How to become an active Mediterranean student? UfM and Unimed organise the 3rd Mediterranean Student Summit

25 September 2024, Rome – After Barcelona and Tangiers, the third edition of the Mediterranean Student Summit, launched by UNIMED – Mediterranean Universities Union and the ESN – Erasmus Student Network, took place in Palermo, September 26 – 28. The  Summit is organised under the patronage and financial support of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Hosted by the University of Palermo, almost 30 students gathered to carry out the debates foreseen in this Summit edition. The event saw the participation of students coming from the Mediterranean Region and Ghana, the latter representing the All-Africa Students Union – AASU, the largest student movement in Africa UNIMED collaborates with.

Student engagement is one of the main UNIMED priorities and the Mediterranean Student Summit aims at increasing mutual understanding and creating the conditions for students to become spokespersons of the Mediterranean Region, by making them reflect, exchange and elaborate potential proposals addressed to the stakeholders working for the academic cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean Region.

UNIMED is convinced that creating and maintaining these spaces for the meeting and the dialogue between students is fundamental in the troubled and worrying times we are living in. These moments will help them become actors of a positive change in the Region through a peer-to-peer learning experience with the representatives of ESN and AASU.

Besides, students will have the opportunity to discuss with several representatives of institutions engaged in the Higher Education field, Mediterranean cooperation and youth activities and dialogue.

The Summit will be opened by the Rector of the University of Palermo, Prof. Massimo Midiri, João Lobo, Project Analyst – Higher Education and Research at the Union for the Mediterranean,  Dr. Kherieh Rassas, UNIMED President, Marta Craveri, Director Research and International Department at Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Ana Stanescu, Academic and youth initiatives coordinator, Knowledge & Impact Division at European Investment Bank Institute, Kaja Kaczkiełło, Vice President for Governance at Erasmus Student Network International and Fabio Mazzola, Vice-rector for Education and Foreign affairs at the University of Palermo.

Joan Borrell, Deputy Secretary General in charge of Higher Education and Research at the Union for the Mediterranean participated with  a keynote speech.