Background
For the EU and the Europeans, knowledge of the Euro-Mediterranean region is important. For one, there is an intellectual duty owing to the Mediterranean identity of a part of Europe. A broad understanding of the region in an interdisciplinary manner, involving political, economic, human rights, historic, cultural and social development perspectives is an asset. On the other hand, there is an increasing policy relevance of this knowledge, as several interrelated challenges take place in an immediate neighbourhood of the EU: migration, democratization, radicalization, unemployment etc.
To approach the contemporary and future challenges facing the Euro-Mediterranean region and thus the EU, the study of the Euro-Mediterranean integration needs to be better integrated into the curricula of the existing study programmes. An important aspect of doing so is to get the students themselves to recognise and debate the relevance of the EU values in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Project
The proposed project builds a Knowledge Hub on the Euro-Mediterranean region (hence, MED-HUB) at EMUNI. The project aims at explaining, discussing and developing the EU’s engagement in the Euro-Mediterranean region on the one hand and generating interest in the EU’s activities by students on the other hand. MED-HUB will reinforce the link between academia and policy-makers, North and South Mediterranean, and engage the youth in identifying and addressing most topical issues of societal and political relevance.
Duration of the Project: 1st September 2018 – 29th February 2020 (18 months)
Format
The project essentially consists of an organisation of 7 events: an opening conference, 5 thematic workshops and a closing conference, pulling the conclusions on how to improve the study and policy communication of the Euro-Mediterranean region. The events will bring together academics, policy-makers and students.
The key outputs of the project are: Policy report for the integration of the Euro-Mediterranean Higher education and Research area, Euro-Mediterranean Studies Curricula recommendations and publications in the International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies [link to IJEMS].
Events
- Opening conference: 30 November 2018, Piran, Slovenia – Agenda and Report
- Workshop on Migrants and migration studies, 3-4 July 2019, Madeira, Portugal – Agenda and Report
- Workshop on Creative and active citizenship education, 17/29 May, Ljubljana/Piran, Slovenia – Agenda and Report
- Workshop Towards tolerant and plural dialogues of values and religions in the Euro-Mediterranean region, 26-27 September 2019, Trieste, Italy – Agenda and Report
- Workshop on Applied sciences and technology in support of healthy and active lifestyle in the Euro-Mediterranean region, 7-8 October 2019, Bernardin, Slovenia – Agenda and Report
- Workshop on Economies in the Euro-Mediterranean: The role of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, 31 January 2020, Piran, Slovenia – Agenda and Report
- Final conference: The future of Euro-Mediterranean studies, 27 February 2020, Barcelona, Spain – Agenda
Key deliverables
- The Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education and Reserach Area: Curricula Recommendations
- The Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education and Reserach Area: Policy Recommendations