Resources

Working Paper | February 2015
Economic Impacts of Adopting a Sustainable Transport System in Beirut by Mazen Omran, Johnny Ojeil, and Youssef Fawaz
​The work carried out in this paper demonstrates the economic benefit of a sustainable transport system. It compared a scenario with and without such system, and calculated loss time as a result of being held up in congestion during key peak hours mainly due to relying entirely on the private car. The work demonstrates that in addition to reducing congestion levels a sustainable transport system will generate benefits related to travel time...

Working Paper | February 2015
Getting to Campus: Sustainable Public Transportation and Relocating the American University in Cairo by Richard Tutwiler, Hagar Eldidi, Yumna Kassim, and Andrew Petrovich
​Cairo is one of the most congested cities in the world, and public transportation is one of its greatest challenges. Government strategies to alleviate congestion have stressed horizontal expansion into the surrounding desert areas and the construction of more and ever larger motorways. This paper uses the experience of the American University in Cairo, which physically relocated in 2008 from...

Working Paper | February 2015
Harnessing Motorists' Potential Demand for Hybrid-Electric Vehicles in Lebanon: Policy Options, CO2 Emissions Reduction and Welfare Gains by Alexandra Irani and Ali Chalak
Public concern over deteriorating air quality and the associated local and global impacts has grown significantly in the past decade. Air quality degradation is linked first and foremost to the transportation sector in the Arab region with about 90% of total emissions of carbon monoxide resulting from transportation activities. In Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, current levels of ozone and smog...

Working Paper | February 2015
Sustainable Transportation in the Arab World: International Benchmarking on Sustainable Transport Policies and their Impacts by Issam Kaysi and Farid Chaaban
​The world’s transport sector still suffers from unsustainable trends that lead to increased levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There have been efforts, in the Arab world, as well as the rest of the world, to tackle the issue. Work done in the US and Europe exceeds that of the Arab world, and their efforts have been successful, and have thus succeeded in reducing GHG emissions. In the Arab world, most...

ما الحرية؟ كيف يتم تعريفها في أصولها الفلسفية وكيف نفهمها في ظل الواقع المأساوي التي تعيشه بلادنا؟ هذا هو السؤال الأساسي الذي يحاول هذا الكتيب الإجابة عنه من خلال استعراض مفهوم الكلمة في الفلسفة والسياسة والدين، ومقابلتها من ثمّ مع الواقع السوري. يطرح الباحث في هذا الكتاب عددا من الأسئلة الكبيرة حول الحرية، ثم يقودنا في رحلة بين المقولات النظرية والمعطيات الواقعية، ليس لوضع إجابات على الأسئلة وإنما “لفتح طاقات المعنى والكلام الحر.. في الحرية”. الحرية، تأليف: ماهر مسعود.

الكتيبات المنشورة في هذه السلسلة موجهة بالدرجة الأولى إلى الشباب من 18 إلى 35 سنة وهي تهدف إلى ترميم الثغرة في المفاهيم السياسية والحقوقية الناتجة عن العوز المعرفي الذي تعاني منه المناهج التعليمية السورية. تغلب على كتيبات سلسلة «التربية المدنية » صفة العمومية وعدم التخصص العميق. فهي بمثابة بانوراما عامة أولية تقدم الخطوة الأولى لمن يريد أن يستزيد في القراءة والبحث. من الموضوعات التي صدرت تباعاً في هذه السلسلة: )بدعم من المنظمة الأورومتوسطية لدعم المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان(

Policy Brief | August 2014
Commuters’ Behavior towards Upgraded Bus Services in Greater Beirut: Role of Itinerary and Implications for Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Social Welfare and Transport Policy by Ali Chalak, Hani Al-Naghi,Alexandra Irani, and Maya Abou-Zeid
​Potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and social welfare gains can be achieved from upgrading the bus service in the Greater Beirut Area through a bundle of realistic bus service improvements in the short term. Such improvements will need to be comprehensive in scope and include both improvements in bus level of service...

Policy Brief | August 2014
Economic Impacts of Adopting a Sustainable Transport System in Beirut by Mazen Omran, Johnny Ojeil, and Youssef Fawaz
​The current congestion levels in the Beirut Central District (BCD) are not acceptable. These levels are expected to get worse with further development proposed in the BCD and New Waterfront District. Beirut will not be able to economically compete with other cities as it is lacking a comprehensive multi-modal transport system. One way to improve this situation is by introducing a more sustainable transportation system. In addition to reducing...

Policy Brief | August 2014
The Experience of AUC and the Need for Public Transportation for New Cairo, Egypt by Richard Tutwiler, Hagar Eldidi, Yumna Kassim, and Andrew Petrovich
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Policy Brief | August 2014
Jeanne d’Arc Street; A Model Pedestrian-Friendly Street for all of Beirut by Cynthia Myntti and
Mounir Mabsout
Walking, it has been said, is the ultimate form of sustainable public transportation. Beirut, however, is one of the most pedestrian unfriendly cities in the world. Many streets do not even have sidewalks, and where they exist, they are often broken, or obstructed, or hazardous when wet. In 2010, two units at AUB, the Neighborhood Initiative and the Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service, joined forces to design Beirut’s first barrier-free walkway...

