By the years 2012 and 2013, the council worked on the Palestinian Museum with the help of The Taawon Foundation in Palestine, an entity funded by the Palestinian diaspora to preserve the country’s heritage. The council then proceeded to carry out projects targeting the building of green structures.

“The council continues to spread awareness on the matter through capacity building and similar strategies that extend to the year 2021,” Sharif says.

When it comes to targeting an audience, Sharif highlighted that green buildings are a huge realm and options vary. “We’re talking about concrete and green products which led us to the decision to target the entire Palestinian society. We especially also target architects who have background on green and sustainable design,” she adds.

Sharif as well as the council are huge advocates against synthetic building materials that are notorious for causing cancer. Knowledge that they deploy amongst housewives and students.

“There are not enough incentives for people to go for green buildings whether with tax cuts or otherwise,” she explains. Over the next few years, Sharif will therefore be working on creating such incentives such as, provided a house was built in a sustainable manner, Sharif would file a request to a state institution, be it the ministry of finance or environment, to subsidize part of the building cost.

Along with that, Sharif is working on building a comprehensive database detailing where to get hold of green building materials and consulting services on the matter.

As for funding, the council is steadily getting outside funding while strategizing its next move to self-sustain financially. Sharif continues to spread the word the furthest she can and lectures at Palestinian universities to get more people on board with a sustainable concept.