BLOCYP: Between London, Cyprus, and Palestine: Waste History in the British Eastern Mediterranean

Between London, Cyprus, and Palestine (BLOCYP) aims to uncover the origins of waste treatment policies in two Eastern Mediterranean territories under British rule. BLOCYP uses Colonial Cyprus and the British Mandate of Palestine as case studies for examining sanitary challenges faced by Mediterranean cities during their rapid urbanization between the 1920s and 1940s. The project investigates five central cities: Nicosia and Famagusta (Cyprus), Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Jaffa (Israel/Palestine), allowing for various comparisons between countries, capital cities, and port cities.

BLOCYP tackles three key issues: British sanitary policy regarding urban waste treatment, adaptation of sanitary solutions to local conditions and needs, and the role of British networks in spreading sanitary ideology and knowledge. The research facilitates a deeper understanding of British colonial sanitary perceptions and their local applications. Thus, it is a valuable case study for territories worldwide that underwent British rule. Additionally, it examines if the type of territory – permanent colony or temporary mandate – influenced British sanitation policy. BLOCYP aims to shed light on the roots of modern waste pollution and explore the migration of sanitary knowledge between Europe and the Mediterranean. After all, just as our approach toward waste reflects our way of living and values, it was the same a century ago.