LA MAISON DE LA MEDITERRANEE

The “Maison de la Méditerranée” (MdM) is the “joint household” for the peoples of the Euromediterranean region: a physical venue in which institutions and organisms of the various countries can represent their history and set up exchanges and partnerships in the interests of a future of peace and joint progress.

The MdM is the chief priority of the Accademia del Mediterraneo, set up by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo with the support of the Regione Campania, the Italian Government and the European Union.

The Accademia del Mediterraneo carries out its own activities with a high cultural profile and groups together the various Academies operating in the Euromediterranean area; the Maison de la Méditerranée aims to activate the cultural, scientific, economic and institutional systems in the Euromediterranean countries (particularly in Italy, Regione Campania and throughout the South of Italy) in harmony with the policies adopted by the European Union and reasserted in the V Euromediterranean Conference held in Valencia 22^nd and 23^rd April 2002 for the integration of the Euromediterranean region.

The chief goals are:

· to exploit the experiences of partnership (economic, cultural, scientific, social, etc.) with protagonists as the regional and local authorities and leading social figures;

· to create new opportunities for Euromediterranean dialogue;

· to remove the ethical and cultural diffidence which hampers relations between countries;

· to accelerate the developments inaugurated by the first Euromediterranean Conference held in Barcellona in 1995.

The MdM is sustained by an institutional network officially recognised by States, Regions, Cities and Organisms of the Euromediterranean countries representing over 150 million citizens; it comprises a central venue in Napoli and venues and bureaux set up in various Euromediterranean countries, serving as an essential resource for that “Euromediterranean Foundation” which the European Union envisages to superintend the chief activities of Euromediterranean partnership.

In formal terms, the decision to set up the “Maison de la Méditerranée” was taken at Napoli on 14^th December 1997 at the end of the II Forum Civile EUROMED, when 2248 participants delegated responsibility to the “Accademia del Mediterraneo.”[1]

The MdM is a physical space and an organic structure providing a permanent infrastructure for Euromediterranean partnership, with a rational and functional organization of the activities undertaken. The need for such a function was reaffirmed in the V Euromediterranean Conference in Valencia which envisaged the constitution of the above-mentioned “Euromediterranean Foundation” with aims akin to those of the MdM.

The MdM is an executive instrument of the will of civic organisms throughout the Euromediterranean area, expressed in various forms (assembly, consultation, deliberation, votation, delegation, etc.). Its sphere of action is limited to operational projects (“activities”) – thereby ruling out any chance that the MdM can ever become an institution of a political nature –expressing its objectives endorsed by the countries and institutions which adhere to it.

The organization of the MdM is based on functional networks, a striking innovation even in terms of the indubitably prestigious experience of the major institutions of international cooperation that have emerged under the aegis of the United Nations. Internal relations in the MdM are not hierarchical or vertical, nor indeed subject to informal national groupings (with each nation constituting a lobby egoistically determined to derive as much benefit as possible from cooperation). Instead they are horizontal and cooperative, based on functions: a trans-national network of cities, universities, ages, opinion groups in society, etc.

Thus within the MdM the level of protagonism depends not on “influence” (whether demographical, financial, institutional, etc.) but on the “prestige of culture and usefulness of the activity undertaken”. This cultural characterisation of relationships means that it is impossible to apportion a priori quotas of “capital stock” for the partners, which might induce the leading stock-holders to instrumentalise the declared aims. On the contrary, “hierarchies” will be constantly reconstituted on the basis of the issues, commitment and know-how invested in each mission. Thus the relational space of the MdM is non-linear, unlike that in all the current national and international governing bodies.

The identification and achievement of the particular but collectively endorsed objectives of each member is the method by which we intend to define the aims and resources to be adopted.

VENUES

The Accademia del Mediterraneo and Maison de la Mediterranee (AdM & MdM) has an internal structure consisting in its Constituent Organs. Its venues and premises comprise:

Central Venues

The Regione Campania, with Delibera della Giunta regionale n. 5762 del 28.11.2000, made available premises in the historic building of the ex Grand Hotel de Londres in Piazza Municipio, Napoli.

The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo undertook the restoration and upgrading of the premises, ensuring a prestigious headquarters for the “Maison de la Méditerranée”.

Planning is nearing completion for the use of the attics and Belvedere tower in Palazzo Reale, Napoli, made available by the Soprintendenza per i Beni architettonici e il paesaggio.

Outlying offices already in place

Amman

Activieties coordination for Meaddle- East

Benevento

Topical venue for alimentary safety

Caserta

Venue of Euromedcity,Euromediterranean capitals

Cattolica

Venue for underwater archeology

Lecce

Venue for migration

Marrakech

Venue for folk traditions

Naples

Venue for for inter-faith dialogue: located in Naples, in the historic monastic complex of

Santa Maria La Nova.

Sestri Levante

Venue for childhood

Skopje

Activieties coordination for South-East Europe

Topical venues (Covered by a protocol agreement)

Alessandria (Egitto); Algeri; Assisi; Avellino; Beirut; Bologna; Caserta; Cattolica; Chieti; Eolie; Gerico; Gerusalemme; Lipari; Lisbona; Lucca; Malta-La Valletta; Maratea; Marsiglia; Matera (Provincia); Montpellier; Nicosia; Ohrid; Porto Torres; Prato; Rabat; Rimini (Provincia); S.Maria Imbaro; Sarajevo; Siviglia; Spalato; Struga; Tirana; Torre del Greco; Trieste.

