Ben-Gurion University and UM6P building their future collaboration around sustainability

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco have initiated discussions to collaborate on scientific research projects, in addition to students and faculty exchange programs.

This collaboration – expected to be one of the first formal ones between Universities from Morocco and Israel - should focus on Sustainability topics, namely Agriculture, Water, Energy and Ecological Restoration.

This partnership will be supported by both Global companies ICL (Israel) and OCP (Morocco). The related Memorandum of Understanding is expected to be signed by mid-October.

Ben-Gurion University President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz: "BGU and UM6P have much in common. From their desert settings to their focus on applied research and innovative teaching methods, the two universities are well suited to collaborate on projects in sustainability and climate change. Both universities are committed to thriving in the desert in a "Green" environment, and both look outward – focused on helping our regions, countries and the world."

Mr. Hicham El Habti, UM6P President declared “We are confident that linking science and technology institutions from both countries would have a major impact on people at a local and regional levels. UM6P and BGU consider scientific research as key component for development, especially on sustainability matters. That is why we have identified this topic as a first step for our collaboration”.

BGU recently consolidated 50 years of research into the School of Sustainability and Climate Change and UM6P has put this subject as top priority of its research and education programs, within its Green Tech Institute launched last year and its School of Agriculture, Fertilizers and Environmental Sciences launched in 2015.