Meetings are places for dialogue between citizens where everyone speaks freely while respecting the rules of mutual listening. They should allow to build a common reflection on the issues and challenges facing the Mediterranean area and define the axes of reflection and action for the future but also deepen the theoretical concepts and themes. They must also allow to enhance the dynamics of the ACM.
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MCA Foundation develops all kinds of projects in three main areas: SOCIAL ACTIONS | ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS | CULTURAL ACTIONS | DISSEMINATION ACTIONS
In spite of this year’s complexity, the pandemic and subsequent mobility restrictions, the MCAF has counted with high participation and engagement of its governing and advisory bodies and circles, as well as in its networks within different initiatives and proposals.
The MCA Foundation takes part and collaborates in the organisation of the Forum: Youth and Climate in the Mediterranean+25
This three-days encounter, which will be held the 9 to 11 December, is organised by Generalitat the Cataluña. It will gather organisations, entities, associations and networks led by youth, as well as individual young activists from the Euro-Mediterranean region in order to jointly discuss, reflect and develop actions towards the climate crisis in the Mediterranean.
The Forum promotes North-South cooperation and anticipates the participation of 150 to 200 young individuals from both shores of the Mediterranean, and will consist of a series of workshops, discussion sessions, round tables and activities, as well as plenary sessions to exchange results and draw up conclusions.
The Forum will address the subject from social, political, cultural, scientific and artistic perspectives working on six thematic workshops related to climate.
FACM ARTIVISM WORKSHOP the 10th of December at 12:30pm:
Culture, art and environment to help prevent and overcome the isolation caused by the pandemic through the action of civil society.
The goal is to bring together young representatives of some of the projects promoted by the FACM in favor of sustainability, where art, research and culture are used as tools of resistance of citizens in times of climatic, economic, social and sanitary emergency.
Moderator: Oussama Nouri, young scientist from Tunis
Presentation:
Several youngsters and projects will participate:
– From Algiers (Algeria) Presentation of RAVMED, the first virtual residency for artists in the Mediterranean, with the participation of two students from the University of Fine Arts of Algiers: Lina Khelifa and Tobbal Fairouz Zhor. An initiative that gives visibility to artists from the Mediterranean region, as well than to offer online methodologies for the training of students of Fine Arts and artistic high schools. RAVMED had its first edition with the participation of 45 artists who have made artistic productions that deal with COVID-19. This project is sponsored by the FACM in order to be carried out under the best conditions. The final result of the first edition of the residency can be seen in a virtual exhibition.
– From Naples (Italy) The ACM circle of Naples and the association Péripli present: the video of the conference “Mediterranean Heritage and Citizenship” (Naples, October 2019), a second video made by young Neapolitan theatre artists during the period of isolation last spring and the experience of the Neapolitan artist – singer and musician – Maria Cerbone, known as “la Zingarina”. Clara Bocchino, actress, will present the videos and the main artists.
– From Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) presentation of the “Mediterranean Congress: Music and science, the use of ICT in the Covid scenario”. The theoretical physicist and pianist, Ali Esquembre, congress coordinator will highlight the synergy of the two experimental disciplines and how to overcome the isolation caused by the pandemic.
– From Valencia (Spain) The executive producer of MOSTRA VIVA DEL MEDITERRANI, Gustavo Pérez Colomer presents the proposals for what has become the great meeting of the cultures of the Mediterranean which, this year, despite the pandemic, brought to Valencia from 14 countries in the region under the slogan “Mediterranean emergency: citizenship in resistance”. The FACM is co-organizer and sponsor of the Festival.
– From Podgorica (Montenegro), one of the main actors in the play ANTIGONA 2.0, Filip Cukovic, shows how the pandemic allowed a group of high school students and their teacher to reinterpret the Greek classic and turn it into a rock opera which raises awareness of freedom, “gender, migration or sexual diversity”. An initiative which has become a network project in several Mediterranean countries and which was launched by the FACM.
– From Nador (Morocco), Marjan Amakhtari, the coordinator of the social and sustainable Nador project: « together we are building a context that promotes intercultural dialogue and the social inclusion of migrants. Sustainability and sustainable cities? » will present the work carried out on this subject under the gaze of young people.
– From Rome (Italy), Ana Helena Pinto, a young participant of the workshop “Food Wave – Empowering Urban Youth for Climate Action” will present his experience and conclusions. This workshop was organized by the Eating City entity with which the FACM cooperated.
FACM also has prepared a cultural column that will be visible throughout the forum. Click to visit
The Mediterranean Congress “Music and Science” aims to be an annual event that brings together different personalities of music and science in the Mediterranean area in order to share aspects that year after year have affected the interrelation between music and music. science.
