Tag Archives: European Union

Mediterranean: Information, a “public good” made accessible by FEMISE

(article appeared in http://ecomnewsmed.com, by Rédaction Ecomnews Med on 27/09/2019)

More than twenty countries celebrate the International Day of Universal Access to Information on 28 September. Focus on the action of the FEMISE network, which aims to promote access to information for citizens and decision-makers in the Mediterranean countries.

Information is a universal good, which is shared and transmitted, a right to which all citizens should have access. A fact that the FEMISE network of researchers is convinced about. Thus, to promote this sharing of information in the countries of the Mediterranean, the Think Tank provides its solutions: “At FEMISE, we promote free access to information. We believe that it is a public good and we encourage all our partners and all the members of the network to do the same, “assures Maryse Louis, General Manager of FEMISE. How ? By establishing partnerships with civil societies and think tanks to disseminate knowledge or providing open access to all online publications produced by the associated researchers. “FEMISE participates in the dissemination of information because the network embodies the link between research and operators who need to rely on the results of this research,” says Patricia Augier, coordinator and president of the Scientific Committee of FEMISE.

Work for positive social change

The objective: to provide information to citizens and decision-makers in the countries of the region and thus promote sustainable and inclusive development. “Access to information is crucial in the Mediterranean to try to reach more inclusive societies. FEMISE is addressing these issues to try to influence policy makers, “says Charlotte François, from Clermont-Auvergne University.

Making information public and sharing it with others provides a better mechanism for monitoring and reporting, as well as better sharing of experiences and sharing of lessons learned,” says Karine Moukaddem, Policy Intern at Union for the Mediterranean and associate researcher at FEMISE.

Information is a crucial issue for democracy, since it requires decision-makers to be accountable. Transparency that can work for positive social change and help develop the countries of the region.

Because, as Karine Moukaddem concludes, “access to information is the key to improving and optimizing political practices“.

Article produced in partnership with EcomNews Med

FEMISE MedBRIEF 23: “Developing Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in the Mediterranean and Middle East”

Tallie Hausser, Constantin Tsakas and Karine Moukaddem

The FEMISE Policy Brief series MED BRIEF aspires to provide Forward Thinking for the EuroMediterranean region.The briefs contain succinct, policy-oriented analysis of relevant EuroMed issues, presenting the views of FEMISE researchers and collaborators to policy-makers.

The MED BRIEF “Developing Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in the Mediterranean and Middle East “, is available here.

It is also available in Arabic by clicking here.

Summary

Our Policy Brief analyzes the social innovation ecosystems in Beirut and Tunis and discusses ways for leading to inclusive innovation that creates jobs, income and opportunities for marginalized populations, women and youth. Findings show that the lack of a legal form for social enterprises, impediments to financing and investment, scarcity of human resources for upper management and difficulties in determining the proper customer base are among the core obstacles faced by social entrepreneurs. We argue that more innovative financing mechanisms should be available for them. Educating investors in the South Med around the concept of impact measurement and impact investment would be needed. In addition, South Med governments ought to actively support social enterprises, meanwhile, corporations should be considering social procurement and including social enterprises in their supply chains. Finally, capitalizing on Euro-Med cooperation could be an inclusivity game-changer. Specifically, an EU-Med Social Impact Platform could multiply funding opportunities for South-Med entrepreneurs and provide a promising market for impact investors.

The list of FEMISE MED BRIEFS is available here.

The policy brief has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union within the context of the FEMISE program. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union

FEMISE annual conference, Brussels, Belgium, June 13th-14th 2019

(Update)

The reporting of the plenaries of the FEMISE conference is available here.

A video feedback on this flagship event of our network is available below.

 

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FEMISE is happy to announce that its annual conference will take place this year in Brussels, Belgium, on June 13th and 14th 2019.

Please click here to register.

