One of the overall goals of the Partnership 2000 project is to nurture the reciprocal relations between members of the Jewish communities in the Diaspora and residents of their partner regions in Israel, in order to strengthen and deepen their common Jewish identity and expand circles of informal contact between Jews in the Diaspora and in Israel. This year three delegations are heading to Australia from the Arava in July: the traditional reciprocal student delegation, a delegation of adult activists and a two-person teachers' delegation.

• Reciprocal student delegations are one of the Partnership's oldest traditions, and this is the eleventh consecutive year that a delegation of students who have just completed the tenth grade will visit Sydney and Melbourne, where they will be hosted in the homes of the Australian students. By way of preparation for the delegation, the entire grade in the Shittim School in the Arava studies diverse aspects of the subject of "Israel and the Diaspora" over the academic year. The joint exposure to a different culture and to different ways of manifesting Judaism creates an extremely enriching experience for all those involved, and many warm friendships have been formed over the years.
• The adult delegation visiting Australia this year is the fourth of its kind, and the second delegation from among the members of the ALG (Arava Leadership Group), which was founded in both communities in 2002, and has worked since then in continuous cooperation. The seven members of the delegation will be promoting various core issues that are of interest to both communities, in various fields, including education and regional economic and tourism development.
• The Teacher Exchanges between Schools project is in its third year. The project involves the Shittim School in the Arava and Bialik College in Melbourne, and calls for teachers from the partner community to teach at the host school for a period of a few weeks during their own school holidays. During the project's first two years the Arava hosted two teachers from Bialik College, who taught music, art and special education at Shittim, and this year the College is hosting Shittim School principal and vice-principal, Margalit Mor and Shula Garfunkel. Margalit and Shula will be actively involved in teaching Hebrew and special education, as well as playing a vital role in the planning of joint Arava-Australia educational projects.