Congrès Mondial des Études sur le Moyen-Orient et l'Afrique du Nord

Barcelone, du 19 au 24 Juillet 2010

· NOT_DEFINED institution: Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures (Egypt)

· NOT_DEFINED organizer: Eleonora Insalaco

· NOT_DEFINED language: English / Français

· NOT_DEFINED description: The panel has the objective of presenting the work coordinated by the Anna Lindh Foundation on the state of intercultural trends in the Euro-Mediterranean region and culminated with the publication of the first Anna Lindh Report on Euromed Intercultural Trends 2010.
The Report aims to present a scientific analysis on the intercultural trends among the people of the region in order to propose recommendations for action addressed to policy makers, civil society organizations and opinion leaders for the positive advancement of exchanges among the people of this area.
The Report offers mainly qualitative analysis conducted by a pool of around thirty experts from different countries from the region. The qualitative articles for the nature of the topics they explore and the involvement of experts from the countries of the Union for the Mediterranean aim at creating a new narrative for the Mediterranean cultural cooperation.

One of the most scientifically and conceptually innovative elements of the Anna Lindh Report is the launch of a regional opinión poll. In fact the Foundation commissioned Gallup Europe to carry out an opinion poll in a number of countries of the Euromed region to assess the propensity of people towards a common Project around around the Mediterranean and towards intercultural relations. With this initiative the Foundation responded to the call of the High Level Advisory Group coordinated by Romano Prodi to create "an evaluation tool that can perform the difficult task of assessing something as intangible as the dialogue's impact". The opinion poll questionnaire was designed with a pool of experts from different countries taking into consideration the cultural inputs and sensitivities of people with diverse cultural background. The results of the poll form the basis for the qualitative analysis of the international group of experts and will be presented during the panel.

The results of the opinion poll show the existence of positive trends at the regional level for the creation of a common and shared future for the people of the Euro-Mediterranean space. It gives also important information about the main challenges and priorities for developing a sustainable and long term activity in favour of intercultural dialogue in the Region.
In addition this is the first survey carried out on such a scale and creating a new sample for the analysis representing the Euromed public opinion. The opinion poll being an exercise to be carried out on a periodic basis, it will allow to measure the evolution of intercultural trends at the regional level with the strengthening of the Mediterranean cooperation over the years.

Chair: Mr. Andreu Claret (Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures)

Paper presenter: Dr. Mohamed Tozy (University Hassan-II of Casablanca and University of Aix en Province), “Mediterranean between imagination and reality”
In particular the article of Dr. Tozy analyses results concerning values trends in the region and the images that the people associate the most with the Mediterranean.

Paper presenter: Dr. Sara Silvestri (City University London), “Praxis of dialogue (tbc)”
The paper of Dr. Silvesti explores human interactions across the Mediterranean sea and how they impacto mutual perceptions.
The papers of Dr. Tozy and Dr. Silvestri present an overview of the main conclusions to be derived from the opinion poll results. These two articles aim at presenting trends at the regional level and for specific segments of the population, for example young people, residents in rural and urban areas, while in some cases providing specific indications of National results.

Paper presenter: Dr. Isabelle Rigoni (MIGRINTER – University of Poitiers), “Media and Cultural Diversity in France”
Dr. Rigoni's paper proposes to analyse the implementation of cultural diversity policies in the French mediascape, and to evaluate the potential changes related to intercultural relations. It will also present good practices and propose some recommandations for a better representation of immigrants from the mediterranean basin.

Paper presenter: Mr. Eldar Sarajlic (University of Sarajevo), “Beneath Multiculture: Politics, Media and Diversity in Bosnia and Herzegovina”
Mr. Sarajlic’s paper aims to analyze diversity politics in contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina as constituted through the popular media discourse. It takes upon the specific social and political context in which the country is situated and seeks to determine the relation between three distinct categories: politics, media and diversity. By analyzing how is cultural difference, as a conceptual notion, built into mainstream social values through the medium of mass media, the paper aims to indicate the pattern of cultural diversity acceptance in contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a special emphasis on cultures of the Mediterranean basin.

Dr. Rigoni and Mr. Sarajlic will introduce the topic of media and their impact on mutual perceptions in the Euro-Mediterranean region. This theme corresponds to the thematic focus of the 2010 edition of the Anna Lindh Report that in each issue focuses on a specific topic partciularly relevant for its impacto on mutual perception and intercultural dialogue. In the 2010 edition, the role of media in shaping people's perceptions in the Euromed region is explored with country articles presenting the media treatment and policy towards cultural diversity issues and information about other countries and people of the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Dr. Rigoni’s and Mr. Sarajlic’s analyses take into consideration most of the studies led in France and Bosnia-Herzegovina on the topic, the results of the opinion poll concerning the media, and will rely on the expertise of the authors in the field. In addition the article present some positive case studies to be used as good practices and examples and to illustrate current trends.