Connecting the Dots: The path to a smarter and greener Mediterranean

As part of the Interreg Euro-MED Dialogue4Nature (D4N) and Community4LivingAreas (C4LA) projects, MedCities took part on 21 and 22 November in a major event organised by the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg Euro-MED and the Slovenian Presidency in Ljubljana. The event brought together stakeholders from across the Mediterranean region to discuss and shape the future of governance in the region. The aim of the event was to initiate institutional dialogue, strengthen and develop networks, and encourage collaboration between different organisations in the Mediterranean and beyond. It was an opportunity for our two projects to meet with associated partners to prepare for future activities in 2024 and discuss the integration of future thematic projects.

Institutional Dialogue for the Community 4 Living Areas

The C4L partnership met at the auspices of the EURO-MED meeting to update its action plan after the first year of implementation. The partners highlighted the importance of building a community that will find it interesting and useful to engage with each other over the next year. The partnership co-organised one of the thematic sessions as a Mission for Green Living Areas on the second day of the conference with a full room of participants. This was useful to discuss with some of the newly approved thematic projects (6 out of 16 have representatives in the room) about the thematic group’s distribution, which will deal among others with sustainable mobility, urban planning, climate financing, or citizens’ engagement and awareness.

Mission for Natural Heritage’s first Institutional Dialogue in Piran

After two days of discussions with the Interreg Euro-MED Programme and the four Missions, the Mission for Natural Heritage team set off for the coastal municipality of Piran to organise its very first Institutional Dialogue event, which will be held every year. Our partners at the National Institute of Biology gave us a warm welcome as hosts. The aim of the event was to initiate an open dialogue with the relevant institutions, national governments and local authorities, and to strengthen links between members of the Community.

A number of activities took place, including the presentation of the Community’s vision and objectives, the co-creation of the Mission’s portfolio of services, the first physical meeting of the thematic working groups and a visit to the Škocjan caves. MedCities co-moderated together with CREAF the session dedicated to the necessary elements to foster the transfer of solutions and the one dedicated to the working group “Adaptation to climate change” to meet the first members of the working group.

Technical workshop SAIS-EBSA Governance Transference

MedCities together with Dialogue4Nature partners IUCN, PlanBleu and Marine Insititute concluded this week by participating in the SAIS-EBSA Governance Transference workshop in Piran, Slovenia. The aim of the workshop was to move forward the process initiated under the Interreg Med Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Community (MBPC) project, build on previous experience and help decision-makers move towards a stable transboundary Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) framework that prioritises conservation in the South Adriatic Ionian Strait Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (SAIS-EBSA).