Bureaux for specific projects (Covered by a protocol agreement)

Regions, Districts,Comunes and Institutions of Euromediterranean Countries; among these, in Southern Italy:

Ascea; Baronissi; Boscotrecase; Camerota; Campobasso (Provincia); Casamicciola; Casandrino; Castel Baronia; Cerreto Sannita; Cicciano; Colliano; Cursi; Favignana; Fisciano; Flumeri; Fossalto; Giffoni Sei Casali; Giffoni Valle Piana; Giuggianello; Guardia Sanframonti; Lacco Ameno; Larino; Lauro; Livorno; Melpignano; Minervino Murge; Moschiano; Nardò; Nola; Paternopoli; Pesco Sannita; Pescasseroli, Pietrelcina; Portici; Portocannone; Sanarica; San Cesario; San Giorgio a Cremano; San Lorenzello; San Marzano di San Giuseppe; Santa Maria di Salina; Saviano, Surano; Telese Terme; Vico Equense; Villaricca

Offices being instituted

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has established the technical and administrative feasibility of assigning the historical Sultan’s Palace in Tangiers to the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo as the headquarters for the Southern Shore , to be used in conjunction with other interested institutions (Regione Campania, Regione Lombardia, Ascame, etc.).

STRUCTURE AND TASKS

The Accademia del Mediterraneo e Maison de la Méditerranée is a functional organ with the following missions:

· Representation of the institutions and organisms participating in the relational network of AdM & MdM;

· Orientation, organization and supervision of the operative processes of common interest in the spheres of culture, science and economic and social transformation;

· Management of communications across the relational network: assemblies and suchlike, but also, for internal communications, the “On-line Parliament of Euromediterranean partnership” (supporting discussion and decsion-making procedures) and, for external and social communications, the Portal “Euromedi.net”and the multimedia agency for information in the Mediterranean “MEDNETWORK”;

· Formalisation of the documentation and proceedings which, for subjects pertinent to the MdM, must be submitted for adoption and deliberation to the plenary sessions of the Euromediterranean relational network.

The presidency of AdM & MdM and its Bureau of Institutional Coordination are located in the central headquarters in Napoli, Via Depretis 130.

The offices of representation of the associated institutions and technical centres are located in Napoli, Benevento, Caserta and other places in the Regione Campania.

The outlying offices covering the major geographical areas are located in Marrakech, Amman, Siviglia, Skopje and other Euromediterranean countries.

AREAS OF INTERVENTION

The following are priority areas for the operations of AdM and MdM:

1. Environment and Common Resurces of the Mediterranean: dedicated to defending those environmental resources threatened by pollution: sea, soil, ionosphere, flora and biodiversity. Defines criteria of protection and sustainable exploitation and seeks to ensure their application throughout the Euromediterranean.

2. Ethics and safeguarding of mental and physical health: dedicated to harmonising standards of health care throughout the Euromediterranean region, while recognising and respecting local ethics and concepts of mental and physical well-being. Defines and implements programmes of distribution of health services corresponding to the best practices recognised by the respective communities.

3. Psycho-social well-being and relations among individuals, families and groups: dedicated to studying relations at the micro-social level to promote and support initiatives which favour the quality of life in local communities and migrant groups. Activates projects enhancing relations and solidarity between genders, within the family and in social groupings, to move beyond a view of the individual as autonomous and unrelated and to build democracy and social participation.

4. Methodologies and programmes for urban development: dedicated to reinforcing local authorities, both by studying and generalising appropriate methodologies of participatory democracy and by designing and implementing programmes of infrastructural reinforcement and better management of public and local utilities. Defines methodologies of cooperative and partnership exhanges of professionalism and facilities, both in investment and management phases, in order to minimise costs. Defines benchmark standards for private operators.

5. Qualifying the migratory flow and social policies combating emargination: dedicated to promoting professional qualification of the migratory population, fostering training, entrepreneurial promotion, and introduction of forms of international economic partnership. Studies models of urban and rural settlement of the migratory population which respect ethics and lead to inter-cultural integration. Studies the juridical and administrative measures required to foster integration and promote throughput of income generated by migration.

6. Repristination and exploitation of minority skills and cultures in the Euromediterranean: dedicated to identifying repositories of environmental, productive, monumental and cultural resources. Promotes a network designed to create international circuits in which such resources can be adequately exploited in terms of professional training, production of top quality goods, and compatible tourism, in particular featuring the young and cultural values.

7. Generators of Euromediterranean culture: dedicated to fostering the dissemination and publishing initiatives able to promote and exploit expressions of contemporary culture, setting up and running a Museum of the Mediterranean, adminstering the Portal EUROMEDI.NET which collects and disseminates the results of Euromediterranean cooperation in a range of sectors, and the planning, in scientific and conceptual terms, of periodic Festivals of Euromediterranean culture.

8. Promotion of women’s presence in the labour market: dedicated to fostering the achievements of women at work, making the most of female competence in the networking of work and decision-making processes by means of consultancy available to organizations of public administration and social bodies and a School of Specialisation, with experimental, experiential and participative teaching methods, designed for women at the the various levels of company management. The focus will be transversal, across the various activities of the MdM using technical support and strategies for recycling women who have dropped out of the labour market.

OPERATIONAL MODES

The objectives of the MdM necessitate:

1. Setting up a “Permanent Consultation Network” for partners in Euromediterranean dialogue, with ITC back-up (using the Intranet functions of the Portal “Euromedi.net”) and periodic meetings based on sectors (Topic Forums). The preparation for these meetings will be dealt with by permanent representatives of the Partners at the MdM and based on the Action Plans outlined below. These will converge on the annual “Assise del Mediterraneo” with the participation of Government representatives at various institutional levels, representatives of cultural bodies, captains of industry and leaders of all the organisms constituting the associative network of the Maison de la Méditerranée;

2. Carrying out “Action Plans” tackling the main issues of development in the Mediterranean and fostering the extension of Euromediterranean markets by means of partnerships based on the consultation networks outlined above.

