In Lebanon, who is it to blame? The people’s mentality or the government or both at the same time?

These questions and more were addressed in Ibsar’s second Ta3a Ne7ke debate titled: “The Effect of Nature: Do we have to be surrounded by Green Space to care for it?”
The debate was moderated by Dr. Arne Dietrich, Professor of Psychology at AUB.  The speakers included: Beirut Mayor and AUB Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor, Dr. Bilal Hamad; Vice President of IT at AUB, Dr. Rita Khayat; President of LibanTrek, Dr. Michel Moufarege; and Head of Social Media Exchange (SMEX), Mrs. Jessica Dheere.
Each of the speakers took a different stance and addressed the issue of public space, in general, and green space, in specific, from a different angle, taking the discussion in diverse directions.

According to Moufarege, the inaccessibility of green space in various areas in Lebanon, due to the lack of attention and care, hinders the economic benefit which can result from it. He said, “trails and footpaths are part of our heritage,” adding that people tend to be enemies to what they ignore. The challenge, therefore, lies in increasing people’s interests. The roads leading to hiking areas, for example, are not easily accessible, while the trails and the footpaths are completely ignored and unattended to. If cared for, these trails could be a touristic attraction, forming a hiking destination, he stated.

Inaccessibility is not the only problem. Dr. Khayat believes that there is an ingrained mentality in the Lebanese culture validated by the lack of a sense of belonging to public space. The Lebanese people, according to her, seem to believe that what is not theirs, or does not belong to them, is simply not theirs to care for. Therefore, unless the space is “owned” by them, they do not feel responsible for caring for it. The solution to this problem lies in educating the youth in schools and at home to respect public spaces.
Mrs. Dheere, on the other hand, stated that being surrounded by green space does not necessarily entice you to care for it in the same way that living next to a bookstore would increase your passion about reading. What we lack, according to her, is a sense of common good and the need to care for ourselves in the first degree. Common green spaces, like public parks, for instance, would be one solution to overcome this problem. She also mentioned that aside from educating the youth and the public, it is really important to educate the developers as well, since they will be responsible for funding any new projects in public spaces.

The last to speak was Dr. Hamad who relayed the difficulties he faces as Mayor of Beirut. He stated that Lebanon, in general, and the municipality, in specific, lacks the involvement of people ready to help out in materializing visions.  Dr. Hamad said that we have around 10 green, open spaces in Beirut, but they are all abused. With the help of the French, he is hoping to upgrade the said green spaces, including the Beirut Hippodrome, Horsh Beirut, and Sanayeh Garden. Dr. Hamad stressed the point that Lebanon lacks any notion of maintenance, and does not, therefore, provide a budget for such a thing. He promised to do his best to preserve and maintain green public spaces in Beirut. Currently the municipality is engaged in the ugrading of three public gardens, namely, Sanayeh, Syoufi, and Mar Nkoola with the help of three well-known and well-established Landscape Designers. He added that the best means to achieve any positive result would be to change the mentality and the culture of the Lebanese people towards preservation and respect for green spaces, in specific, and public spaces, in general.