When in 2006 rockets from Hezbollah reigned on Israel during the second Lebanese war, casualties and victims were mourned regardless of their faith, gender, age or ethnicity. Some rockets also landed in Wadi Nisnas, which became one of the central Arab neighbourhoods of Haifa for the Arab population that could stay in their hometown after the Israeli-Arab war of 1948/1949. 

The rockets on Haifa sparked Shatil to ponder about projects, how to increase the sense of togetherness in the diverse city. That is why Shatil launched the project “Haifa as a Model City of Joint Living”. This project comprised the study of best practice of shared living and its implication for Haifa. The results of this longterm activities were now summarized in a publication with the support of Hanns Seidel Foundation. 

The book “Haifa - Between Reality and Vision for a Shared City” provides not only international case studies of a shared city, such as advocated since a long time by the Club of Madrid. It also recounts the different narratives of the local population of Haifa, telling their experiences, joys and nuisances of living in such a diverse city. 

On September 13, the book was launched during a conference in the Haifa Museum of Art. At the ceremony, Shahira Shalabi, director of Shatil’s Shared Society Program, and Rolly Rosen, coordinator and editor of the publication, gave insights about the findings of the research study on intercommunity relations in Haifa and their personal experiences as citizens of Haifa. Furthermore, Ruben Campos, the Head of the Shared Societies Project at Club of Madrid, talked about an international perspective and developments to promote shared societies in the framework of a global initiative that supports leadership for dialogue and social cohesion.

In the following panel discussion Haifa residents and experts of different fields engaged in a dialogue about social change in the mixed community of Haifa. They addressed topics, spanning from education in mixed neighborhoods, housing and urban planning as well as combined education for children from different ethnic and religious backgrounds.
It is now planned to develop project ideas for future activities basing on international best practice as well as local accounts and experiences.