PRESS RELEASE
International Conference
Identity, Sustainability and Innovation in the Mediterranean
July 13, 2023
Spazio Europa Conference Hall
Via IV Novembre 149, Rome
Rome, 10/07/2023 - A Center for Higher Education, Innovation and Science Diplomacy on Sustainability in Italy to coordinate research and to develop projects with the main relevant Euro-Med and UN organizations, launching also the first Identitary Restaurant in the world: this is the most ambitious challenge at the center of the debate between institutions and international experts gathered for the international conference titled “Identity, Sustainability and Innovation in the Mediterranean” at the Spazio Europa conference room of the European Commission and Parliament in Rome on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
The conference will be an internationally significant event focused on the future of one of the geographic areas of greatest historical, civil and cultural importance in the world, the Mediterranean Basin. The Italian Network for Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue (RIDE, Head of the Italian Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation – ALF), with the contribution of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), ALF, the PRIMA Foundation and Mediterranean Perspectives (RIDE member), are the promoters of this event. The conference aims to investigate development possibilities, innovative proposals, and shared approaches, in a region that has long been a center of trade, cultural, and technological exchanges, all of which have shaped its diverse collective identities and contributed to its sustainability. Participants will address the most pressing issues for the countries lying along the 46,000 km coastline of what some consider the cradle of modern civilization.
There will be two main sessions at the event, with Michela Zanarella, RIDE President, as the Conference’s Chairwoman.
The first (10.30-12.30), “The UfM and the Euro-Med Institutions for Sustainability” will begin with the institutional introductions (10:30-11:00 a.m.) from Sergio Marchi, Head of the Technical Secretariat of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry (MASAF); Simona Petrucci, Commission on Environment, ecological transition, energy, public works, communications, technological innovation), Italian Senate, Italian Parliamentary Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean; Carlo Corazza, Director of the European Parliament Office in Italy; Massimo Pronio, Head, Communication Desk, European Commission Representation in Italy, Almotaz Abadi, Deputy Secretary General for Water, Environment, and Blue Economy for UfM (video); Angelo Riccaboni and Mohamed El-Shinawi, Co-Chairs of the PRIMA Foundation, and Gennaro Migliore, President Emeritus of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean – PAM (video).
The following speakers will participate in the panel “New research agendas, science diplomacy, training skills for the Mediterranean on Climate Change, Health, Food, Renewable Energy” (11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., co-organized with UfM): Giuseppe Provenzano, Project Manager for Higher Education, Innovation, Science Diplomacy, and Employability of UfM; Gianluigi Rossi, Director of the Mediterranean Observatory of the S. Pio V Institute for Political Studies (RIDE member); Sandro Dernini, President of the Plexus International Forum (RIDE member); and Enea Franza, Vice President of the UN University for Peace.
The second session (12:30-2 p.m.), titled “Sustainability as a Game-Changer to Strengthen Regional Cooperation: the Mediterranean Common Goods”, will also consist of two parts. The panel “The Role of Italy in the Broader Mediterranean Region” (12:30-1:30pm), will feature: Miguel Angel Moratinos, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations – UNAOC (video); Marco Scurria, Senator of the Italian Republic, Secretary of the EU Policies Committee (video); Riccardo Sessa, President of the Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI); Antonello Biagini, President of the Unitelma Sapienza University of Rome; Marco Taradash, Journalist, Radio Radicale; and Mariano Angelucci, Chairman of the Committee for International Relations, Tourism and Fashion, Rome City Council.
Finally, concluding remarks and future prospects (1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.) will be provided by the Conference’s Scientific Coordinator Enrico Molinaro, National Coordinator of the Italian ALF Network, and President of Mediterranean Perspectives.
The Mediterranean region is celebrated for its rich tapestry of collective identities developed over millennia, embracing a kaleidoscope of cultural, linguistic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, whose diverse histories have contributed to a unique and vibrant social fabric. The conference will be a platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and international cooperation to address the complex challenges the Mediterranean region is currently facing, such as population growth, urbanization, tourism, water scarcity, as well as biodiversity loss, overfishing, and climate change.
Promoters
The Italian Network for Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue (RIDE), in coordination with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), brings together public and private (for-profit and non-profit) associations and institutions, and works to implement the principles of the United Nations Charter, of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (contained in the Barcelona Declaration of November 1995), of the ALF, of which RIDE is the Head of network in Italy. The non-partisan and non-profit organization RIDE, in cooperation with public and private institutions, non-governmental and civil society organizations operating in Italy, promotes dialogue among peoples and states, especially in the Euro-Med area, adhering to the principles and aims of the Italian Constitution, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UfM charter.
Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), an action-driven organisation with a common ambition, an intergovernmental Euro-Mediterranean organisation which brings together all countries of the European Union and 16 countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
The Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures (ALF), created by the European Union and Mediterranean partner countries, is a network of networks of civil society bodies and institutions (universities, local communities, etc.).
The Italian Secretariat of the Partnership on Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA), established at the University of Siena’s Santa Chiara Lab thanks to the contribution of the Italian Ministry of University and Research, carries out the promotion and dissemination activities of the PRIMA Program in Italy. The Secretariat's main activities concern thematic areas such as: sustainable management of water resources, sustainable agriculture, the agri-food supply chain, and the intersectional demands of ecosystems and water, food and energy management. The PRIMA Foundation is a Euro-Med program supporting research and innovation projects on sustainable agri-food systems and water resource management in the Mediterranean Basin. The Program, in its sixth year of implementation, has a budget of 500 million over 7 years and is jointly promoted and financed by the European Commission and 19 countries in the Euro-Med area, 11 EU members (Cyprus, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain) and 8 non-members (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey).
Mediterranean Perspectives (MP) is engaged in activities, research and projects aimed at enhancing the artistic, religious, cultural and social peculiarities of the different Mediterranean collective identities. A motivated group of young members makes the MP environment particularly dynamic and active, carrying out scientific, activities and educational initiatives.
