Europe-Morocco: jazz across the Mediterranean

The EU Delegation in Morocco is organising a Jazz Festival bringing together Moroccan and European artists for a musical event that promises to cross boundaries and cultures.

 

The 14th edition of ‘Jazz au Chellah: Jazz européen, musiques maroquaines’ will take place in Rabat from 11-15 June. Ten European groups will meet five Moroccan groups in a festival assembling some 40 musicians. A press release said the festival had not only established a loyal audience in the 14 years of its existence, but had cemented a new cultural dimension – using the freedom of jazz to anticipate a dialogue of cultures.

 

Read more here.

The Jerusalem of Palestinian Artists

All born in Jerusalem, they are part of the first generation of artists. Some portray the city they have always lived in. Others, in exile, lay on a canvas their childhood memories or their claims.

Ranging from figurative to abstract style, from the 60’s to the 80’s, “Jerusalem, Lexicon of Colours” collects works with various styles and from different periods, where the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967 marks a fracture.

To read more and view some of the art work click here.

Search for Partner: Long Term Project Call

CulturePolis-International Cultural Partnership Forum (former Europe of Cultures Forum: Adriatic-Ionian Chapter), intend to submit a project proposal under Long Term projects entitled “Euro-Med Cultural Antennas Network”.

CulturePolis-International Cultural Partnership Forum co-organised in 2008 the “1st Adriatic-Ionian Intercultural Dialogue “conference, Corfu 27-28 June 2008, where many of ALF members have participated.

For more info about CulturePolis and its networks please visit our website : culturepolis.org and in particular on Cultural Antennas: http://culturepolis.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=10&Itemid=35

They are seeking ONE organisation per country for ALL eleigible countries – preferably a ALF network member, or more than ONE per country if located in different regions/cities.  Selected organisations will be called to play the role of coordinators for establishing new cultural antennas in their regions/countries on the basis of the existing Cultural Antennas Network of CulturePolis and its recently launched “Get Culturally …Connected” internet besed collaboration platform (press “Get Culturally …Connected” on culturepolis.org).

Interested? Please send an email to secretariat@culturepolis.org with an organisation profile in English NO LATER than 5 May 2009.

Project Proposal-Search for Partner in the Euromed Region

The following project proposal is by a research group at The Van Leer Jerusalem Institue.  It is addressing environmental issues in cooperation among Israelis and Palestinians.

 

A Joint Israeli-Palestinian Study Group on Environment and Regional Sustainability has started working together at the beginning of 2008 under the auspices of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and the Palestinian House for Professional Solutions (HPS), Ramallah. This group of young professional environmentalists was formed to discuss cross-border regional issues of environment and sustainability and initiate ideas for joint cooperation. The significance of a joint group of this nature is two-fold: it brings together young, active, and involved Israelis and Palestinians to communicate and study a topic of clear interest to both sides, and it aims to place the importance of cooperation on issues of regional environment and sustainability on each side’s national agenda.

 

Summary:  The two partner organizations believe that the environment is a joint concern of all people live in the country and should be dealt with in a cross-border equal manner. We also believe that cooperation around these issues can overcome disputes and hatred and build bridges of trust between the two sides.

Thus, environmental peace-building is the ultimate goal of this project.

 

If you are interested or would like further information on this project, contact (project initiators) Dr. Sarah Ozacky-Lazar and Ms. Shahar Sadeh at: shahars@vanleer.org.il or Dan Wollner at, danwoll@smile.net.il

 

EuroMed-News: A Joint European and Mediterranean Media Project

European Commissioner for External Relations and the ENP Benita Ferrero-Waldner has launched the EuroMed News project, which aims to broaden knowledge about the EU’s policies in the region and the relationship between the EU and individual Mediterranean countries.

The Commissioner said the project was “above all aimed at reinforcing intercultural dialogue with our partners in the neighbourhood to the south”, adding it was not only an instrument for greater visibility but a means of promoting press freedom.

 

Spearheaded by France Televisions, EuroMed-News, brings together broadcasters in Europe and in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Syria, Morocco and Lebanon. Together, they will produce 300 news features, 40 short current affairs programmes and nine 26-minute documentaries about North African society and the economy.