The Action Plans are designed to ensure a high degree of participation in Euromediterranean markets, both in terms of services (engineering, tourism, training) and of production of goods and the internationalization of capital.

Action Plans are envisaged in the areas specified above.

The AdM & MdM, through the Action Plans, aims to promote (in both planning and material terms) numerous Mediterranean circuits of enhancement in the spheres of: traditional and artisan know-how (ceramics, jewellery, cloth-making, etc.); quality agriculture (traditional horticulture, gardening, cooking) and, of course, the cultural heritage (retrieval of architectural techniques, stonemasonry, restoration, etc.). Each of these will be accompanied by high level training courses (International Mediterranean Schools, with training made available in the various places where the particular asset is to be found), processes of productive/commercial exploitation (reformulation of processes of transformation, certification of quality, brand promotion) and processes of touristic-residential upgrading (with particular reference to youth tourism and culture, rural residences, minor historical centres, etc.).

Among the circuits of cultural exploitation there is the promotion – both in terms of occupation and social organization – of women’s competence in human resources and at the same time empowerment of women’s presence in decision-making processes.

3. Implementing scientific research and training programmes, designed both to provide scientific and technical back-up for the “Action Plans” and to create the trans-national human capital required for Euromediterranean integration. This will pave the way for sweeping processes of social transfer of knowledge which, in the long term, will ensure a higher degree of reciprocal knowledge for all peoples in the region. The programme will be developed in cooperation with University Institutes and high profile cultural and scientific bodies. It will involve international seminars involving public and private operators in the various sectors, giving rise in some cases to “Topical Schools of Mediterranean Interest” in those sectors which require constant homogeneization and in-service training for operators. One of these will be a School of Advanced Training for the support and furtherance of women’s competence in decision-making and social representation processes, as well as the labour market.

4. Creating a “Multimedia Village”, which by means of multiple means of communication (Portal “Euromedi.net”, Multimedia agency for information in the Mediterranean “Mednetwork”, Virtual Museum of the Mediterranean, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Major Publishing Ventures of the Mediterranean) sets up a systematic encounter between Euromediterranean cultures and their diffusion worldwide (exploiting the technologies of digital convergence). All these facilities will be supplied by a Multidisciplinary department in which international workgroups of young people will collect, inventory, collate, translate and disseminate material concerning the evolution of the various expressions of Euromediterranean culture in the following spheres:

· cultural (historical and contemporary productions of literature, cinema-television, theatre, music, art-monuments, applied crafts),

· scientific (dissemination of analytic material prepared by the professional teams working on the Action Plans),

· institutional (evaluation of crisis scenarios),

· informative (extension of the offer of information in publications and video, to increase social awareness of the region).

The multimedia department will be able to call on contributions from the professional and scientific personnel working on the Action Plans and the large quantity of international relations which the permanent representatives and partnership network of the MdM will make constantly available.

Furthermore the MdM will adopt the model of the “network organisms of economic consultation-cooperation”, matching this with ITC technologies in order to organize Euromediterranean markets in those areas of public economy in the hands of local authorities.

By fostering the competence which society attributes to women, training programmes will be developed to promote horizontal competence and the activation of cooperative leadership.

THE “SALIENT FEATURES ”

The Accademia del Mediterraneo and Maison de la Méditerranée (AdM & MdM) is intended to be a process of enhancement, exploiting to the full the cultural, scientific, social and economic-financial resources of the multiform and complex network of institutions brought into being by the dynamism of the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo - Onlus .

The fundamental asset consists in the opportunity for relations and exchanges covering, to a greater or lesser degree, all the countries of the Euromediterranean region, set up over the last decade thanks to the formal adhesion of:

· Outstanding personalities active in politics, including serving heads of state;

· Representatives of Euromediterranean culture in its manfold expressions, and in particular members of academe (including the leading figures in National Academies) historians, writers, opinion leaders well-known in their own country and worldwide, Nobel prize winners;

· Governments in office in Regions, Province and Cities (headed by Seville), including some of the major metropolises around the Mediterranean;

· Over 200 Cultural and Research Institutions active in social, civil and religious fields;

· 168 Universities, including some of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe (headed by the University of Bologna);

In all 561 institutions and organisms are involved, belonging to 33 Euromediterranean countries. They can be contacted via the IT infrastructures and the initiatives undertaken by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo, creating an active partnership working on concrete projects for transforming the Euromediterranean scenario. This partnership will take shape through the Action Plans dscribed above.

The proposal to become associates has been widely taken up not only in the partner countries throughout the Mediterranean but also in communities in Southern Europe and in Southern Italy in particular. The proposal formulated by AdM & MdM has so far seen the adhesion of 186 local and regional European institutions, while 97 Italian comunes have stated they wish to set up topical venues. In the Regione Campania alone, 80 comunes have adhered to the network: 49 want to set up a topical bureau and 31 others have drawn up specific projects with a Euromediterranean slant to be implemented using the network of solidarity set up by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo for AdM & MdM.

As can be seen from the contents and the adhesions of institutions, the network is strategic for setting up and developing Euromediterranean partnership. Each of these institutions constitutes a potential relational circuit, able to call on politicians, officials and experts, in order to identify, coordinate and programme development plans of general interest. This will enable all the partners in the various countries to be protagonists, guaranteeing a role in the decision-making and direction of the process, as recommended by the Conference of Valencia.

In conclusion, the methodology of associates in Europartnership proposed by AdM & MdM draws heavily on the idea of “factual democracy”: recognising (and not contrasting) the right to empower each member endowed with dynamic potential, and assisting the need the of promoting the creation, within the network itself, of other institutions of reference. In turn these will be able to proceed autonomously to adopt cultural and institutional initiatives which can be recycled in the comprehensive circuit of AdM & MdM to augment the operative and financial resources of the enterprises and extend the circuits of enhancement and application.

