Tag Archives: Marseille

Call for interns FEMISE : Deadline for submission: 24 February 2019

Posted on

As part of its activities, the FEMISE Network is launching a Call for Applications for two internship positions.

Deadline for submission: 24/02/2019

Position 1. Policy / Sustainable Development Analyst

We are looking for an intern whose mission will be mainly to perform the following tasks:

 

  • Preparing summary notes on topics related to the EU-MED region and contributing to EU-MED reports and Sector / National Policy Briefs, notably on issues related to Sustainable Development, Inclusiveness and Women and Youth integration in the Mediterranean countries (Maghreb and Mashreq),
  • Data collection (national and regional), synthesis and creation of indicators.
  • Communication activities and animating the FEMISE social networking platforms, contribution to FEMISE branding strategy.

For more information, please consult the internship sheet available here (FR)

Position 2. Trade / Innovation Analyst

We are looking for an intern whose mission will be mainly to perform the following tasks:

  • Preparing summary notes and contributing to EU-MED reports and Sector / National Policy Briefs, particularly on issues related to Trade Integration and Innovation,
  • Analysis of the economic, social and environmental impact of the Association Agreements signed between the Mediterranean countries and the European Union, in the framework of a work in collaboration with the EU (DG Trade),
  • Collection of data (national and regional), synthesis and creation of indicators on Trade and Innovation.

For more information, please consult the internship sheet available here (FR)

“Discovering Social Change Makers” : Social entrepreneurship as a key issue in the Mediterranean and Africa (November 20th, Marseille)

Posted on

At the invitation of Institut de la Méditerranée and FEMISE, a dozen “Social Change Makers” involved in the Mediterranean region and Africa attended a workshop (Marseille, November 20th) during the Emerging Valley 2-day event. Their various experiences show the contribution of social entrepreneurship as a vector of socio-economic development accelerator but also its difficulties in imposing itself.

Les entreprises à impact social comme vecteur d'accélération de développement socio-économique (photo : F.Dubessy)

Entreprises with social impact as a vector for accelerating socio-economic development (photo : F.Dubessy)

MEDITERRANEAN / AFRICA. “Necessity is the mother of invention, so you have to try to change things with creativity.” Founder and CEO of Yomken.com Tamer Taha immediately set, during the workshop “Discovering Social Change Makers in the Mediterranean and Africa”, the problem of a “Mena region lagging behind in terms of innovation compared to other countries at the same level of development. “

Set-up by Institut de la Méditerranée, Femise and IRD (Research Institute for Development) on the occasion of Emerging Valley (Marseille, November 20, 2018) this meeting aimed to highlight the existing social entrepreneurship initiatives in Africa and in the South Mediterranean countries. As Constantin Tsakas, General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée and General Secretary of Femise, says, “in the face of youth unemployment, the informal economy, inequalities and lack of economic diversification, social impact enterprises have the potential, that is poorly exploited, to be an accelerator of socio-economic development by taking advantage of innovative approaches. “

For Egyptian entrepreneur Tamer Taha, “innovators need more than just money and the market needs more than new ideas, and if we do not innovate, we risk going out of the international market.” With Yomken.com, an open innovation platform for industrial, environmental and social challenges, Tamer Taha connects large companies and SEs-SMEs in five countries to answer problems through calls for solutions. Since 2012, these synergies have resulted in sixty-eight challenges. One of them being the case of a German vegetable cutting machine from a Cairo company that could not process a local vegetable called okra. For $ 5,000, two young engineers managed to solve the impasse.

Strengthen African start-ups

Hatoumata Magassa met en réseau quatre incubateurs africains (photo : F.Dubessy)

Hatoumata Magassa networks four African incubators (photo: F.Dubessy)

Shadi Atshan co-founded in 2017 an accelerator for social enterprises (SEA) in Palestine. It hosts about forty start-ups and two incubators. In 2018, he went international with four projects in Jordan. “As the market is limited, these start-ups are of little interest to investors, so we help them to raise funds,” says Shadi Atshan. Hatoumata Magassa intervenes to “contribute to sustainable, inclusive and digital economic development in Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Ghana.” Coordinator of AFIDBA (AFD for Inclusive and Digital Business in Africa) – Bond’Innov (Bondy in France), she takes care of this project financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) for 2 M € to support sixty start-ups with a strong social impact and a funding scheme allocated of € 500,000.

“We are structuring and strengthening a network of incubators in our four intervention countries to strengthen African start-ups” said Hatoumata Magassa.

Natalia Resimont coordinates the “Women of the World” project of the French NGO “Quartiers du monde”, a network of solidarity entrepreneurs present in Burkina-Fasso, Madagascar, Morocco, Mali and Senegal. “We create pedagogical tools to integrate the gender perspective, without which the social and solidarity economy does not deconstruct gender inequalities and ignores a series of models and structures that maintain, update and replicate the patriarchal system : the sexual division of labor governance, violence against women, hegemonic masculinities … “, she says. The NGO has published a guide in Spanish and French (and soon in Arabic and English), the result of five years of work on the issue.