In its first edition, on November 27 and 28, 2020, in online format, the central theme of the Mediterranean Congress “Music and Science” is the use of ICT in the Covid scenario, while the pandemic situation has forced the science and music, disciplines that require intense teamwork, to transfer a large part from its work to the internet.
Organized by the ACM Foundation in collaboration with Mostra Viva del Mediterrani and the ACM circle of Sarajevo.
Follow the event via streaming:
PONT DE HONOR HELD T0 THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
The Pont d’Honor of MVM has been for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (APM), an international forum where representatives of the parliaments of 29 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean area debate with the aim of improving the social, economic and cultural conditions of the citizenship in an environment of peace and freedom. Vicent Garcés was the one who collected the award and read a letter sent by the Secretary General of the APM, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, who regretted in his letter not being able to be in person and expressed his desire to “build lasting cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterráneo, Mostra Viva and the ACM Foundation ”.
PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE MEDITERRANEAN
ASSEMBLEE PARLEMENTAIRE DE LA MEDITERRANEE
الجمعيـــة البرلمانيــة للبحـــر الأبيض المتوســـــــ ط
General Secretary
Geneva, November 3, 2020
Dear Mr. Garcés,
Dear Vicent,
On my own behalf and on behalf of the President, the members of the Bureau and all the delegates of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, I would like to warmly thank you for your invaluable support, as well as the recognition you give to our work, and our commitment to promoting social and cultural values, as well as the protection of human rights in the Mediterranean. APM’s nomination for the PONT DEL MEDITERRANI award is a great joy and a great honor for all of us.
The PAM is convinced that the Mediterranean is consolidating itself as the point on the globe where diversity is concentrated to the point of becoming an example of it. It is the sea of unions, both the center of the world and on the periphery of the states that limit it.
However, to our dismay, current travel restrictions do not allow any PAM Board member to travel and attend the award ceremony on November 19, 2020 in Valencia. In this special situation and in the absence of a representative, I ask you to collect the award from me.
With a view to future joint projects, I would like to reiterate my desire to build a lasting cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, the Mostra Viva del Mediterrani and the Foundation (FACM), in favor of the Promotion of Intercultural and Religious Dialogue, as a key to peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean.
Sincerely,
Sergio
Amb. Sergio Piazzi
Mr. Vicent Garcés Ramón President of the Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly Foundation- Valencia, Spain
The human rights defender and feminist activist, Fatma Boufenik, has just received the “Pont Del Mediterrani” award, awarded by tMostra Viva Del Mediterrani, in recognition for her career and her activism for the promotion of human rights, as well as for equal rights between women and men.
Founder of the Algerian Women Claim their Rights (FARD) association, Fatma Boufenik has devoted herself exclusively to the fight for equal rights between women and men, particularly on the economic and social levels.
Her commitment does not stop there since she was a member of the feminist association for the development of the person and the exercise of citizenship of AFEPEC, and founder of the Karima Senouci center, support center for women victims of violence.
It should be noted that Fatma Boufenik was a free candidate in the municipal elections for the city of Oran in 1990 and for the deputation in 2007. She is also very active in the popular uprising in Oran and has been involved on several fronts for several years.
Source: L’Avant-Garde
The Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunitat Valenciana, the Centre del Carme and the Consell Jove de València were some of the winners
The Valencian writer Vicente Muñoz Puelles and the Algerian activist Fatma Boufenik also received the award and sent a video in appreciation
The “Pont d’Honor” went to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, which was unable to send any representatives because of current restrictions
Pont del Mediterrani Awards, which every year it recognises the work of people and institutions in the defence of culture and human rights. The ceremony was held in the Capella de la Sapiència of the Centre Cultural La Nau. Vicent Garcés, Honorary President of the organization, said that “Today begins the process that will lead us to the ninth edition of the meeting in October 2021,” Garcés also expressed his desire that the situation change so that “we can enjoy the presence in Valencia of all the cultural diversity of the Mediterranean”.
The journalist Amàlia Garrigós was in charge of presenting the awards, which was designed by the sculptor Pablo Sedeño. The Pont de Música went to the Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunitat Valenciana, collected by its President Daniela González, who appreciated the recognition and reclaimed the role of musicians “in the hardest moments of the pandemic” as well as the work of the musical societies that “are supported and managed by thousands of volunteers”.
The Pont d’Arts Visuals went to the Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània, a recognition that was given by Victoria Cano, designer of the poster of Mostra viva 2017, to the Director of the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana José Luís Pérez Pont; who said that “we are sincerely grateful because we are working hard to put this institution at the service of the cultural sector and the citizens so that it can be a tool for social transformation”. In subsequent statements, Pont said that “above all we value this award because it comes from people who work from the base of society to drive cultural initiatives by providing different points of view and perspectives”.
