On Tuesday, April 12 the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev will hold a Discussion Panel and Public Debate event titled, “Between Ben-Gurion’s Vision and Ben-Gurion University". The event is a joint initiative of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev, as part of the effort to promote an open dialogue between the academia, the public service, civil society and local residents.

The panel will focus on the relationship between the city of Beer Sheba and the academic institutions within, particularly Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, by presenting a study conducted by M.A. students from the Urban and Regional Planning Program at the Geography and Environmental Development Department at Ben-Gurion University. The study paints a complex picture according to which most university students in Beer Sheba have no plans of making the city their home following graduation. Moreover, it reveals that the students' significant presence in the city’s central neighborhoods has an adverse effect on these areas. This, in turn, creates a self-sustaining process by which the students' negative experience of a deplorable urban reality pushes them to leave the city.

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Itzhak Aharonovich and host Prof. Pua Yekutiel, Dr. Nurit Elfasi of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Dr. Heftzi Zohar, Deputy Mayor of Beer Sheba and Director General of the city's Education Department who will also participate in the event.

The event will take place on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, between 5-8 pm. The public is invited.