This year’s theme will be on:

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: DRAWING AN IMPACTFUL EU-MED ROADMAP

The objectives of this conference are threefold:

(1) To take stock of what the South-Med region has achieved in the past few years in terms
of sustainable development;

(2) To highlight the main challenges they are still facing; and

(3) To propose a road-map on how to move forward towards achieving sustainable
development.

The conference plenary sessions will address the FEMISE four main thematic pillars and will link
them to the SGDs, taking into account their interlinkages, offering a platform for dialogue between
the different stakeholders.

The concept note is available by clicking here.

The conference agenda is available by clicking here.

All the participants bios are available by clicking here.

The FEMISE annual conference provides a platform for the different actors of the EU-Med region of research institutes’ members, academics, policymakers and representatives of the international community including the EU, to engage in a constructive dialogue about the future of the region and the role the EU can play in the context of the new Neighborhoud Policy (ENP). 

To get to know some of our speakers, click on their pictures !

FEMISE MED BRIEF no18 : “The EU’s pursuit of ‘resilience’ in southern Mediterranean countries”

Elisabeth Johansson-Nogués & Hani Anouti

The FEMISE Policy Brief series MED BRIEF aspires to provide Forward Thinking for the EuroMediterranean region. The briefs contain succinct, policy-oriented analysis of relevant EuroMed issues, presenting the views of FEMISE researchers and collaborators to policy-makers.

The latest MED Brief is on “Closing the gender gap: policy-making that promotes inclusive Mediterranean societies”, available here.

 

SummaryThe main aim of this policy brief is to explore the conceptual and practical effects of the EU’s pursuit of resilience in relation to the southern Mediterranean partners. Our findings point to that the more pragmatic EU foreign policy since 2015 and the more flexible EU funding for policy objectives have been welcomed both in Europe and by southern ENP partners. The EU Global Strategy reflects a will to co-design policies with its southern Mediterranean partners. However, while holding great inherent potential, resilience has met with certain unforeseen teething problems in its first years of its implementation due to regional or intra-EU dynamics. Elaborating an effective new ‘resilience toolkit’ could allow reaching better outcomes in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

 

The list of FEMISE MED BRIEFS is available here.

The policy brief has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union within the context of the FEMISE program. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union

The private sector, its role as an engine of growth and job creation, at the heart of FEMISE research

FEMISE Brochure

Mediterranean countries suffer from a lack of dynamism of their private sector, which is not sufficiently competitive nor job-creating.

Therefore, FEMISE has placed the theme of the private sector, and in particular its role as an engine of growth, job creation and inclusivity, at the center of its research activities. A special attention is paid to the causes that prevent the sector from reaching its potential, in particular the constraints faced by firms in the Southern Mediterranean Region, and to the importance of innovation in the development of the Mediterranean private sector.

One of the specificities of the FEMISE network, coordinated by the Economic Research Forum (ERF) and Institut de la Méditerranée (IM), is to always strive to integrate the points of view of politicians, of private operators and, more broadly, of all local actors, in the discussions carried out under this theme. This approach provides better feedback on the research, and ensures its policy relevance.

The private sector at the center of the FEMISE academic research

Patricia AUGIER (Scientific Pres. of Institut de la Méditerranée, Coordinator and Scientific Pres. of FEMISE), coordinates the 2018 EuroMed report

Firstly, the 2018 FEMISE EuroMed report, the flagship publication of the network, will focus on the private sector in the Mediterranean countries. The objective of the report will be to take stock of the economic dynamics of the Mediterranean countries over the last 20 years (ie since the Barcelona Process), and to understand the blocking points. The general idea is that growth in Mediterranean countries must accelerate to absorb a growing number of incoming individuals in the labor market, and that this growth must be based on productivity gains rather than on factors accumulation : the development of the private sector is therefore at the heart of the definition of a new development model. One of the chapters will focus more specifically on the role of central banks in private sector development. Finally, the major concern of a more inclusive growth will lead us to consider social entrepreneurship as a potential opportunity for the Mediterranean countries.