The Pont Jove went to the Consell Valencià de la Joventut, whose vice-president, Rocío Barbeito, dedicated the prize to “all the young people who work and strive to make Valencia a better city, because without youth there is no future, but neither present”.
The Valencian writer Vicente Muñoz Puelles, winner of Premio de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil in 1999 and Premio de las Letras Valencianas in 2018, received the Pont de Literatura i Pensament. In his speech, the novelist denounced the dramatic situation in the Mediterranean, where many people lose their lives trying to reach Europe, and he highlighted pollution and the current climate crisis.
The Pont de Compromís Social de Génere went to Fatma Boufenik, a researcher at the University Oran 2 Mohamed Ben Ahmed in Algeria and an expert in gender and economic development. Boufenik, who was unable to attend the event, sent a thank you video, in which she spoke of the difficulties in Algeria in respecting human rights in general and women’s rights in particular. The Technical Director of the Fundación ACM Esma Kučukalić, was in charge of collecting the prize on behalf of Ms. Boufenik.
Finally, the Pont d’Honor wrnt to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), an international forum where representatives of the parliaments of 29 countries in the Euro-Mediterranean area debate with the aim of improving social, economic and cultural conditions for citizens in an atmosphere of peace and freedom. Vicent Garcés collected the prize and read a letter from the Secretary General of the PAM, Ambassador Sergio Piazzi, who regretted in his letter that he could not be there in person and expressed his desire to “build a lasting cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, Mostra Viva and the Fundación ACM “.
The ceremony was entertained by the Valencian vocal group Melòmans and the poet Víctor Benavides, who, accompanied by his brother Gabriel on the double bass, recited fragments of his latest work “Ciudad Océano”. On the other hand, Mostra Viva del Mediterrani also announced for next Monday 23rd November, the publication on its Youtube channel of the exclusive concert recorded by the Cypriot group Monsieur Doumani that could be seen at the Teatre El Musical during the celebration of the Trobada de Música 2020 last 12th October.
The meeting of the Advisory Council and the Governing board of the Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly Foundation, a multidisciplinary group of experts from different parts of the Mediterranean, was held on 12 November.
Due to the mobility restrictions put in place to deal with the pandemic, the meeting had to be virtual, but this did not stop the important work of the Advisory Council and its members.
The meeting began with an analysis of the challenges facing Mediterranean societies in the current context of the pandemic. Vicent Garcés, President of the MCA Foundation and former European MP, pointed out that the pandemic has slowed down our lives and has led us to an adaptation for which not everyone is prepared. On this matter, it was expressed concern about the growing level of poverty on both sides of the Mediterranean, and it was evaluated by what means this situation could be mitigated.
In the same vein, Hassan Balawi, Palestinina diplomat and member of the Advisory Council, pointed out that the pandemic is pushing coexistence to the limit in many places, giving rise to conflicts not only of a political nature, but also of a religious and intellectual nature. Consequently, Balawi continued, we must re-read and reflect on issues of tolerance, diversity, laicism and cohabitation.
The Advisory Council also stressed the need to establish an intergenerational dialogue as a necessary prerequisite for intercultural cooperation among citizens, as well as the ways to achieve it.
Furthermore, the Council reflected on the theme and modalities of the 9th meeting of the MCA Foundation, which will take place in November 2021. Specifically, the proposals presented were discussed by Sébastien Boussois and Maria Donzelli, both members of the Advisory Council. These proposals revolved around the lines of fracture and union between the peoples of the Mediterranean, as well as the establishment of bonds of solidarity between them through citizen diplomacy.
However, the council also highlighted the role of the MCA Foundation as a forum for proposals, dialogue and citizen action, committed to the emergence of a community of the peoples of the Mediterranean. In fact, this objective takes on special relevance in these times, where the democratic values of freedom, peace and respect for diversity are being compromised by the instabilities derived from the pandemic.
THE TIME FOR AN AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD TRANSITION HAS COME
WAKE UP!
(Intervention by Vicent Garcés, President of the MCA Foundation, to the Commission on Territorial Sustainable Development of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), in the online meeting held on the 29th October 2020)
CURRENT SITUATION
The rich agricultural history and the diversity of food systems and patterns have allowed the blossoming of multiple civilizations across the Mediterranean. At present, the gastronomic diversity and the Mediterranean diet continue to be broadly recognised among nutritionists.
However, big distribution chains along with globalized, standardized agricultural products have gained ground. Today, the “globalized” ingredient outweighs the “territorial” one in the food system of Mediterranean peoples. Indeed, the current food system destroys more jobs than it generates, and distributes less income at a local level. It weakens development instead of promoting it. It impoverishes and indebts Mediterranean countries instead of enriching them.