Thus proposals can be both “top-down” (originating with the network’s central organs) and “bottom-up” (originating on the initiative of members or sectorial groupings). The propagation of the effects is self-generating, because the results of any initiative can be used free of charge (capitalised) by one or more operators for further projects, the benefits of which are fed back, thanks to the network of enhancement, so as to benefit the instigators of the cycle. Thus external financing of just one initiative in the context of the network of relationships produces multiple benefits of enhancement: this is the “invisible hand” which regulates the processes of expansion of exchanges connected with partnerships in which the moral component is predominant.

MISSION

THE CULTURAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ENHANCEMENT OF EUROMEDITERRANEAN PARTNERSHIP AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF

OPERATIVE MODELS OF CO-DEVELOPMENT

The consolidation and autonomisation of the peripheric organizational components of AdM & MdM is seen as a key to success, for they keep active a relational space which enables the organisms of civic society, and hence the countries, to come together in pursuing shared objectives.

The relational structures set up thus far by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo (FLM) can constitute, thanks to AdM & MdM, an instrument for launching new projects in the pursuit of authentic partnership. In fact the distinctive “resistance” put up by countries and regions of the Mediterranean in the face of indiscriminate homologation with the Western paradigms of modernity and globalization cutting across all ethic boundaries, constitutes the key to aggregation and solidarity, in stark contrast with an integration based merely on interests.

By founding its associative proposal squarely on the mutual recognition of belonging to Euromediterranean culture, a common trait that supersedes any other connotation – whether political allegiance, religious faith, or indeed the institutional rank of the associates – the AdM & MdM guarantees its partners an underlying confidence in the possibility of building a common, universally acceptable future for the Euromediterranean area. The consequence is a relational space which is first and foremost cultural, ethical and reciprocal in character.

As this space expands, with the mutual recognition of innumerable entities through the associative dynamic of AdM & MdM, based on the continuous generation of new projects, the principle of operating in active defence of Euromediterranean culture is asserted. This will permit the discovery and enhancement of common elements which break down the barriers, prejudices and conflicts which are all too prevalent in the Mediterranean region.

The perception of this potential is the key to the aggregation of AdM & MdM and the other autonomous sections of the FLM. Together they form a single subject, offering a space for “reflection and planning” in the interests of an evolutive, political, social and economic process, mantaining as a fixed reference point the cultural identity of the Mediterranean peoples. Not of course in the sense of passive and rigid conservation, but pursuing an intelligent and universally recognised re-shaping of that identity.

The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo – prime mover of AdM & MdM – has thus far been characterised as the organizer of an important cultural and scientific infrastructure: it is obvious that the methodological potential of the combination “identity-action” can be extended to all spheres of the Euromediterranean context, introducing elements that can render markets more dynamic and accelerate the achievement of genuine free trade.

The activity of AdM & MdM is based on the desire to add to the existing relational network a new “operational dimension”.

The Maison de la Méditerranée promotes the principle of ethical solidarity and seeks to identify areas of convergence, at least for some sectorial topics of common economic, social and cultural interest. In particular those related to the institutional duties of the members, including for example:

§ realization and management of infrastructures in the sectors of the environment and other urban utilities;

§ organization of large-scale training schemes;

§ provision of health services and social protection;

§ enhancement of the cultural heritage;

§ promotion of tourism.

MEANS AND RESOURCES

The AdM & MdM receives contributions from the participating organisms, representative bodies and countries. The projects and activities are funded by ad hoc co-financing.

In the preliminary phase:

The Regione Campania will underwrite operations by means of:

· a contribution for ordinary administration on an annual basis

· financing of the Integrated MdM Project.

With a Delibera n.5762 del 28.11.2000 the Regione Campania has undertaken to carry out an Integrated Project as part of the POR Campania 2000-2006 which will see:

· completion of bureaux in Campania;

· cofinancing of the portal “Euromedi.net” and the agency “Mednetwork”;

· cofinancing the Action Plans.

As part of its active support and promotion of the process of Barcellona the Italian Parliament has approved a law supporting the creation of the AdM & MdM, including an annual contribution for the period 2003/2006 to complete the Integrated Project undertaken by the Regione Campania.

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, partly anticipating the Italian semester of Presidency of the European Union, upholds the aims of the Conferenza di Barcellona and the guidelines of the Conferenza di Valenza, fostering through the Accademia del Mediterraneo and Maison de la Méditerranée, the constitution of an infrastructure at the national level to support Euromediterranean partnership.

WHO IS the EXECUTIVE for ADM & MDM

The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo (F.L.M.) is the prime mover of the AdM & MdM: it has adopted the aims of the process of Barcellona and stipulated specific protocols of agreement to recognise the indications given by its constituent institutional organisms.

This mission is realised both in the initiatives undertaken by the FLM to further the aims of Euromediterranean partnership and in the network of countries, communities, institutions and organisms which it has set up to this end throughout the Euromediterranean area.

Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo is a non-profit organisation legally recognised by the Regional Council of Campania with resolution n. 11315 dated 25/3/97, and by the Ministry for Arts and Culture with resolution dated 20/4/99 and issued on the G.U. n. 113 dated 17/5/99. The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo is recognised “Ente culturale di Rilievo” with resolution n. 2228 dated 18/5/99 by the Regional Council of Campania.

Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo

History and objectives

Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo proposes itself as a key subject of the Mediterranean Civil Society working towards the creation of an effective dialogue among the people living on its shores. It paid particular attention to South-Eastern Europe and the countries of the Southern shore, that due to historical events occupied a secondary role in terms of culture and international politics of the last few centuries.

