Posted on February 8, 2024
On the 29th January 2024, the CREACT4MED project held its third EU-Southern Neighbourhood Dialogue, this time online, gathering over 30 experts from the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean to explore how to strengthen cooperation in the region with a focus on intermediaries, including BSOs and other support organisations.
Held in the framework of the Mediterranean CCI Hub, the EU-Southern Mediterranean Dialogues are debates bringing together stakeholders from the Euro-Med area to promote the creation of regional links and cross-border collaborations between CCI initiatives and projects and to improve exchanges on best practices for replication at a regional level.
The session was opened by Gemma Aubarell, Director of Gender, Culture and Civil Society at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Maria Ruiz, Coordinator of CREACT4MED and Senior Project Manager at the Euro-Mediterranean Economists’ Association (CREACT4MED lead partner), and Chaymaa Ramzy, Executive Director of Shelter Art Space and facilitator of the session.
The first part of the section focused on opportunities and needs for BSOs and intermediaries with insights from Ahmed Amne Azouzi, CEO of Pencils Consulting (based in France and Tunisia), and Luka Piskoric, from Poligon Creative Centre in Slovenia.
Then, the conversation focused on creative urban development in the Mediterranean and the role of cities, discussing the latest policies for creative cities and proposals for future networking and exchange initiatives. This discussion was led by Omar Nagati from CLUSTER (based in Cairo) and Eva Sòria, from the Barcelona Institute of Culture. The third theme brought the discussion towards a key topic in the interest of future creative development: creative skills. For the final 30 minutes, the participants discussed the role of cities, institutions and BSOs in the development of human capital and enhancing skills in the creative sectors. This was led by Ojoma Ochai, Co-Creatin Hub Africa, headquartered in Nigeria and Larabi Jaidi, Policy Centre for the New South, based in Morocco.
The event finished with a closing discussion on collaborative actions towards a Euro-Mediterranean Hub of BSOs and intermediaries in the region.
The third EU-Southern Neighbourhood Dialogue was organized by project partner, the European Institute of the Mediterranean. CREACT4MED is a project funded by the EU through the EuropeAid Programme, which aims to strengthen businesses with the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs). It seeks to support entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs, create jobs, and foster sustainable economic growth in the Southern Mediterranean, with a particular focus on young people and women.
It is led by Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) (Coordinator), with the partners Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED), European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BUSINESSMED), Redstart Tunisia, Confédération méditerranéenne pour le développement (MED Confederation), Beyond Group, Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta (LUMSA Università), Association of Organisations of Mediterranean Businesswomen (AFAEMME), Positive Agenda Advisory, and Womenpreneur.