ABSTRACT

Across North America, a vibrant Jewish environmental culture is flourishing, attracting young adults and inspiring many people to live more sustainably.  How has this Jewish environmental field grown in the last decade? In what regions are Jewish environmental initiatives most active? How many individuals do they  reach? Now a new report, created by the Jewish environmental movement, assesses  124 Jewish environmental initiatives to explore the state of this growing field.

In the last ten years, the Jewish environmental field has seen exponential growth.  Across North America, a vibrant Jewish environmental culture is flourishing, attracting young adults and inspiring many people — Jews and non-Jews — to live more sustainably. The Green Hevra, a network of Jewish environmental initiatives, is proud to present the Green Hevra Report 2014, a study exploring the growth, scale, focus and challenges facing today’s Jewish environmental field. This report, created by the Jewish environmental movement, assesses 124 Jewish environmental initiatives to clarify and communicate the state of the field. How has the Jewish environmental field grown in the last decade? In what regions are Jewish environmental initiatives most active? How many individuals do they reach? What is the average budget of Jewish environmental initiatives in North America, and how are they staffed? What challenges are faced by this young and growing new movement in Jewish life? For example, the report finds that:

• Almost three-quarters of Jewish environmental initiatives are focusing on education, while significantly fewer organizations focus their attention on environmental improvements in Jewish institutions, grant-making or advocacy.
• The Jewish environmental field includes over 200,000 participants each year, and reaches nearly 700,000 readers with its communications materials.
• The total budget reported for the field was approximately $24 million.

This report complements and adds to the information base created by Seeds of Opportunity: A National Study on Immersive Jewish Outdoor, Food, and Environmental Education (JOFEE), which assessed the impact on Jewish education outcomes from a specific set of immersive programs taking place within the Jewish outdoor, food and environmental education fields. The new report takes a more comprehensive view of Jewish environmental organizations, assessing the nature of this growing field, and providing a new set of data for practitioners, funders and researchers to understand the field as a whole.

• Click here to download "Gleanings from our Field: Green Hevra Report 2014"