MIT launches Jerusalem peace competition

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is launching a contest to redesign Jerusalem in a way that fosters peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The “Just Jerusalem” contest, to begin March 31, invites entrants to propose design-based answers to questions at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Reuters reported. Winners in five categories will receive $50,000 fellowships at MIT to work on implementing the winning ideas. “There is a kind of nested set of conflicts that start at a small locality like Jerusalem and work up through the nation-state level of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict,” said Diane Davis, co-director of the project and associate dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. The contest is open to anyone and the deadline for submissions is Dec. 31. Winners will be announced next March.