A post-colonial era cannot be conceived of in a serious manner without sensing the deep unity which ties all countries of the Mediterranean, whatever their degree of social and economic development. Lacking this harmonising vision and its consequent unifying conduct, many Mediterranean countries will find difficulties in coming out of the situation they fell in the historical period when they were objects rather than subjects (slave trade, colonialism, exploitation of the South; stagnation under the great empires and conditions of underdevelopment for the South-East).

In order to overcome this phase and to reach a full and equalitarian participation a change in conscience is needed, based on the recognition of the role played by those Countries in the shared history, and a political revolution that overcomes direct or indirect assistance in order to enter a true partnership logic, able to rediscover and respect the historical individuality and the cultural uniqueness of all Mediterranean people in order to establish equalitarian form of association.

Essential preamble of this process is a new vision of the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean must be seen in its entirety, not partially by sector or region.

Upon this concept the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has structured its main actions, proposing Regions, Cities and local communities of Euromediterranean countries as the focus of all action.

The objectives of the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo are:

a) to pursue an ideal of peace and brotherhood among the people of the Mediterranean area - "cradle" of some of the most ancient civilisations – in order to give value to dignity to the Mediterranean world and multiple realities that compose it contributing to allow Macedonia to assume a important role for Europe and Mediterranean countries.

b) to record and diffuse the experiences made by the various Euromediterranean people in order to remove hostilities and misunderstandings, getting closer, from North to South and from East to West, the shores of the Mediterranean.

c) to promote common values through a stronger dialogue between cultures that contributes to a reconciliation of the societies and of the people of the Mediterranean, in the awareness of the common challenges and of the necessary commitment of joint responsibility towards the creation in the region of an area of peace and shared prosperity.

d)to promote the value and the coexistence of different cultural-linguistic entities giving priorities to human and Civil Society rights in the Euromediterranean region.

e) to promote and enhance the knowledge, the communication, the comprehension, the cooperation and the respect for Mediterranean people, also through research and valorisation of different traditions and cultures, environment and territory conservation, valorisation and safeguard of the past and present Euromediterranean cultural heritage.

f) to promote studies, researches, publications, permanent forum, conferences and cultural encounters.

g) to identify and valorise a “Mediterranean culture" in order to assert, by respecting and giving value to each specific identity, a common identity that favours feelings of peace and cooperation between people.

h) to promote and develop initiatives in terms of Euromediterranean partnership and decentralised cooperation in order to transform the debate taking place in the Mediterranean area and involving the Euromediterranean area, concomitant but divided, in an open and constructive collective talk, promoting the encounter, the exchange, mutual respect, the collaboration and the solidarity between neighbouring Countries.

i) to plan, develop and activate specialising databases in various disciplines.

l) to promote and valorise - through “EuromedCity” - the identity of Euromediterranean cities.

m) to favour dialogue and constructive confrontation between young Mediterranean people.

n) to work towards the amelioration of schooling infrastructures and universities with the aim of realising a basic curriculum common to all Mediterranean countries.

o) to promote research into health and for the promotion of physical well-being.

p) to create a network between the various organs of the Euromediterranean Civil Society.

q) to constitute a network of relations and cultural and scientific exchanges between Universities, Associations, etc. – of Euromediterranean countries – pursuing the same scopes and working towards reinforcement of the Euromediterranean partnership.

r) to be the executive instrument of the Academy of Mediterranean.

s) to promote, organize and manage:

- Training, updating and qualification activities focused on young people unemployed and/or employed;

- Training, updating and qualification for teaching and administrative staff, of public institutions, administrations and universities;

- long-distance training activities;

Civil Society ànd Euromediterranean partnership

The research and higher education programs as well as the several activities undertaken by Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo – which benefits of a network of international consultants – constitute an essential element of growth for the ‘southern regions’ and a preamble for the role that the States of the Southern and Eastern shores will have in the development of the Mediterranean, with clear consequences for cultural and civil growth. This also through the promotion of a new political class able to “think European” and “breathe Mediterranean”.

autonomous sections

The F.L.M. has acted on the recommendations of the participants of the Forum Civile Euromed and created the following organisms which, in front of Notary S. Santangelo di Napoli on 22^nd December 2000(racc.13032, rep.49158 ), were constituted as “autonomous sections” of the Fondazione, incorporating their Statutes in those of the F.L.M. and obtaining official recognition of States, Regions, Cities and institutional organisms of the Euromediterranean countries which officially represent over 150 million citizens:

-Almamed: congregation of all the Universities and the networks of Universities of the Euromediterranean Countries.

-Euromedcity: congregation of Cities, Provinces, Regions, local Communities and already existing city networks with which to exchange information, experiences and examples of good practice.

-Isolamed: congregation of Islands and already existing Islands’ networks with which to exchange information, experiences and examples of good practice.

-Labmed: A horizontal participatory network set up by F.L.M. It includes organisms of civil society in the Euromediterranean area and is designed to optimise communications between partners of the Euromediterranean regions and become an operative instrument for the European Union within the Euromediterranean programme.

-Academy of the Mediterranean: established in Naples by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo on 10th October 1998 – is the congregation of all of the National Academies and other Academies and Cultural Institutions highly representative of the Countries bordering the Mediterranean.

To date the Academy boasts 561 participating institutions, among which 168 Universities, 67 national and regional Academies, 200 cultural and research Institutes, 48 Cities, etc..

The Academy of the Mediterranean has its first objective in the creation of the critical inventory of the culture of the Mediterranean - through specific and coordinated programs, each entrusted to one of its branches, a bureau or a long established Institution specialising in a particular field.

“Culture of the Mediterranean” signifies its:

A) natural and environmental heritage in their physical and historical evolution;

B) learned and popular imagery heritage, studied through its roots, in its developments and the possible archetypes;

C) cultural heritage, determined by all of its oral and written manifestations.