Policy Brief | August 2014
Sustainable Transportation in the Arab World: International Benchmarking on Sustainable Transport Policies and their Impacts by Issam Kaysi and Farid Chaaban
​The world’s transport sector still suffers from unsustainable trends that lead to increased levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. There have been efforts, in the Arab world, the United States and Europe, as well as the rest of the world, to tackle the issue. Much work remains to reach a sustainable transport system in the Arab world, but the recommendations presented offer basic guidelines on how to proceed...

Research Report | July 2014
History of Climate Change Negotiations and the Arab Countries The Case of Egypt by Ibrahim Abdel Gelil
Even though Egypt’s share of Global Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) emissions is less than 1 %, Egypt has proved to be one of the most vulnerable countries to the potential risks of climate change. The most vulnerable sectors include coastal zones, water resources, and agriculture. Estimates show that a Sea Level Rise would lead to the permanent submersion of large areas of cropland in the Nile Delta, and accelerate the trend of desertification that is worsening the...

Working Paper | June 2014
Climate Change in Lebanon: Higher-order Regional Impacts from Agriculture by Nadim Farajalla, Eduardo A. Haddad, Marina Camargo, Ricardo Lopes, and Flavio Vieira
This working paper analyzes the susceptibility of agricultural outputs to future climate change in Lebanon, and the extent to which it propagates to the economic system as a whole. A methodological framework in which physical and economic models are integrated for assessing the higher-order economic impacts of projected climate changes is used. The researchers then quantify the broader economic impacts in the...

Research Report | May 2014
Relative Deprivation and Politics in the Arab Uprisings by Asya el-Meehy
This study seeks to assess the relative weights of economic and political grievances across the uprisings in Bahrain, Egypt, and Tunisia. Highlighting the unique shared role of middle class youth, it contends that these constituencies have suffered from relative deprivation, despite deliberate efforts by authoritarian regimes to shield them through new targeted social protection initiatives. Nonetheless, economic grievances were not always the primary driving dynamic of protests and the...

Research Report | April 2014
Impact of Population Growth and Climate Change on Water Scarcity, Agricultural Output and Food Security
This research project brought together several teams from across multiple countries to conduct a review and analysis on a wide range of complex, interconnected topics. Any one of these issues (e.g. climate change, population dynamics, food security and water security) can allow for vast and deep exploration. Seeking to integrate the concepts into unified analysis that is comprehensive and coherent is both exceptionally challenging and incredibly necessary. By...

Research Report | April 2014
Impact of Population Growth and Climate Change on Water Scarcity, Agricultural Output and Food Security
This research project brought together several teams from across multiple countries to conduct a review and analysis on a wide range of complex, interconnected topics. Any one of these issues (e.g. climate change, population dynamics, food security and water security) can allow for vast and deep exploration. Seeking to integrate the concepts into unified analysis that is comprehensive and coherent is both exceptionally challenging and incredibly necessary. By...

الديمقراطية بالتعريف هي حكم الشعب. ومفهومها حيوي متطور يغتني بما يلقاه في مسيرته العملية من تنوعات وخصائص دون أن يفقد ثوابته المركزية الأصلية التي تجعل منه هدفا ساميا تتوق إليه الشعوب. لكن ما هي هذه الثوابت؟ وكيف ينظر إليها في الدول التي تعاني من الصراع؟ وما هي إشكالاتها؟ وهل تتساوى الشعوب في استعدادها للديمقراطية؟ مجموعة من الأسئلة الهامة التي يحاول هذا الكتيّب تقديم إجابات واضحة لها. وائل السواح باحث سوري في مجال المجتمع المدني والسياسة ومؤلف مشارك لعدد من الكتب السياسية حول سوريا. وهو يشغل حاليا منصب المدير التنفيذي لمنظمة “اليوم التالي” ورئيس تحرير موقع “السيريان ابزرفر”. الديمقراطية،...

ليس مصطلح العلمانية دلالة أحادية جامعة مانعة فهو مصطلح إجرائي وعملي لا يتمتع برؤية فكرية أو سياسية محددة مما يعطي للعلمانية معنى أوسع من مجرد معناها الشائع: “فصل الدين عن الدولة”. في هذا الكتيب يقودنا الباحث بين التعريفات المختلفة لمصطلح العلمانية ليرسم لنا أخيرا العلاقة بين المواطنة والعلمانية مؤكدا أن “العلمانية هي حجر الزاوية لبناء علاقات المواطنة وبناء المجتمع الحديث”. العلمانية، تأليف: طارق عزيزة.

تسعى هذه السلسة إلى أن تكون مدماكا في بنيان الذاكرة الجمعية السورية في زمن الأزمة الكبرى التي تعصف بها . السلسلة مفتوحة أمام الجميع دون أي تمييز في الميول السياسية أو الإيديولوجية .

أصوات سورية من زمن ما قبل الثورة – المجتمع المدني رغم كل الصعوبات يتضمن هذا الكتاب، مجموعة من الدراسات، وهي مقتطفات أدبية مدنيّة، بأقلام بعض ناشطي المجتمع المدني، يتحدثون فيها عن تجاربهم وآفاق عملهم المدني، ومعضلاته وإنجازاته. ولا شكّ في أنّ تجارب السوريين الماضية في بناء مجتمع مدني قائمٍ على مواطنيّة فاعلة وتشاركيّة، والإنجازات التي تحققت رغم كل العقبات، قبل ولادة الثورة، سوف تُساعد على تحديد آفاق الجهود المستقبليّة الرامية إلى إعادة الإعمار والمصالحة والتنمية.