The Diplomat
The 43 member states of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) will annually designate two cities – from the northern and southern Mediterranean – as Capitals of Culture and Dialogue “to broaden the understanding and awareness of citizens on the richness and diversity of cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean region, as well as on the commonalities between these cultures, heritage, and history.”
“The Euro-Mediterranean region boasts a rich and diverse heritage, shaped by centuries of cultural exchange. A melting pot of different languages, traditions and customs, the region shares a heritage and a deep sense of identity and belonging. Today, this cultural legacy continues to inspire and inform our shared values and aspirations, reminding us of the importance of building bridges and fostering understanding between cultures,” declared this past Friday the UfM.
For this reason, the Union for the Mediterranean and the Anna Lindh Foundation have designed and launched the Mediterranean Capitals of Culture and Dialogue initiative, in close cooperation and coordination with UfM member states and youth representatives from civil society. The announcement of the first two Capitals of Culture will take place at the eighth Regional Forum of the 43 UfM Foreign Ministers, to be held in November 2023.
The initiative was launched during the seventh Regional Forum, in November 2022, in response to the call of the Ministers of Culture of the Euro-Mediterranean region, adopted on June 17, 2022 in Naples and which urged to “promote new joint initiatives to foster culture-led development and regeneration, on the model of the European Capital of Culture, in coordination with (…) the Union for the Mediterranean, taking into account similar initiatives.”
The UfM has also taken into account the recommendation of more than 200 young representatives from the civil society of over 20 countries, adopted at the Forum des Mondes Méditerranéens (held on February 7, 2022 in Marseille), to “create a Mediterranean event-which would take place over a full year by conferring to a Mediterranean city the designation of Capital of the Mediterranean.”
This Mediterranean capital, it continues, “would be the centre for the unification of talents from all the countries around the region, by organizing within its territory various cultural, sporting, economic, academic, and social events”. It would also “stimulate networking and exchanges, promote talents and innovations of Mediterranean actors, while stimulating investment into infrastructure and land planning.” “Beside employment and professional mobility opportunities, the organisation of such event would enhance the role of citizens’ initiatives and the civil society,” added the Marseille Forum.
