ALF EURO-MEDITERRANEAN FORUM 2016
ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION
EURO-MEDITERRANEAN FORUM 2016
The Region’s Primary Gathering for Intercultural Dialogue
The Maltese Presidency of the European Council, from January to June 2017, provides a unique occasion to put Mediterranean Dialogue at the top of the EU and Euro-Mediterranean policy agenda. The organization of the Forum in Malta represents an opportunity to build on Malta’s strategic location as meeting point and mediator, and to reinforce the intercultural dialogue approach in the face of regional socio-cultural challenges. The implementation of the revised European Neighbourhood Policy, as a key feature of the Presidency, will also provide a policy focus for actors across the region.
Following on the success of the previous two forums in Barcelona (2010) and Marseille (2013), the third Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Forum will take place from 24-25 October 2016, in Valetta, the UNESCO World Heritage City that has also been designated European Capital of Culture for 2018 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.
The Forum will bring together representatives from all 42 Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), including civil society organisations, youth associations, regional
Purpose of the Anna Lindh Forum 2016
The Euro-Mediterranean region is facing a series of challenges which affect the life of its
People to people dialogue across the Euro-Mediterranean region is a powerful tool that can be supported by grass-root organisations, governments, national and regional institutions and offer solutions to economic problems, gender inequalities, environmental challenges, mobility barriers and social conflict. With this in mind, the Anna Lindh Forum will allow civil society and institutional participants to define in which way intercultural dialogue can lead to a more sustainable future, more gender equality, more cross-cultural understanding and knowledge, more employment opportunities and more mobility across and within the Euro-Mediterranean societies.
Taking into consideration that the young generations are the social actors of tomorrow and those who could most benefit from a consolidated vision for intercultural dialogue in the region or suffer from its absence, the discussion and inputs generated during the Forum will be mainly address this target group.
Specific objectives:
- To create an intercultural space for networking reinforcement and durable partnership building among Euromed civil society representatives to propose concrete responses to the socio-cultural challenges facing the Euromed region
- To develop recommendations linked to intercultural dialogue for the implementation plans of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the new horizon for the Union for the Mediterranean policy, as well as provide inputs for programming priorities of the Maltese Presidency of the European Council
- To provide inputs for the ALF and other regional partners programme (ex: UNESCO, CoE, LAS) for the establishment of sustainable intercultural programmes with the perspective of 2025.
- To raise awareness and visibility on the importance intercultural dialogue as a long term strategy response to regional challenges
Main themes of discussion
he Mediterranean Forum 2016 will address 10 strategic priorities:
1. REAFFIRMING THE ANNA LINDH FOUNDATION
2. MOVING BEYOND THE EXTREMIST NARRATIVE
3. SHIFTING FOCUS TO INTERCULTURAL CITIES
4. RETHINKING LEARNING
5. TOWARDS EXCHANGE 3.0
6. UNLOCKING CREATIVE ENTERPRISE
7. A NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH MEDIA
8. TRANSLATION AND ARTS MATTER
9. WOMEN AS CENTRAL AGENTS OF DIALOGUE
10. MAKING COLLABORATIONS WORK
The Forum will focus on looking towards a new horizon of people-to-people cooperation around the Mediterranean based on a set common of values and putting intercultural dialogue as the main the tool for this cooperation and to respond to the main regional socio-cultural challenges. More detailed topics of discussion for the participants will be Intercultural dialogue
for:
- (more) cross-cultural understanding, building a Mediterranean community with shared values and based on mutual knowledge
- (more) empowerment for women actors central for dialogue, identifying ways to make this role more visible and sustainable.
- a (more) sustainable future with increased opportunities for young people in terms of social participation and entrepreneurship and identifying shared approaches for regional environmental challenges
- (more) interaction and exchanges across the Mediterranean, taking into consideration social dynamics of integration, acceptance of cultural diversity within the societies of the region, exchanges of experiences and know-how.
Core event structure
The Forum is to be structured around three main formats for exchanges and debates Agora, Intercultural Fair/Medina, Closing session:
Agora
In the morning of 24 and 25 October, participants will be able to share their reflections on the main challenges affecting the Euromed region and potential political and operational ways to address them during two plenary debates (on both days from 9h30 to 11h00) and during parallel working-group discussions (on both days from 11h30 to 13h00). The main output of the Agora will be an Intercultural Road Map with policy and programming proposals.
Medina
In the afternoon of 24 October, participants will gather in an intercultural fair to present their practices, build partnerships around current and future actions and identify potential donors and supporters to their actions through flexible and innovative networking methodologies.
The main output of the Medina will be a Coalition of Dialogue Actions and Partnerships with the indication of new projects and partnerships developed and potential sources of support identified to face major challenges affecting the Euro-Mediterranean region.