Create collaborative civil societies

” To lead real economic initiatives, these women must first rebuild. We are integrating this into our support “ says Natalia Resimont, for example,” Women of the World “created an incubator in a small town in Mali rather than in a big city to address the issue of women’s mobility.

In Lebanon, Natalia Menhall of Beyond RD, a group of activists for the development of social entrepreneurship, advocates for “building inclusive governance systems and inspiring innovative policy solutions.” With the objective of “building collaborative civil societies and human-centered partnerships in line with priorities, by providing learning opportunities for individuals, institutions and communities.”

According to her, “even if the concept is new, the phenomenon is already present in the MENA region thanks to an existing culture of solidarity and social consciousness.”

A factory of initiatives

Sihle Tshabalala et Natalia Menhall s'investissent, chacun à leur façon, dans l'élimination des obstacles au développement social (photo : F.Dubessy)

Sihle Tshabalala and Natalia Menhall are involved, each in their own way, in removing obstacles to social development (photo: F.Dubessy)

“Instead of waiting for the changes to come to us, we decided to have an active role,” insists Natalia Menhall. “Social entrepreneurship is a tool that comes to the citizen to propose solutions that can be generalized,” she said, noting that after a study in seven countries in the MENA region, “the obstacles to the development of Entrepreneurship remain very close, either the tools do not exist, or they are not adapted or concentrated in urban areas. “ Beyond is developing a Master’s program in Social Entrepreneurship. “In some countries, bankers have to go from purely economic profit to social profit,” she says.

Sihle Tshabalala is interested in disadvantaged youth born in the townships of South Africa. He knows her well to come from there. During a stay in prison, he got interested in computer coding and then put in place a learning method for academics to teach this illiterate population and train coders.

Director of Inter-Made, a social incubator based in Marseille and dedicated, since 2001, to projects with social and environmental impact, Cédric Hamon offers skills, training and networking to start-ups. “We also have a factory of initiatives because all social needs do not always find a start-up to solve them,” he says while he sets foot on the other side of the Mediterranean in Tunisia. Cédric Hamon even markets a training offer on the resolution of societal needs through entrepreneurship. “The obstacle is that you sell solutions to people who did not understand that there was a problem … So you create another problem at home,” he admits while stating, “We do not run out of funds, we do not miss projects, we lack funded projects. ” What remains, as Constantin Tsakas indicates, is that “a social project remains difficult to market.”

The Instagram of Waste

Constantin Tsakas, organisateur et animateur de cet atelier, a conscience de la difficulté à vendre l'entreprenariat social (photo : F.Dubessy)

Constantin Tsakas, organizer and moderator of this workshop, is aware of the difficulty of selling social entrepreneurship (photo: F.Dubessy)

Another angle was also given by Mouhsin Bour Qaiba. Everything starts from a statement of the co-founder of Clean City: In Casablanca, each resident generates one ton of non-recycled waste per year. This Moroccan creates what he calls “the Instagram of waste” to put pressure on the authorities and launches an application for sorting at the source with possibility of ordering bags of different colors to ease the process of recycling.

Since then, Clean City has conquered other countries. His CEO is now thinking of giving Token (cryptocurrency) to citizens who report problems posted on his site instead of points allowing discounts on purchases as currently. “We now have 20,000 active users worldwide and 14,000 claims generated, and our goal is to reach 2 million active users,” said Mouhsin Bour Qaiba.

“We wanted to show faces, men and women and insist on the ordinary aspect of their lives.” Roman-Oliver Foy, president of Friends of the Middle East (France, Lebanon), has been presenting initiatives of social entrepreneurs in the Arab world for two years through conferences and debates.

In the near future, he will be launching ten-minute videos on these experiences with the goal of inspiring potential entrepreneurs in the South and North and raising awareness among policy makers while promoting the diffusion of innovations. “Policy makers need to see what a social and supportive entrepreneur is,” he insists.

Subscribe to the Econostrum newsletter : http://www.econostrum.info/subscript

Also check the article and video coverage by ECOMNEWSMED on the workshop : 

Workshop: Discovering Social Change Makers in the Mediterranean and Africa, November 20th, Marseille

Posted on

Official registration for Emerging Valley 2018 which will take place on November 20th and 21st in Marseille (Palais du Pharo and Thecamp) are now open ! 

IM-FEMISE Workshop: Discovering Social Change Makers in the Mediterranean and Africa

FEMISE and Institut de la Méditerranée (IM) are delighted to join this great event and organize the workshop “Discovering the “Social Change Makers” in the Mediterranean and Africa” (20 November 2018 at 15:00). Social entrepreneurship refers to the practice that combines innovation, dynamism and the ability to address important social and environmental challenges. The support of states and multinationals around the world has been very encouraging for this model of innovative social activity. A real potential, still weakly exploited,also exists in the framework of the cooperation between the EU and Africa and in particular with the Mediterranean countries of the South Shore.

The social entrepreneurs mobilized by FEMISE and IM will present innovative initiatives, capable of meeting important social and environmental challenges in Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, South Africa, Lebanon, the MENA region and France. The Concept Note of the Workshop is available by clicking here (in french).

