Founded in 1996 by the President of Israel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres, the Peres Center conducts dozens of projects, involving thousands of Israelis and Palestinians, fostering socio-economic cooperation and people-to-people interaction. Programs are designed to empower the populations of this region to be actively engaged in peacebuilding in order to advance the creation of a real, effective and durable peace, in fields such as medicine, sports, agriculture, the environment, business, education, youth, technology, the arts, and more.