By cultural heritage it is meant “material” culture, literary and artistic culture, the thought tradition, speculative and scientific, popular culture, the technical and practical traditions.

The Academy of the Mediterranean thus establishes a vast database resulting from the total of the programmed databases, which are being realised or have already been completed.

This in progress electronic inventory constitutes the ensemble of necessary but not sufficient data for the second objective of the Academy of the Mediterranean.

The second objective of the Academy of the Mediterranean consists of establishing the complete ecology of Mediterranean culture.

Ecology is used here in its current linguistic significance, originally defined by Einar Haugen, The Ecology of Language, (Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1972) as the studies derived from it and lately redefined by Louis-Jean Calvet, Pour une écologie des langues du monde (Plon, Parigi, 1999 ).

As ecology studies the relationship between organisms and their environment, so the ecology of Mediterranean culture studies the relationship among Mediterranean cultures between them and Mediterranean societies, that is essentially the relationships and interactions between Mediterranean cultures and also between these cultures and Mediterranean societies.

In order to achieve this second objective, the Academy of the Mediterranean will undertake through its Headquarters, Branches and Bureaux research activities, divulged through the planned publications of the Academy of the Mediterranean.

The third objective of the Academy of the Mediterranean – in common with the other autonomous sections – consists in setting up the “MAISON DE LA MEDITERRANEE”: an organic structure able to represent in the most appropriate ways the activities identified and promoted by the institutions and various organisms adhering to the Academy of the Mediterranean and the autonomous sections of the F.L.M., as well as all the other representatives of civil society in the Euromediterranean countries.

Recognition , Adhesions, Missions

Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has merited some important recognition:

1) by the European Parliament, which has invited the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo to present the results of its activities to the members of the European Parliament – and, particularly, the II Forum Civile Euromed and the related issued acts - in Strasbourg on the 8^th April 1997 and in Bruxelles on the 1^st July 1998;

2) by the UNESCO, that has underlined the importance of the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo in the cultural, social and human partnership process among Euro-Mediterranean countries;

3) by the President of the Republic of Macedonia, which points out the “irreplaceable role of the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo – mostly accomplished through its branches – in order to create an Euro-Mediterranean common home” and to develop constructive relations between Regions, Cities and Countries and organs of the Civil Society”;

4) by the President of the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, for the important humanitarian actions carried out by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo in favour of the people of former Yugoslavia;

5) by the approval of the Appeal for Peace in former Yugoslavia signed by about 200.000 people from all over the world, among them: Nobel Prizes, Heads of State, representatives from the cultural, religious, political, economic sphere;

6) by the approval by Nobel Prize winners and scientists from all over the world of the World Appeal for Water;

7) by the approval by the representatives of the Institutions and Civil Society of the Appeal for the Sassi di Matera;

8) by the approval by Nobel Prize winners and women and men of culture and science of the Appeal for Albania;

9) by the approval from some 15.000 people of the Appeal for Balkans and Kosov;

10) by 561 Institutions (national and regional academies, Universities, Cities, Regions, Provinces, Islands, culture and research Institutes) which – representing 27 Euro-Mediterranean countries – have formally met the participation to the Academy of the Mediterranean granting it in terms of representativeness and legitimacy;

11) by more than 30 institutions that have offered prestigious offices and human resources for the starting process of the activities of the thematic working branches of the Laboratorio Mediterraneo and of the Academy of the Mediterranean: among those have to be mentioned those belonging to the Regions of Southern Italy (Objective 1) and which have planned projects in the sphere of political actions in terms of cultural internationalisation;

12) by the Heads of State, Heads and Members of Government, President of Regions, Provinces and local Communities, Mayors, Rectors of Universities, Nobel Prize winners, Representatives from prestigious cultural and scientific Institutions which have become founders and members by right of the Academy of the Mediterranean;

13) by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lamberto Dini who, with a letter sent on the 31^st March 1999 (prot.014/671) to the Minister of University and Scientific Research Zecchino advocating the granting of a yearly contribution of 5 milliard liras, pointed out: “ the Academy of the Mediterranean is the highest Institution representing the academic Euro-mediterranean world, with the adhesion of 63 academies and 168 universities representing most of the Euro-mediterranean countries. The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo-onlus is the non-profit organisation that promotes the Academy, which has among its statutory aims, the strengthening, expansion and development of the above-mentioned Academy. The relevance and the aims of the Academy and the interest for our Country in order to maintain in Italy the fulcrum of the activities, is necessary to ensure to the Academy, through the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo, an extra contribution. This contribution could be allocated on the funds for training and research activities carried out from non-university scientific and cultural institutions of the regions ‘Objective 1’. This in analogy with what has already happened for other Institutes of study and research in Southern Italy, which have been considered worthy of financial support in 1998”;

14) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Trade which, with the Ministry of Treasury, has worked out the “Guidelines for the implementation of the politics on cultural and economical internationalisation of Southern Italy”, where, in measure n.23 is written: “ Strengthening of the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo and of the Academy of the Mediterranean, an institution that in the last years has promoted an intense activity of coordination and promotion of studies and debates on themes concerning the Mediterranean and that, now, requests a systematic planning of the activities and a tighter functional targeting to the deficit in terms of knowledge and spreading of information, above all in terms of economical and social themes”;

15) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that in the “Lines of intervention on the links with external areas” identified by the Table XVII, has selected – assigning to them the numbers indicated in brackets - the following projects, presented by the Region Campania and the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo: Database of the Civil Society (n.28), Academy of the Mediterranean (n.29), Euromedcity (n.30), Training of operators of the Civil Society (n.31);

16) By the Ministry of University and Scientific Research which, with D.M. 680 of the 26^th February 1998 issued on the G.U. n.98 on the 29^th April 1998 has assigned an extra contribution for the running of training and research activities of the Fondazione;

17) by the Ministry for Arts and Culture which, with a resolution made on the 20^th April 1999 and issued on the G.U . n. 113 of the 17^th May 1999, have recognised the legal status;

18) by the European Commission which, recognising the high value in terms of culture and representation as well as the organisational ability, has entrusted the coordination of the events programmed in the year 2000 in the occasion of the commemoration of Re Hussein bin Talal of Jordan;

19) by the European Commission which, through the programme Euromed Audio Visuel, has entrusted the organisation and coordination of the project Cinemamed.

