The LASERMed project gathered 50 people at the headquarters of As Salt City Council to present the final results of the project, which has supported 4 Mediterranean city councils on local socio-economic promotion policies with an inclusive and ecological perspective. More than 15 different training, awareness-raising, and social dialogue activities have been implemented.

You can watch the project video for a summary at the bottom of the page!

In the previous weeks, the city councils of Sousse (Tunisia), and Oujda (Morocco), held their respective closing events through mass events to promote local handcrafters with more than 100 people and 30 artisans (in the case of Sousse) and a campaign to raise awareness about recycling that reached around 200 households (in the case of Oujda). In both cases, the call for participation and visibility of the project via social networks was very important; see the promotional video of the Sousse event. Back in April, the other associated city of Zgharta Ehden in Lebanon had its own closing event with a promotion video made by some of the project beneficiaries.

In As Salt, the closing activities began with the presentation of the project results to beneficiaries, local entities and members of the city council, with interventions of some of the experts, trainers, and beneficiaries. The Secretariat of MedCities, two representatives of the city council of Sousse, a representative of the city council of Zgharta-Ehden, and the expert on the capitalization of the project were present. A guided walking tour of the historic city center, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and a dinner hosted by As Salt City Council, wrapped up the day.

The closing event of the LASERMed project took place on the 20th and  21^st June morning with an opening by the Mayor of As Salt, Mr. Engineer Mohammad Al-Hiyari, who welcomed the international guests and associates of the project; Mr. Josep Canals, Secretary General of MedCities, who thanked the city councils for their involvement, and by Ms. Núria Ferres, Provincial Council of Barcelona. Mr. Canals recalled “the importance of working closely with the town councils, as they must play an important role in planning and action in the socio-economic field“. The event included the presentation of pilot project results by each delegation and a capitalization workshop that fostered discussion and exchange among the audience.

Read the article published by the Provincial Council of Barcelona (in Catalan)

Watch the videos concerning the main actions of the project:

LASERMed was funded by the Diputació de Barcelona and its global objectives were to promote socio-economic recovery in response to the SARS-CoV-2 crisis through local development projects in sectors of high social and environmental value. The project began with outstanding work by the four cities to identify their priorities and sectors where socio-economic recovery was strategic. For more than a year, the project implemented almost 20 different activities: training and capacity building; public awareness and events; initiatives for social dialogue and citizen participation. Environmental protection has been an important axis of all projects.