For more information on the project, go to: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.168.news.en.5599.html

Search for potential partners: ‘Dance of the Sacraments’

Proposal for Artistic Collaboration – Dance of the Sacraments

The “Dance of the Sacraments” is a project designed and created in order to promote diversity and inter-cultural dialogue. Through classical ballet and combining dance, music and fine arts the “Dance of the Sacraments” presents the birth, development and modern expression of the three monotheistic religions.  The sacraments of Islam, Judaism and Christianity dance and celebrate world spirituality while promoting inter-cultural dialogue. It is a 75-minute long classical ballet, created in collaboration with the religious leaders of Islam, Christianity and Judaism and supported by national embassies in Greece.

The “Dance of the Sacraments” features an original musical composition and includes an intercultural core of professional dancers who will be joined by youth dancers recruited from the Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities included on the tour.  Following its debut in Athens the “Dance of the Sacraments” will tour Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.Greece. The production time of the “Dance of the Sacraments” is six months.

 

For more information on the event/If you would like to become a potential partner, please contact:

 

Magda Roussi (M.A.), 

E-Mail: mroussidemo@unipi.gr

Baltic International Summer School (BISS): Search for partners

The BISS will be holding a forum on:

STORIES FROM A COUNTRY IN BETWEEN:

SPOTTING THE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN EUROPE

Date: 1-19 July 2009

Where: Taking place in Valmiera, Lativia.

Search for Partners: A Latvian University is currently looking for partners from within the Mediterranean region: Universities, NGO’s, associations concerned with the subject – project will cover the traveling, subsistence, programme costs for international partners who will share their perspective in the summer school programme.

If you’re interested, reply back to: liga.tuca@va.lv by April 15, 2009.

For more information on the event, go to: http://biss.va.lv/about-us

Media project concludes training of Palestinian TV and radio journalists

The BBC World Service Trust (who is an ALF network member) has successfully concluded a specialised training course in television news production for two television stations in the West Bank and a series of consultations for five local radio stations in the Gaza Strip, as part of the ‘Support to the Palestinian Media Sector’ project funded by the European Union and the Dutch Government.

To read more on this, go to: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.170.news.en.5535.html

Tempus issues statistics on proposals

The Tempus IV programme has issued statistics on proposals submitted and received, broken down by Partner Country.

 

Of the ENPI South countries, Egypt and Morocco had the most number of proposals submitted, 78 and 66 respectively, and selected (7 and 9). The tables also break down the proposals by national and multi-country consortia and mark the success rate by country.

 

The Tempus programme supports the modernisation of higher education and creates an area of co-operation in countries outside the EU. Established in 1990, the scheme covers 28 countries in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.

To view statistics, go to: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.169.news.en.5443.html

Final Report: Europe and Progressive Islamist Movements, University of Birmingham, UK, 6 March 2009‏

A one-day conference on ‘Europe and Progressive Islamist Movements: Perceptions of Democratisation in the Middle East’ was  held at the University of Birmingham, UK on Friday, 6 March, 2009. 

This ESRC project focuses on Egypt and Palestine, two cases from the Middle East which have experienced recent controversial elections and which challenge the EU’s rhetoric on democracy promotion. These two cases offer a huge amount of unexplored data on which this project will draw.

Paradoxes and Contradictions in EU Democracy Promotion Efforts in the Middle East is a three year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research project that has been awarded to Dr Michelle Pace, a UK network member of the Anna Lindh Foundation .

The research  project came into effect on February 2008 and will run until February 2011. It is under the auspices of the Political Science & International Studies (POLSIS) Department.

To view the British Academy Final Conference Report, go to: http://www.eumena.bham.ac.uk/conferences.shtml

Five new EuroMeSCo Papers cover issues relating to: Israel, Multilateral cooperation, Immigration, Tunisia and the UfM

EuroMeSco has released five new Papers dealing with interesting issues, from migrants in Israel and flexible multilateralism in the framework of the Euro-Med partnership, to national immigration policies and their development in relation to the Euro-Med process, Tunisia and the Maghreb Union and from Barcelona to the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).

