The House of Water and Environment (HWE) is a Palestinian not-for-profit NGO that was established in 2004. HWE aims to promote practical research into the current and future state of water resources and the environment in Palestine and across the region. Although environmental issues are frequently in the news, little understanding surrounds the need to combine different notions of social, technical, economic, etc sustainability in order to achieve development outcomes that both provide for national development and help to achieve poverty reduction. HWE aims to address this need through mobilizing local and international networks and partnerships to promote a broader analysis of sustainable water resource development and better ‘governance' of the resource. By providing a regional base for networking and partnering around the common theme of water resources sustainability, HWE will seek opportunities to establish a Middle East Water Centre for Sustainability in order to implement a wide range of activities including research, dissemination of knowledge and training.

The main goals of House of Water and Environment:-

 

• Act as a hub for technology knowledge for water and environmental information and best practices.
  
   

• Publish periodically leaflets and publications to educate the public and raise environmental awareness.
  
   

• Hold seminars, workshops, lectures and technical training courses on knowledge-sharing and capacity building.
  
   

• Develop simulation models to solve water and environmental problems both at the national and regional levels.
  
   

• Strengthen partnership with Palestinian Authority institutions through long-term cooperation.
  
   

• Offer advisory services to the Palestinian National Authority in designing projects and plans related to water resources and other environmental issues. HWE will also offer advice to local as well as international development organizations in preparing feasibility studies and evaluating existing and future projects and research.
  
   

• Help the Palestinian community through conducting research and studies to support the development of water and environmental strategies, decision support tools and plans that consider all possible technical, administrative, social and economic aspects.
  
   

• Follow- up national and international scientific activities related to water and environment.
  
   

• Develop a scientific library that includes a water and environment data bank for Palestine and neighboring countries.

In promoting all the above goals, HWE staff will work to:

• Ensure that the Palestinians receive a just allocation of water and sanitation services

• Help develop negotiations skills for addressing the Palestinian water rights.

• Encourage participatory approaches in the socio-economic dimension of its activities in order to help improve living standards and poverty alleviation.
   

The chief asset of HWE is its human capital, comprising a research team of highly qualified staff, drawn from a range of disciplines including engineering, hydrology, hydrochemistry, isotopes, mathematics, groundwater flow and pollution modelling, small wastewater treatment units , brackish water treatment, decision support system tools, water resources management and planning, rainfall and climate change impacts, and socio-economic analysis.

The organization is especially distinguished by its GIS software experts who have participated in a number of projects that have used the program for data analysis and result illustration and dissemination. The wide range of expertise greatly strengthens the organization foundations.

This expertise is not only limited to theoretical research but also extends to more practical field applications such as groundwater development and exploration, design and construction of deep groundwater wells, developing hydrological monitoring systems, water supply and network analysis, ... etc.

The key members of HWE are the core team of the 5 year project (1999-2004), "Sustainable Management of the West Bank and Gaza Strip Aquifers-SUSMAQ", which was implemented in cooperation with University of Newcastle and the Palestinian Water Authority and funded by the UK Department for International Development.