July 2023, Barcelona – Research and innovation are key for innovating the Mediterranean economies and for employing its students and researchers. Structured dialogue between academia, business sector and policymakers is a powerful way to connect this sector more closely with the regional sustainable economy agenda. While the region experiences high rates of graduate unemployment, 32% of enterprises in some Southern Mediterranean countries have identified labour skill levels as a major constraint to hiring. With the support of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) has launched since 2020 a series of activities facilitating exchanges between the… read more
Through a partnership between the two institutions, students on the South Mediterranean have received high-level financial and political expertise on the Euro-Mediterranean policies and financial opportunities offered by the EIB. Barcelona, April 2023. Starting in November 2022 and until March 2023, the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Investment Bank have piloted trainings as proofs of concept with three initial Mediterranean Universities in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. The aim was to bring for the first time trainings tailored to the needs of the receiving Universities, on fields such as the EU financial architecture for development, the mandate of the UfM… read more
17 March 2023, Alicante. The UfM Higher Education Stakeholders’ Meeting aimed at discussing and exchanging on how to lay concrete foundations for regional close cooperation in the field of Higher Education. The meeting, organized by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and Casa Mediterráneo in Alicante was attended by over 70 people, including representatives of higher education institutions and networks, ministries in charge of higher education, and the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission. The event sought to gather feedback from key Euro-Mediterranean higher education stakeholders in view of preparing the first UfM Ministerial Conference… read more
A roundtable discussion on research and innovation and PRIMA projects was held in Egypt during an Italian-led mission on Agriculture, Agri-food and Food Security. The UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel highlighted the important contribution of PRIMA to the UfM framework, and the need to upscale research projects at Mediterranean level 13-15 March 2023, Cairo – Climate change, the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on food security, along with the need for economic growth and youth employment, all call for common actions between the North and the South of the Mediterranean for increasing resilience of agri-food value chains. Against these… read more
Building on the outcomes of the UfM Ministerial Conference on Research and Innovation held in June 2022, the UfM co-organised an event on the ‘International Cooperation in Research and Innovation (R&I) for Mediterranean resilience – Launch of Mediterranean Initiative: Horizon Europe WP 2023-2024’, together with the European Commission and the EU Delegation in Cairo. The Mediterranean Initiative included in the Horizon Europe Work Programme brings new significant opportunities for Mediterranean research stakeholders Cairo, 30-31 January 2023. For the first time ever, the Horizon Europe 2022-2023 programme is foreseeing a “Mediterranean Initiative”. This series of R&I calls, open to Mediterranean countries… read more
16 December 2022. Barcelona and Piran. The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) have recently concluded the webinar series “Science Diplomacy for Sustainable Development in the Mediterranean Region”, which promoted the recently endorsed UfM Agendas on Research and Innovation as a tool for scientific cooperation in the Mediterranean . The first webinar kicked off on 12 December with ‘Scientific Cooperation for Sustainable Regional Development’ open to all R&I stakeholders in the Mediterranean. Alvaro Albacete Perea, Deputy Secretary General for Higher Education and Research at the UfM and Prof. Dr. Abdelhamid El-Zoheiry, the EMUNI President inaugurated the… read more
The Union for the Mediterranean and the European Investment Bank have signed an agreement this year starting training activities in Mediterranean Universities. With the support of the UfM, the EIB is bringing high-level financial expertise outside of the European Union. Barcelona, 1 December. The Union for the Mediterranean and the European Investment Bank have started working together to bring trainings on the EuroMediterranean multilateral policy frameworks, and EU project financing mechanisms to pilot Mediterranean Universities. After the signature of a dedicated agreement, the two institutions have opened discussion with three initial pilot universities, bringing for the first time dedicated trainings… read more
The Union for the Mediterranean and the Higher Council for Science and Technology organised a “UfM Forum on Green Innovation and Careers for Empowering the Mediterranean Youth: Triple Helix in Action” With 70 registered participants, the two days event saw the participation of Ministries of Research and Labour, Higher Education and Research institutes and initiatives, business and university networks, development funds and experts in innovation and employability. Amman, 30-31 October 2022. With 45% of the population under the age of 25, the Mediterranean is a young region whose potential needs to be fully exploited for achieving a double green and… read more
The Conference took place at the eco-campus of the Euromed University of Fez and aimed to highlight the importance of dialogue in the process of regional cooperation and integration. 15-16 September 2022, Fez. What actors represent the key stakeholders in the Euro-Mediterranean science-policy interfaces? How to engage Universities in science-policy processes? How can Euro-Mediterranean institutions better share knowledge amongst themselves? These and many other issues were discussed during the Conference on Science-Policy interface in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, organised by the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI), the Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes (UEMF) and the UfM. The Conference explored the importance of science-policy platforms… read more
Research and Innovation Ministers from the 42 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) met for the first time to discuss ways to promote scientific cooperation on climate change, renewable energy and health. They endorsed a ministerial declaration that seeks to exploit the potential of research and innovation to increase the resilience of the Euro-Mediterranean region against environmental, food security and socioeconomic challenges, as well as to promote science diplomacy. Paris, 27 June 2022. The Ministerial Conference on research and innovation (R&I) of the Union for the Mediterranean was held to promote international cooperation on science and knowledge in… read more
