Italy launched a contest for the youth in the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean as a sea that unites and divides peoples and nations. Identifying a single widely shared definition of the Mediterranean is a complex operation due to the liveliness of the object of analysis. The Mediterranean can be analysed by emphasizing its common destiny and its unity, as Fernand Braudel did in 1985. Or its conflicts, focusing on historical episodes that have opposed Islam and the West (the crusades and the Reconquista). On the sad pages of colonialism and decolonization. Or on the territorial political conflicts that still inflame some areas of the basin.

A fair common dichotomous vision of the Mediterranean distinguishes the function it can perform as a ‘bridge’ that unites the two banks from that of a ‘wall’ that separates them. In reality, there is no lack of unifying or conflicting elements in the area, and only an evaluation of both can offer a complete vision of the inter-state and social relations that exist in the Mediterranean.

To try to find answers to the common challenges faced by the peoples bordering the Mediterranean, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, through its embassies and consular offices in the area, launched the second edition of the “Youth Forum Contest – Ideas and Project at Work “. A contest created by the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) that offers a select number of young people from the Mediterranean area the opportunity to present their ideas and innovative projects in front of a high-level audience. So as to promote their works and expand their visibility.

Based on this objective, this year’s Youth Forum Contest will consider projects focused on the search for creative and innovative solutions to the recent crisis linked to the pandemic and which favor regrowth and restart in the Middle East and North Africa. To this end – the embassies explain in a note – projects will be considered that deal with one of the themes divided into the two groups of the contest: Culture and civil society (education and culture, civil society, health); and business and new economic models (food and water security; business and the world of work, and urban innovation).

The winners of each group will receive a prize of € 2,500, as well as the opportunity to present the development of their projects in a dedicated panel to be held during the next edition of MED Mediterranean Dialogues 2021. Young candidates from the Middle Ages can participate in the contest. East and North Africa, who have not yet reached the age of 35 and have an excellent command of the English language. Young people from Mediterranean Europe may also apply if their projects are in partnership with institutions or personalities based in countries of the Middle East or North Africa.