Middle East Mediterranean Summit: Seminar/forum for young change-makers

Origin

Università della Svizzera italiana launched the MEM Summer Summit in 2018 (henceforth MEM Summit), in collaboration with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs that is one of the main partners. The acronym MEM stands for the extended region of the Mediterranean and the Middle East (from Morocco to Iran) and it refers to a complex and heterogenous geopolitical and cultural space that has undergone and is still undergoing profound and rapid changes. 

Overall goal

The MEM Summit offers the opportunity to bring together young people from the Middle East Mediterranean region, who do not usually have opportunities to meet. The MEM Summit aims to be a safe place for the participants to imagine and experiment with common projects, bringing new narratives to life and transforming challenges into opportunities. To accomplish this it is vital to strengthen the partnerships and projects between the region and Europe, as the complexity of these challenges requires trans-regional analyses and cooperation. 

5 main objektives

To reach these goals, the MEM Summit has 5 main objectives: 

• To develop new approaches, different narratives, as well as new projects that transcend physical and cultural boundaries between communities on all shores of the MEM region and beyond with the active contribution of the young participants, called young change-makers.
• To create a safe space for the young change-makers to meet, to exchange experiences, to collaborate and to build a common understanding. 
• To pilot initiatives and proposals at civil society level before bringing them on the formal and political tracks.
• To launch cross-cultural and academic exchange programs to foster peace through direct communication among artists, academics, and cultural leaders. These initiatives will promote mutual understanding and share diverse cultural and academic insights.
• To develop scientific projects to mediate conflicts and promote reconciliation. This includes science diplomacy efforts addressing global challenges, which can help reduce tensions and build cooperative relationships across regions.

Hirschmann Scholarship

The Hirschmann Foundation covers the costs of 10 young change-makers at the MEM Summit.