A “Science for Business” partnership dynamic with technical and operational support actors

Secondly, FEMISE participates, in partnership with ANIMA, in THE NEXT SOCIETY project, which brings together public and private actors from 7 Mediterranean countries with the aim of supporting innovation ecosystems. This collaboration gives the opportunity to FEMISE and ANIMA to pool their complementary skills, which are analysis and production of academic knowledge on the one hand, and technical and operational support on the other hand.

FEMISE’s contribution is firstly to draw-up a scoreboard and analyze the position of each country in terms of innovation and competitiveness indicators, such as the Global Innovation Index, at different stages of innovation (inputs, process and outputs). FEMISE also carries out an analysis of the national innovation strategies and of the ecosystem of involved actors (government, associations, private operators…).

Next, FEMISE identifies high-performing sectors and products to highlight new national comparative advantages and investment opportunities.

Dr. Maryse LOUIS (General Manager FEMISE, Programs Manager ERF) and Dr. Constantin TSAKAS (General Manager Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary FEMISE) presenting FEMISE research at THE NEXT SOCIETY panels in Tunisia and Jordan.

FEMISE presents its findings on the occasion of advocacy panels bringing together academics, entrepreneurs, investors, managers of incubators and innovation structures and public actors. This allows to benefit from their feedback and, above all, from their point of view regarding the factors that led to the emergence of these new comparative advantages. This approach ensures that the findings and recommendations from FEMISE work can contribute to elaborate public policies. The challenge of these panels is to establish, for each country, a roadmap for innovation, from implementation to evaluation, with the objectives of strengthening national innovation systems, fostering coordination between stakeholders, and improving the instruments of innovation policies and strategies.

An opening towards South-Mediterranean institutions in a “Science for Policy” approach

Les jeunes chercheurs du FEMISE participent activement aux recherches, Karine MOUKADDEM et Jocelyn VENTURA (Institut de la Méditerranée, FEMISE) et Dalia RAFIK (ERF, FEMISE)

Thirdly, FEMISE is opening-up by cooperating with South Mediterranean actors and institutions directly concerned by these issues. Therefore, FEMISE co-authored and will publish in 2019 the2019 EuroMed report which will identify the constraints to growth and integration in the global value chains of Moroccan SMEs. This document results from the cooperation of the network with the African Development Bank, a main regional funder for development aid, and with the Institut supérieur de commerce et de gestion d’administration des entreprises (ISCAE) established in Morocco.

It is essential for the Mediterranean countries to better integrate SMEs into the global value chains in which most international trade takes place. In this report, we have chosen to focus on the case of Moroccan firms. It will be based on surveys and field interviews of SME managers and representatives of professional associations as well as on the Enterprise Surveys and Doing Business indicators of the World Bank. It is in this approach of discussions between researchers and public and private operators that the preliminary results of the report were presented before publication, in order to gather comments, suggestions and recommendations to enrich the research.

A triple anchoring to obtain research that is relevant from a political and operational dimension

To conclude, in addition to the ongoing academic research conducted by network members and supported financially by FEMISE funds (research available on the website), 3 other types of work devoted to the private sector are currently mobilizing the FEMISE team: (1) an analysis of the situation and a general discussion covering the entire region (EuroMed2018 Report), (2) a targeted and co-authored thematic analysis with a national focus (EuroMed2019 Report) and (3) a project on innovation in partnership with ANIMA.

Our analysis feeds on both (i) the knowledge and contributions of academic research, (ii) the consideration of concrete situations within the countries, as well as (iii) the points of view and insights from politicians and business actors. This triple anchoring allows us to develop products that are relevant from a political and operational dimension.

To get the FEMISE Brochure, with a presentation of the activities of the network and its new thematic approaches please click here.

