The context: The Mediterranean is and has always been an area of crossings, connection, exchange and

dialogue among people and political institutions that inhabit its coasts. The effects of he many recent
scenarios of crisis, both geopolitical (from the so-called “Arab-springs” and their aftermath in the whole
MENA region, to the side effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the global supplies of energy and
food), and socio-sanitary (of which the COVID-19 pandemic represent the most disruptive one), have often
exacerbated already existing tensions within the societies of this area, leading to new fragilities and . The
worst-hitten have been the categories that were already the most vulnerable and disenfranchised. On the
top of them, minorities and migrants have often experienced the greatest difficulties. The increasing social
and economic constraints on the shoulders of the citizens have often sharpened the hostilities against such
groups, and they have widened the space in national public opinions for those political forces that label
such fragile groups as illegitimate grabbers of spaces and resources to be spent in aid to other categories of
citizens. Such narratives, finding fertile ground on already existing social cleavages, biases and xenophobia
have contributed to the worsening of discriminations along ethnic, religious, sexual and cultural bases
culminating in episodes of contingent and sistematic use of violence in all of its forms, from the verbal one
(e.g. hate speech) to the properly physical one.

The goals: coherently with the 10. and 16. objectives of the Agenda 2030 of the United Nations on the
“reduction of inequalities within and among nations” and “promoting peaceful and more inclusive
societies”, and in line with the guidelines and goals set by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in matter of
international cooperation and by the Regional Government of Sardinia that would be the main co-funder,
this project aims to tackle some of the above mentioned fragilities by realizing targeted interventions
pointing at the contrast of discrimination and violence of all types, the promotion of the culture of
cooperation and inclusiveness, through actions of education, co-participation and enhanced dialogue. The
participation to the project of partners such as the CMEL (Tunisi) and the Department of Political Science
and IR of the “29 Mayıs” Univerisity (Istanbul) is aimed to strengthen the effectiveness of the foreseen
actions by counting on their knowledge and in-depth experience on the relative contexts in which such
institutions operate, and that constitute areas of priority intervention of the project itself. Moreover, to
count on a similar international network will increase not only the opportunities of exchange of know-how
and expertise, but it will also enhance the possibility of setting up more stable and longer-term cooperation
under various forms such as partnership and other bi-/multilateral agreements.

The actions: in order to reach the goals set above, the partners commit to mobilize their resources and
networks for the realization of concrete actions. A series of preparative meetings will be held between the
committees of the partner institutions to prepare and keep track of the events and actions to be scheduled
and realized. In order to ensure the manageable, efficient and environmentally conscious use of resources
to set up meetings of such a wide network, especially in the preparatory phase online platforms will be
privileged. The activities to be set up can be listed as follows:
- Highly specialized training activities: aimed at the development of skills in the topics in question
applicable to local governance, civic action, but also to the international sphere.
- Activities aimed at raising and spreading awareness and consciousness on the general goals of the
Agenda 2030 as declined in the specific contexts of action. Events such as international workshops,
seminars and conferences will be organized in each of the territories of the project, putting
together members of CSOs and ONGs of the countries involved together with students of the
partner universities, local and national administrators, experts of internationally recognized value.