20) of analogous deliberations adopted by States, Regions, Cities, Comunes, Universities and Organisms of the Euromediterranean countries officially representing over 150 million inhabitants.

Activities

The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has been one of the main protagonists in Euromediterranean partnership, realising nearly 1500 events in the past five years with the aim of structurally supporting concrete partnership actions and foster decentralised cooperation between cities, regions, local communities and various organisms of the Civil Society of Euromediterranean countries.

In this context the events worth mentioning are:

a) The “I FORUM CIVIL EUROMED”, which took place in Barcelona 29^th –30^th November and 1^st December 1995 and co-organised by the Institut Català de la Mediterrània and the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo. For the first time 1500 qualified representatives of the civil society, from the countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean and from the EU, met with the aim of establishing a permanent context for dialogue and cooperation. The Euromediterranean Conference, organised by the Spanish presidency of the EU just before the Forum, set the political foundations for this process. The FCE, helped by the participation of businesses, chambers of commerce, universities, artists, intellectuals, unions, citizens’ organisations and other institutions, produced and analysed ideas and projects of fundamental importance for the realisation of the Euromediterranean partnership.

b) The “II FORUM CIVILE EUROMED”, held in Naples on 12^th, 13^th and 14^th December 1997 and organised by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo under the patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, with the financial support of the European Commission, the patronage of the European Parliament, of Unesco and Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the contribution of the Regions of Campania, Piemonte, Calabria, Liguria, Abruzzo, Catalunya, Sicily, Tuscany, Languedoc-Roussillon, Collectivité Territoriale de Corse and the Département des Bouches-du-Rhône, in collaboration with the Institut Català de la Mediterrània, l'Agencia Espanola de Cooperaciàn Internacional (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Espana), la Società Umanitaria, l'Associazione Europa Mediterranea, il CSI - Piemonte e l'Ente Autonomo Mostra d'Oltremare.

On this occasion 2248 representatives of the Euromediterranean Civil Society drawn from 36 countries, met to discuss 4 themes subdivided into 11 Sessions:

Conscious of the impossibility of setting up a statutory Union of Euro-mediterranean states and, at the same time, of the urgent necessity of giving legitimacy, institutional weight and representativity to the area, the participants adopted a recommendation asking the F.L.M. – which had organised the Forum – to set up suitable organisms to implement this ambitious project and constitute a “Mediterranean Union” of culture, science and research involving the opening of the Maison de la Méditerranée.

c) The “ASSISES DE LA MEDITERRANEE”, held in Marseilles on 5^th and 6^th July 2000 – organized by the City of Marseilles and Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo in collaboration with organisms and institutions of Euromediterranean countries. This included the first solemn “rentrée” of the Academy of the Mediterranean and meeting of the bureaux of the autonomous sections of the F.L.M. It was an important event marking the start of the semester of French presidency of the E.U..

d) Euromediterranean Conference “THE ROLE OF INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE”, held in Amman on 10^th and 11^th October 2000. The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo was charged with this mission by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – on specific recommendation of the Euromediterranean Conference of Stuttgart 1999. The event, which commemorated King Hussein of Jordan, was particularly important in coinciding with renewed tension between Israel and Palestine. The conclusions were transmitted to the Euromediterranean Conference of Marseilles 2000.

e) Conference “BALKANS A NEW MILLENNIUM: CULTURE, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS FOR PEACE”. This event, organized by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo with the Government and Academy of Sciences and Arts of Macedonia, saw the participation of over 300 representatives of Balkan states and international institutions (EU, EC, NATO, UN, etc). It was a significant moment of dialogue producing a final document promoting dialogue in the region, at a moment of particular tension between the Albanese of UCK and the Republic of Macedonia.

f) The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo directs the programme “CINEMAMED” (EUROMED AUDIOVISUEL – COMMISSIONE EUROPEA). During 2000-20001 an itinerant festival visited the following cities:

1 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Palermo, 11 - 18 January 2001

2 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Bologna, 24 - 31 January 2001

3 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Edimburgo, 9 - 22 February 2001

4 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Cattolica, 28 February 2001 - 6 March 2001

5 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Lecce, 9 - 16 March 2001

6 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Lisbona, 21 March 2001 - 10 April 2001

7 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei - Cinemamed

Madrid, 21 March 2001 - 13 April 2001

8 - Festival del Cinema dei Paesi Arabo – Mediterranei -Cinemamed

Amman, 16 - 25 April 2001

Prizes

The Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has instituted three prizes:

· “PREMIO MEDITERRANEO”, with sections “Peace”, “Culture”, “Art”, “Diplomacy”, “Institutions”, “Information”, “Delfino d’Argento” awarded each year to personalities in the fields of politics, culture and the arts who have contributed to reducing tensions and fostering cultural differences in the Mediterranean area.