To find out more about the preliminary findings of the report co-led with the AfDB, some answers are available in the interview below:

Article written by Jocelyn Ventura (Economist Institut de la Méditerranée)

Extended EU-Med Neighborhood: FEMISE experts advocate for openness to Africa

FEMISE 2018 annual conference on: « Neighbours of Neighbours : Relations and Cooperation of the EU-MED towards Africa »

Extensive collaboration between the Euro-Med region and sub-Saharan Africa is made necessary by the common economic, demographic, migratory and climate challenges. Such collaboration could be of great benefit to all stakeholders. This is the point of view defended by the experts of the FEMISE network who met in Malta on 7-8 and 9 February 2018 at the networks’ Annual Conference.

The recommendations of the conference to determine the priorities and the necessary measures towards a EuroMed-Sub-Saharan Africa cooperation are as follows:

  • Investing in youth must be a priority for Africa and the European Union. The demographic dynamics of the African continent and its young population (60% of Africans are under 25) are putting increasing pressure on the education system. Education remains a shield against forced marriages and a defence tool against unemployment and poverty.
  • Cooperation opportunities with Africa must be seized to create infrastructures, to improve the resilience of these countries in the face of climate and other challenges, and to strengthen the principles of good governance protecting civil society.
  • Integration must be complemented by increased competitiveness, FDI attraction, stronger growth, and wider markets leading to economies of scale. Attracting FDI is a priority, but there is a need to focus on sectors that will help the countries develop.
  • Europe must become aware of the importance of industrialization and human development in Africa. The solutions currently proposed by the EU, whether stemming from the security and migration policy, or from trade policy (by asking sub-Saharan countries to reduce their tariff protection vis-à-vis European products), are far from being up to the standards. In general, the priorities of some (development in the South) and of others (migration in the North) should be treated with a more global vision, taking into account the complexity of situations and interaction processes (industrialization-jobs). -Security-migration, etc.).
  • The industrialization of the African continent could go faster if it could rely on a more integrated zone to create regional value chains and facilitate their insertion at the world level, especially in value chains run by EU firms. In this area, Europe can help countries in a variety of ways: market knowledge, standards acquisition, technology transfer, human capital formation, investment support, infrastructure and logistics improvements, and so on.
  • It is urgent to have a much more active and proactive policy towards the private sector: We must putfirms at the center of concerns, all over the African continent, allow the voice of entrepreneurs to be more audible, listen to their needs, change their image and give young people the envy to undertake entrepreneurial efforts. Facilitating, by all means, intra-regional trade is a way to achieve this. Open innovation must foster the meeting of ideas of African startups and Euro-Mediterranean funding.
  • Further cooperation with civil society and local authorities should be encouraged to increase national coherence and respond to the needs and providing a role and a meaning to national and local actions. A facilitation dialogue has to be built to propose solutions for the actors to revise their ambitions upward: territorialize the commitments of states to allow local governments and cities to seize these issues and competences currently dependent on states. This must be done in a multi-actor and multi-competence approach to enable a global transition of society.
  • Economic development throughout the African continent must not be at the expense of the environment and quality of life: It is important to restore protected areas affected by urbanization, to implement measures to combat deforestation, protect coastal areas and ensure access to drinking water for households and to meet the needs of the agricultural sector.

For a detailed account of the presentations and discussions, please click here.

“Video Briefs” with some of the speakers are also available below.

Ndiouga Sakho: “We must experiment within the territories, with the local actors”

Interviewed during the annual conference of the Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Economic Institutes (Femise-Malta, 7 to 9 February 2018) Ndiouga Sakho, President of the Commission for Urban Development and Sustainable Development of the City of Dakar, discusses the actions of the Territorial Energy Climate Plan implemented in the capital of Senegal thanks to European and Mediterranean partnerships.

Ndiouga Sakho insiste sur la nécessité d'une coopération ville à ville (photo : F.Dubessy)

Ndiouga Sakho insists on the need for city-to-city cooperation (photo: F.Dubessy)

econostrum.info: How does the city of Dakar deal with the issues of sustainable development?