The current food system has negative effects in social terms (increased unemployment in the local economies), environmental terms (pollution, biodiversity loss and soil infertility), and cultural terms (destruction of local cuisine and foodstuffs).
THE ALTERNATIVE
The agricultural and food system as a whole must once again become the main engine of respectful, inclusive, sustainable development in our countries. We must bring back the agricultural knowledge and expertise of our countries and respond to major contemporary issues, such as job creation, the fight against poverty, sustainable resource management, the fight against climate change and the preservation of our cultural heritage.
This agricultural and food transition compels us to fight for two interrelated causes. On the one hand, the battle for the “re-territorialization” of consumption, which is based on both the re-establishment of local distribution channels and the development of circular economies. On the other hand, the battle for the “agroecological transition”, which demands a change in the agricultural system.
All the above are issues we must address in order to hand down a tangible and intangible heritage which allows future generations to live with dignity.
THE PROPOSITION
The Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly Foundation (FACM) has made its call for the agri-food transition in the occasion of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in Marrakech in November 2016.
We stress the need for solutions together with those who are already striving towards the agricultural and food transition in the Mediterranean. In this regard, all our countries count with pioneers who have already set in motion initiatives on durable, responsible food systems.
The MAC Foundation has taken part in study on “Tools for promoting territorialised food systems”, launched in 2018 by a group of Spanish and French entities with the aim to tailor a map of the best, 100 local and sustainable agri-food initiatives in Spain.
Lastly, we put forward a broad sample of hundreds of sustainable, responsible agri-food initiatives as a way to display the creativity and diversity of local solutions and to contribute identifying the transitional path to the new agri-food systems.
Valencia, 29th October 2020
Intervention by Amb. Sergio Piazzi, PAM Secretary General
on the occasion of
Mostra Viva del Mediterrani and Presentation of the book “Les inégalités méditerranéennes. Le defí du XXIe siècle” by Mr. Ricard Perez Casado
Valencia, 13th October 2020
It is a pleasure for me to address you this message on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean on the occasion of the annual meeting of Mostra Viva del Mediterrani, and the presentation of the book “Les inégalités méditerranéennes. Le defí du XXIe siècle” by Mr Ricard Perez Casado, who I sincerely congratulate for this piece.ç
VIDEO MESSAGE BY EMB. PIAZZI
I would like to thank the president of Mostra Viva del Mediterrani, Maria Colomer and its Honorary President Vicente Garcés for organizing this enriching event, to which PAM has granted its high auspices.
It is very important that we continue to celebrate our common Mediterranean culture and heritage especially in these moments where hate speech, xenophobia, racism and intolerance are spreading all over the world.
At PAM, we believe that it is important to promote encounters between cultures, religions, communities, as a direct way to achieve peace in the Mediterranean region and in the whole world. Our Assembly has been actively implementing and promoting initiatives that put culture at the centre, promoting intercultural and interreligious dialogue.
PAM serves as a platform of dialogue not only for parliamentarians, but also for different groups of stakeholders including academics, religious leaders and civil society, with the purpose of coming together for constructive dialogue. The contribution that the Foundation of the Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly provide has always been very much appreciated by our Parliamentarians and the Foundation has a special place in PAM.
Our common Mediterranean Sea, which is the cradle of Civilizations, has become today the centre of debate of many critical issues and challenges. These include regional conflicts in Syria, Libya and the Middle East, the threats of terrorism and climate change; technological developments and use of artificial intelligence; mass population displacement; youth unemployment; demographic growth, xenophobia and hate speech; structural economic injustices all these aggravated by the COVID pandemic.
The rising trends of inequality in income, wealth, unequal access to resources, to care, to school, to justice and gender inequality – have far from disappeared, including in the advanced economies.
Unfortunately, the existing inequalities have been further exacerbated by the global health emergency we are currently facing. This crisis has revealed many weaknesses and fractures in our social infrastructure, from health care to digital technology and remote teaching at schools, and has exposed the critical need for reform of our infrastructures in order to prevent and respond to a future pandemic, including the second wave of COVID that we are facing in these days.
The crisis has also revealed our interdependence and that only though international cooperation we can win this fight.
Assisting Member States and related national Parliaments to create a space for peace and prosperity is an essential role for PAM.
We, as an interparliamentary organisation gathering 34 Member and Associate States from both the Northern and Southern shore of the Mediterranean and the Gulf region, we a forum to draw up a new international framework of action to address and combat these injustices.
We believe that with tailored laws and public policies, it’s possible to reduce inequalities.
From our side, at PAM we will continue to contribute to the conceptualisation and design of support measures, to ensure that all measures taken result in enhanced protection and support of the most vulnerable, to create a space for peace and prosperity for its peoples. And we count on the support of the Mediterranean Citizens’ Assembly Foundation to achieve this objective.
Thank you.