To view these papers, go to: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.171.news.en.5416.html

Enhancing Equality between Men and Women in the Euromed region’ (2008-2011)

This New Euromed gender programme has officially taken off! The new programme ‘Enhancing Equality between Men and Women in the Euromed region’ (2008-2011) has published the first edition of its trilingual newsletter ‘Gender Dynamics’.

The Programme, launched through the new ENPI South Regional Programme, builds upon the achievements of the Euromed Programme, the Role of Women in Economic Life (RWEL), which came to an end in January 2009. 

The newsletter introduces the Programme, which has a budget of €3,342,000 and was launched through an international tender won by a consortium of three partners from the EuroMed Region. It outlines its three main objectives as the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the strengthening of strategies on fighting gender-based violence against women, and support to the follow-up of the 2006 Istanbul Conference held on ‘Strengthening the role of women in society.’ 

The main feature of the newsletter is an interview with Carla Montesi, Head of Unit in charge of Regional Programmes and Neighborhood at EuropeAid, in which she outlines the thinking behind the programme. She expresses her optimism that “a constructive partnership will lead to full recognition of the human rights of women and the importance of their integration into development on equal footing to men”, and underlines “the close relationship between democracy, development and equality between men and women”.

To view the newlestter, go to: http://www.roleofwomenineconomiclife.net/newsletters/PDFs/07DecEN.pdf

 

BRITISH COUNCIL-PROJECT MANAGERS OF ‘Role of Women in Economic Life’. A look at its achivements…

The Role of Women in Economic Life programme aimed at enhancing the role and involvement of Mediterranean public governmental and non -governmental institutions to facilitate and expand opportunities for women’s economic participation. The 3 year programme (January2006 – January2009) covered 10 countries in the MEDA region, was funded by the European Commission and managed by the British Council in partnership with the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies in Cyprus.Concurrently the European Commission had provided grants to 7 regional NGO consortiums to implement projects that aimed at enhancing the Opportunities of Women in Economic Life (EOWEL), through a) training and capacity building; and b) information, communication and networking.

The three years of work supporting strategies that address low female economic activity in the Mediterranean Partner Countries are highlighted in the final quarterly newsletter of the Euromed Role of Women in Economic Life Programme (RWEL), funded by EuropeAid. This special edition focuses on the final Euromed Policy Conference held in Brussels in 2008, with which the Programme concluded.  (To view in English, Arabic or French, go to: http://www.roleofwomenineconomiclife.net/newsletters.asp )

 

The Euromed RWEL came to an end in January, but as gender equality in the Mediterranean Partner Counties is an important issue for the European Commission, a new programme has been launched through the new ENPI South Regional Programme ‘Enhancing Equality between Men and Women in the Euromed Region’ (2008-2011).

More information on RWEL is available on their official website: http://www.roleofwomenineconomiclife.net/

To view EuroMed Info Centre feature stories on RWEL projects, click: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.169.news.en.5202.html

British Academy Project: Europe and Progressive Islamist Movements-Perceptions of Democratisation in the Middle East

Conference:  ’Europe and Progressive Islamist Movements: Perceptions of Democratisation in the Middle East.’ 

It will be held on Friday, 6 March 2009.  Venue: European Research Institute (ERI), University of Birmingham.

For information on the conference day’s itenrary, go to: http://www.eumena.bham.ac.uk/programme.shtml

This event is co-funded by the British Academy, the European Politics research group of the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham, the British International Studies Association (Working Group on International Mediterranean Studies) and the University Association for Contemporary European Studies.

Registration is now open via https://www.bhamonlineshop.co.uk/events/eventdetails.asp?eventid=35 

Early registration is highly recommended!

SALTO-Youth Euromed Resource Centre announces 2009 activities

A number of activities taking place in 2009 in the framework of the EU-funded SALTO-Youth Euromed Resource Centre have been announced and are now open to participation. Among them is the long-term training course on ‘Protecting the Mediterranean environment’, which aims to train EU and Meda youth organisations to enhance the impact of their involvement in projects. Other activities focus on intercultural dialogue, education, democracy, training and workshops, youth programmes and networking.

To read more visit: http://www.euromedinfo.eu/site.171.news.en.5121.html