This 27th January the kick off meeting of the LASERMed project took place online, marking the start of this Mediterranean socioeconomic recovery initiative. The partners could meet each other and share some first ideas about the sectors and objectives to be prioritised through the implementation of local economic pilot projects until may 2023.

The 4 associated cities of the project, the donor and the experts gathered for a 3-hours meeting where the project planning, budget and internal rules were revised and agreed.

The main goals of the meeting were indeed to :

–          Introduce the project associated partners and their focal points and establish a first contact together with the project main funding entity.

–          Recall the project general and specific objectives, revise and agree on the implementation and financial planning

–          Inform and agree on the project technical, administrative and financial internal procedures to ensure a smooth implementation and evaluation. 

LASERMed project (“Local action for the socioeconomic recovery in the Mediterranean: the cities respond”) is ‎funded by the Diputació de Barcelona and is led by MedCities in association with the municipalities of Zgharta-Ehden (Lebanon), Oujda (Morocco), Sousse (Tunisia), As Salt (Jordan). The project aims to provide a tailored support to municipalities in the identification and implementation of local, tangible and concerted actions to mitigate the effects of the COVID crisis and promote the recovery of strategic sectors with social value and environmental perspective.

The next steps of the project are the working meetings to agree and implement the methodological guide drafted by the project international expert to elaborate the 4 local diagnoses. The next project meeting is scheduled for late April / early May.