Dialogue with the Public
Renovation of the Original Potash Factory Site and Construction of the Heritage Center in Sdom
The first potash factory in Israel was constructed in the northern area of the Dead Sea in 1930 and expanded southwards to Sdom in 1934. It became the largest Zionist industry in pre-state Israel, contributing more than 50% of exports from Mandatory Palestine.
In the pre-state days the phosphate factory was considered the elite of pioneering dedication in developing an industry out of nothing. The factory merged a unique mosaic of Jews, Arabs, Druze, kibbutz members and city-folk, who worked together to create and institutionalize dynamic social and community life under almost impossible conditions, playing an important role in protecting the Dead Sea region during the War of Independence.
ICL is currently renovating the workers’ camp in Sdom, transforming it into a visitors’ center that will display the factory’s work in the past and at present. The historic buildings at the workers’ camp in Sdom will be renovated as a “cultural site”, displaying the history of the potash industry in pre-state Israel, where the Dead Sea Works proudly display their integral role in the heritage of the formidable industry that was established on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The project is being conducted in cooperation with the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel and the Tzionei Derech project of the Prime Minister’s Office.
CAP – Community Advisory Panel Forum
ICL companies in the Negev maintain mutual communication with environmental organizations, local authorities, government ministries, statutory authorities, universities, research institutes and the civil community on diverse topics related to the company’s activities and its points of contact with residents and the environment, in order to promote positive and fruitful relationships. Communication with stakeholders focuses on several areas, the most important being the Community Advisory Panel – CAP, a joint forum for representatives of industries in the Negev, local residents and “green” organizations. The CAP holds regular meetings to create realistic discussions on environmental quality, based on reliable and professional data, and a productive discussion between industry and the various stakeholders.
The CAP is a forum based on joint meetings held once every few months, between ICL representatives in the Negev and residents living adjacent to the plants, green organizations, etc. Within the forum participants discuss problems and issues that are important to both parties, mainly environmental issues that concern the residents, as well as cooperative initiatives between ICL and the community.
Visits to ICL Plants
ICL opens its plants to visits from the broad public hosted by professional guides who present the past, present and future of ICL’s production facilities. Tens of thousands of people visit ICL’s plants annually.
ICL’s places an emphasis on visits during the Israeli holidays of Sukkot and Passover, when ICL partners with local area hotels and guests to invite visitors to the Sdom site, where guides, who are residents of the area and qualified by the Ministry of Tourism, show them around the site. ICL employees also join these visits and add information, where possible. ICL believes that these direct meetings and exposure of its work and discussions of core values are vital to creating a sense of shared communication and trust between ICL and the general public.
ICL places an emphasis on visits by students studying subjects such as geography, environmental sciences, earth sciences, biology, ecology, geology, chemistry and others. ICL has instituted special guided tours for these groups, based on research studies, discussing dilemmas connected to the environment, economics, society, industry, etc., and examining various alternatives as solutions. Course lecturers from universities are active partners in the organization, guiding and leading these tours.
A gift is provided to each visitor to the centers – a bag with seeds, which is, in itself, a contribution to the environment.
