Israel’s Ministry of the Interior recently established the International Center for Regional Research and Development in partnership with a consortium of Haifa Bay municipalities. The Center’s academic leadership will be led by Prof. Itai Beeri (School of Political Science) in partnership with UofH’s Research Authority and VP and Dean of Research Mouna Maroun. Prof. Beeri’s research focus lies in local governance, local democracy, central–local relations, spatial inequality and regionalism and is highly published in leading academic journals. Knesset Speaker MK Amir Ohana noted during the ceremony, “The local government has much more influence than the central government, therefore its power must be strengthened as regionalism has the potential for a variety of solutions.” READ MORE (HEBREW)