· “PREMIO INTERNAZIONALE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO” awarded, since 1997, to the best short in the “Trieste Film Festival”

· Il “PREMIO LETTERARIO SARAJEVO”

Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has founded international prizes which are now a reference point for dialogue and peace. Among these:

1- “1996 LITERARY PRIZE”

Trieste, JANUARY 1996

Sarajevo Prize 1996 to the poet Abdulah Sidran for the book La bara di Sarajevo (Edizioni E, Trieste 1995)

2- “INTERNATIONAL PRIZE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO”

Trieste, January 1997

International Prize Laboratorio Mediterraneo to writer Izet Sarajlic’ for Il libro degli addii (Edizioni Magma, Naples 1997)

3- “INTERNATIONAL PRIZE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO”

Trieste, January 1998

Prize awarded by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo for the best long and short feature films.

4- “MEDITERRANEAN PRIZE FOR PEACE TO PRESIDENT KIRO GLIGOROV”

Naples, 5^th January 1998

5- “MEDITERRANEAN PRIZE FOR CULTURE TO H.M. JUAN CARLOS I”

Palermo, 1^st October 1998

6- “MEDITERRANEAN PRIZE FOR PEACE TO H.M. HUSSEIN OF JORDAN”

Naples, 5^th January 1999

7- “MEDITERRANEAN PRIZE FOR CULTURE TO LAMBERTO DINI”

Naples, 5^th January 1999

8- “INTERNATIONAL PRIZE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO”

Trieste, 24^th January 1999

Awarded by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo for the best long and short feature films.

9-“MEDITERRANEAN PRIZE FOR PEACE TO H.M. HASSAN II OF MOROCCO”

Marrakech, 24^th April 1999

10- “MEDITERRANEAN PRIZE FOR CULTURE TO THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA”

Naples, 5^th January 2000

11-“PREMIO INTERNAZIONALE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO”

Trieste, 23 January 2000

Awarded by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo for the best long and short feature films.

12-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR PEACE TO LEAH RABIN”

Napoli, 5 January 2001

13-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR CULTURE TO CARDINAL ROGER

ETCHAGARAY”

Napoli, 5 January 2001

14-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR ART TO NOA E NABIL”

Napoli, 5 January 2001

15-“PREMIO INTERNAZIONALE LABORATORIO MEDITERRANEO”

Trieste, 23 January 2001

Awarded by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo for the best long and short feature films.

16-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR PEACE AND CULTURE TO MARIAGRAZIA

CUTULI AND JULIO FUENTES”

Napoli, 4 January 2002

17-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR ART TO MONI OVADIA”

Napoli, 4 January 2002

18-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR INSTITUTIONS TO ANTONIO BASSOLINO,

PRESIDENT REGIONE CAMPANIA”

Napoli, 4 January 2002

19-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR DIPLOMACY TO PUCCI DI BENISICHI

AMBASSADOR OF ITALY IN SPAIN AND NEHAD ABDEL LATIF,

AMBASSADOR OF EGYPT IN ITALY”

Napoli, 4 January 2002

20-“PREMIO MEDITERRANEO FOR INFORMATION TO EL MUNDO, CORRIERE

DELLA SERA, AND Vittorio Nisticò, L’ORA”

Napoli, 4 January 2002

21-“PREMIO DELFINO D’ARGENTO TO PAOLO BUFALINI AND MARCELLO

GIGANTE”

Napoli, 4 January 2002

Appeals

During the last three years the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo has launched and

promoted the following appeals :

1. Appeal for the Goethe Institut di Napoli presented:

Roma, 14/02/1996, Camera dei deputati

2. Appeal for Albania presented:

Napoli, 21/03/997; Palazzo Reale - Teatro di Corte

Strasburgo, 8/04/1997; Salon Bleu - Parlamento Europeo

3. Appeal for Kossovo presented:

Napoli, 10/04/1999, Palazzo San Giacomo – Sala della Giunta Comunale

4. Appeal for peace in the Middle East presented via web:

8/02/2002

Training and research activities

Collège de la Méditerranée

Preparation for free inventive reflection, which is a prerequisite not merely for the progress of science and literature but also of economic and political initiatives, needs non profit-making institutions supported by the international community, for this type of education is a decisive political factor in the future of a new Europe, affecting the nature of European democracy just as much as the constitution of lay schooling influenced French society.

Thus the F.L.M. has decided to respond to this requisite and found, through the Maison de la Mèditerranée, a Collège de la Méditerranée. Under a rigorous direction and with the collaboration of outstanding personalities in international science and culture this will prepare new generations of Euromediterranean researchers sharing the same critical awareness. The Collège will have its headquarters in Napoli.

European Masters in "Models of complexity and human ecology: instruments for community development"

Under the aegis of the European Union and Maison de la Mèditerranée, in collaboration with the Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Torino and Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, the FLM has inaugurated a European Masters degree in "Models of complexity and human ecology: instruments for community development". The aim is to prepare graduates from various Euromediterranean countries in disciplines of psychology fostering empowerment, i.e. promoting individual and group resources at the community level; enhancing resources of culture and research in Southern Italy and increasing competence in government of the territory by means of active participation on the part of citizens.

For we are convinced that throughout the Mediterranean basin support must be given to processes of transformation in progress in society. This Masters course offers employment opportunities for young graduates trained in the study of social and inter-personal relations who can intervene in theoretical and practical terms in the complex dynamics of community development, calling on skills and traditions of Southern culture as well as social participation and development.

The specific innovation is that young graduates in psychology will be given instruments of enquiry and intervention at the level of local communities to promote participation, processes of democracy and forms of active citizenship, requiring interdisciplinary studies and group activation and intervening with groups at risk and in contexts of social emergency.

The aims and system of organization of the course define, by their very nature, a predominant interest in interventions on the territory and hence the necessity for working closely with policies for increasing employment. The skills described are in fact an element of rationalisation of the organizations of civil society, their empowerment and an opportunity for new operative possibilities for the various services.

This initiative envisages a new professional figure able to act within local administrations to foster and promote processes of participation and active linking up of citizens, organisms of civil society and local administrations.