Ndiouga SakhoFor a few years now, the city has been engaged in the fight against climate change. Our capital is home to 80% of the country’s industrial activities in 3% of the country’s size.
We have begun to make a diagnostic of the vulnerability of the city, the environment, the social sector, the economy, and so on. Starting from 2013, we have put together an action and environmental management plan. This enabled us to mobilize €1M on a Territorial Energy Climate Plan financed by the European Union over three years, with a global vision around three points: an adaptation and mitigation strategy, a platform of the actors to cooperate and share lessons and failures, and finally, energy efficiency projects to strengthen the share of renewable energy in public lighting, for example, as in municipal infrastructure, and energy savings. Dakar, along with ten other cities benefiting from this plan, is a laboratory test in Africa with a goal of replicating our experience.
I insist on the city-to-city cooperation and the major role of the territories with the local actors, which are in the same time, the places of emissions as well as of the solutions. This is where we have to experiment.

On what points Dakar can serve as an example?
N.S. : The city has a lot of experience in the field of urban mobility, for example, a system of remote control of all traffic lights to regulate car traffic in case of pollution peaks, paving and street improvement to encourage people to walk or cycle instead of using their vehicles. We are also developing public transportation with the BRT, a fast transport bus, and a TER. As well as the relocation of administrative services to be able to limit the concentration of activities in the city center.

Vegetable gardens in urban and school environments

La ville de Dakar fait la promotion des comportements eco-citoyens (photo : F.Dubessy)

The city of Dakar promotes eco-citizen behavior (photo: F.Dubessy)

What actions have you taken with the population?
N.S.: We have raised awareness of environmental culture in schools and with the promotion of eco-citizen behavior, but also by developing eco-neighborhoods. One of our projects is based on the installation of vegetable gardens in urban and school environments with training and capacity building activities that we have initiated. We are doing all this through a technical partnership with FAO (Editor’s note: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) in Milan, where we have also been able to find partners within a city university. We have shared this experience with other neighboring countries.

Are you also trying to adapt solutions from Mediterranean countries?
N.S.: Our partnerships in the Mediterranean are unfortunately not very well developed. But, we did several missions in Paris to study the implementation of their climatic plan. Similarly, with the city of Marseille, we have developed our master plan for beach development. The city of Marseille has helped us install pilot projects for our eight beaches.

Interviewed by Frédéric Dubessy, in LA VALETTE (MALTA)

 

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FEMISE accession to ANIMA

The co-ordinators of FEMISE, Institut de la Méditerranée (France) and Economic Research Forum (Cairo) are pleased to announce that FEMISE has joined the ANIMA Investment Network as a Strategic Member.

 

femise-anima

ANIMA Investment Network is a multi-country cooperation platform for economic development in the Mediterranean. The ANIMA network, based in Marseille (France), gathers national and regional investment promotion agencies, international organisations, business federations, innovation clusters, financial investors and research institutes from the region.

The identity of FEMISE is linked to the consolidation of a network of research institutes capable of implementing North-South and South-South interactions. Within the network, we have launched a dynamic of know-how and knowledge transfer. Our works and actions are always carried out in close collaboration between economists of both shores, which makes our strength.

In an evolving regional climate, it seemed natural for FEMISE to partner with ANIMA, a network with values that we share and whose objectives and know-how are complementary to those of FEMISE. This accession will facilitate synergies to produce and maximize impact of recommendations towards EU-Med policy makers. It will also increase the capacity for dissemination / communication and the ability of being present on more issues that could benefit from a pooling of complementary skills.

A first association between the two historical structures of Marseille within the framework of a project on the Euro-Mediterranean region will be announced in the coming weeks.

This first project marks the beginning of a long-term collaboration that opens up new opportunities to nurture the Euro-Mediterranean dynamic.