The Galilee Society works in two spheres: the General Program and Strategic Projects.
The General Program consists of 4 professional departments:
• The Health Rights Center
• The Environmental Justice Center
• The Naqab Department
• Rikaz Databank
In achieving our development goals, we are committed to a rights-based approach.
We have refined the approach to include four constituent parts:
Research:
Survey design and implementation, data collection and analysis, and documentation of community need.
Advocacy:
Campaigns and litigation, often in conjunction with community groups and other local and international NGOs.
Education:
Organizing and facilitating training workshops, study days, conferences, classes and summer camps, and publishing reports, guidebooks and other educational materials in Arabic.
Direct Development:
Model service provision for the most marginalized groups.
The Galilee Society´s Strategic Projects are a tremendous leap forward for the organization, signaling a new stage of institutional development in terms of complexity of the issues confronted, staff expertise required and size of the budgets needed for their implementation.
The Strategic Projects are:
• The Regional Research and Development (R&D) Center, staffed by scientists in the fields of agriculture, environment, biotechnology, toxicology, molecular biology, and pharmacology, as well as lab technicians and university students that conduct scientific research. The R&D Center is recognized by the Israeli Government and affiliated with Haifa University.
• The Appropriate Technology Consortium (ATC), which is a cooperative effort of Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian scientists coordinated by the Galilee Society. The ATC seeks to establish low-cost, replicable wastewater treatment and reuse systems in rural areas in the Middle East. The ATC is the Galilee Society´s first regional development initiative and the first Galilee Society project to receive USAID funding.
The Galilee Society also plays a major role in strengthening Palestinian civil society in Israel. In line with its objectives, it incubates new Palestinian NGOs in conjunction with local partners, and provides financial and professional support to help new organizations become independent and self-sustaining. Examples of recent initiatives include: Ittijah, an umbrella network for Arab NGOs in Israel, and Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. Both are now independent associations.
The Galilee Society fosters and maintains alliances with local, regional, and international bodies, including citizens´ groups, municipal and local councils, and professional associations. The Galilee Society has consistently shown that it is capable of empowering communities, managing complex initiatives of national significance for the Arab minority in Israel, making connections across borders, and offering cutting-edge solutions to regional problems.