The Technion Campus abounds in many green areas that are maintained with permanent landscaping. Technion gardening is based on local vegetation, which does not require a lot of maintenance or large amounts of water and is typical of the area in which it is located.
The geographic location of the Technion on Mount Carmel affects the abundant vegetation that characterizes the campus, which is surrounded by a forest on its southern side, and also contains many groves within it. Next to the student house is Kislik Forest, and south of it is Lockey Garden which was inaugurated in 2009.
The Technion also operates a well-kept ecological garden, alongside community gardens that operate in various campus complexes, for example in the dormitory complexes. The Rifkin dormitories are an example of the combination of living in the heart of a natural forest between avenues of trees, alongside community gardens that are the responsibility of the students.
General Background
The Technion Agronomists, Hanoch Burger Agronomists Ltd., says that the concept of gardening areas and open spaces focuses on several areas:
- The Technion as a campus whose area includes approximately 1,200 dunams, including gardening areas and natural forest/woodland areas, is responsible for the preservation and cultivation of the remaining parts of the forest, which are of great scenic value.
- The aesthetic nature of the campus’s planning integrates as much as possible with the nature of the natural forest, including: use of natural plant species in the Carmel and vegetation that requires little maintenance and less addition of water.
- The campus’s aesthetic level and its unique natural/design atmosphere are essential values for both the student population and the Technion’s employee population, which must be preserved.
“We believe that the appearance of the Technion is of great importance, contributing greatly to the student atmosphere made possible by the open and cultivated space. Furthermore, this appearance affects the appearance and quality of the campus and contributes greatly to the preference of new students to the Technion over other academic institutions, when choosing where to study”, says Hanoch Burger.
Over the last two years, the Technion’s management has been investing resources to improve the gardening and irrigation infrastructures, and in the process, the control system for the irrigation system has been restored and upgraded, and water meters have been installed at all the heads of the system, which allow accurate water allocation, not based on estimates (as was done before installation of the meters). The Technion’s needs are not only reflected in maintenance, but also in improvement and looking at the long term, and for this reason the budget should be based on three components together: maintenance, restoration and preservation.
Recently, the issue came up of the proximity of the campus to forest and grove areas and the need to deal with reducing the sensitivity to fire incidents, which also requires reference and allocation of resources. Hanoch Burger: “We see great importance in constant cooperation with Technion entities such as: the student union, external relations, etc., for any issue of synchronization and coordination of activities, ceremonies, events, etc., both at the operative level and at the level of the budget and allocation of resources required for the purpose of carrying out the various activities.”
