Prof. Rassem Khamaisi

Full professor at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Haifa. He is an urban and regional planner and geographer. A strong focus of his efforts is aimed towards alternative and counter-urban planning, urban geography, and water management, besides a concentration on public administration, public participation, local government, and urban management.

He is a member of various professional international and local associations and NGOs involved in public and environmental policy issues, planning, and development. Khamaisi was elected in 2007 as President of the Israeli Geographical Association. He is the manager of a private company (Center for Planning and Studies), which engages in urban and strategic planning and management. Khamaisi has received the "Yakir haTichnun” decoration for the year 2012– a notable recognition of the Israeli Association of Planners. From November 2013- October 2017, Khamaisi also held the position of Head of Jewish-Arab Center at Haifa University between 2013-2017. Between October 2017 – September 2018, he was a visiting professor/researcher at Queen University Belfast and the Technical University of Berlin. Throughout his career, Khamaisi has adopted the notion of planner as an ‘Initiator’ and ‘Social Changer’. He has sought to combine research with practice in order to enrich both. His focus and orientation are three-dimensional: academic, professional, and public service on the international, national, and local levels, with the aim of promoting social change, community sustainability, and peacebuilding.  In terms of peacebuilding, he is familiar with various alternative dispute management methodologies.

Prof. Khamaisi earned his Ph.D. in Geography (1993) from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, MSc (1985) from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, and a B.A. in Geography from the Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva (1981). He has many publications in local and international journals.