work together in hands-on projects to understand and nurture constructive social change.

In their first year, students are provided with the ideational building blocks needed to understand the role of civil society in healthy democracies, as well as a survey of the evolution and current state of civil society in Israel. This, through bi-monthly classes, guest lectures, study-tours, as well as meetings with heads of various nonprofits in Israel. Once the theoretical infrastructure is in place, students are mentored in their second year by leading social actors who will guide them in their efforts to identify social challenges and potential response strategies to those strategies. This "R&D" stage serves as the basis for the program's third and final year, during which students put their response strategies into action. Going from the planning stage to its implementation can be challenging, and students will benefit from seed-money and professional guidance throughout the various stages of forming coalitions, identifying and recruiting potential partners, defying objections, fundraising and de facto creating a long-standing social benefit.

The program is designed for students of the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy & Strategy in their first year of studies and will commence in spring 2021. The program is managed by former Member of Knesset, Dr. Adi Koll – Dean of the Students at the IDC Herzliya – and Ms. Galit Berdugo, Head of the Dean's Office and Lecturer at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy.

We would like to thank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for their partnership and support in the program.