Register !

Discover some of our Panelists at the IM-FEMISE Workshop by clicking on their card

Emerging Valley 2018

Placed under the High Patronage of President Emmanuel MACRON and first event receiving the Digital Africa label, EMERGING Valley gathers this year

· More than 100 Startups, incubators and investors from 20+ African countries that will meet in the second city of France to connect African and European innovation: Senegal, Benin, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco , Egypt,

· The venue of country delegations (Brazil, Tunisia) to find partners, clients, support structures to create value around Africa in Marseille

· Dozens of keynotes, plenary sessions, workshops to discover and do business with the champions of African innovation in two exceptional places: Le Palais du Pharo and thecamp

· Business and networking with investors, VCs and Angels from Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean

· A simultaneous acceleration program during the summit with AFD’s Social and Inclusive Business Camp on social impact and financing

· The exclusive launch of the Digital Africa platform on November 21st at thecamp, a support system for African start-ups launched by President Emmanuel MACRON to support the entrepreneurial dynamic on the African continent through the digital economy.

Come to meet them by registering on this link

The financial contribution of FEMISE towards the event is made in the context of the FEMISE –EU project on “ Support to Economic Research, studies and dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership » . Any Views expressed in this event are the sole responsability of the speakers.

Med Change Makers e05 : Katarzyna SIDLO, Women Empowerment and Collaborative Economy

Posted on

 

FEMISE recently launched its series of interviews called « Med Change Makers ».

« Med Change Makers » are text and video-based interviews that allow dynamic researchers of the FEMISE network to illustrate how their research addresses a policy-relevant question and how it contributes to the policy-making process in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

 

Boosting female labour market participation rates in the MENA region : Can collaborative economy be of help? ”

Interview with Katarzyna Sidlo, Political Analyst at CASE, researcher at FEMISE

FEMISE recently published its Policy Brief “Boosting female labour market participation rates in the MENA region : Can collaborative economy be of help?”.

Autthor of the MED BRIEF, Dr. Katarzyna Sidlo is a FEMISE researcher who actively participates in the activities of the network. Her work assesses the potential of the collaborative economy to increase women’s labor force participation in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa). More specifically, it examines ways in which the collaborative economy can enable women who are interested to join the labor market.

  1. How do you define collaborative economy? Can you give us examples from different sectors of such initiatives?

The collaborative (or sharing) economy refers to business models that create an open marketplace for access to goods and services thanks to the use of modern technology. It covers a variety of sectors, is rapidly emerging throughout the world and provides new opportunities for citizens who are able to get what they need from each other instead of going to large organizations (at least that is the theory). Some of the best-known examples of collaborative economy businesses are car-hailing applications such as Uber or Careem, peer-to-peer accommodation website Airbnb, crowdsourcing platforms Kickstarter or Indiegogo, or online marketplace Etsy. Many of them are already household names.

  1. Do you think that collaborative economy is a feasible solution in MENA countries given internet access obstacles and public perceptions?

Well, firstly according to the World Bank, 59% of individuals in the MENA region are internet users. Access to internet as such is therefore not a problem everywhere in the region, although of course in many places broadband is expensive, slow and generally unreliable and in many other, especially urban areas, simply not yet readily available. More importantly, however, I would look at the problem stated in the question in a different way: the potential to make use of what collaborative economy has to offer can be one more argument in favour of extending efforts to provide access to internet to as many people as possible. If internet is not available in a village in the south of Egypt, chances are that neither are many job offers. By providing inhabitants of such a village with access to internet, you give them an opportunity to enter the labour market as well. For instance, they could study for free on one of the many Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platforms available – increasingly also in Arabic – and gain skills that will allow them to find employment. Or they could give Arabic classes online (one platform, NaTakallam, offers such classes taught by refugees). All without having to emigrate and leave their villages or, indeed, houses.

I strongly believe that even if just a small percentage of people in a given society use this chance, it will be worth it. So while the sharing economy will by no means solve all or even most of the problems related to the low female (and male) labour force participation – it would not even if virtually every single person in the region had access to a fast, affordable, and reliable internet – it has a huge potential to contribute to the alleviation of this problem.

  1. What are the main obstacles for female labour force participation in the MENA region and how does collaborative economy bring innovative solutions to each?

Women in the MENA region wishing to join the labour market face numerous obstacles, from practical ones (lack of jobs, difficult commutes) to those of socio-cultural nature (restrictions on outside-of-the-house activities, caring responsibilities) nature. Sharing economy can help to overcome a number of those. Most importantly, it allows women to perform work – and indeed create their own businesses – from the comfort of their own homes. Thanks to this even those women, who due to various family- or culture-related reasons would not undertake paid work outside of the house, can earn their own income (and economic empowerment is a great step towards social and political empowerment). Another good example are ride-hailing services, providing a safer, more reliable and cheaper (compared to traditional taxis) alternative to faulty or point-blank non-existent public transport, oftentimes believed to be not appropriate for use by non-accompanied women. An extreme case in point was Saudi Arabia, where prior to lifting the ban on women driving 80% of Uber’s and 70% of Careem’s clients were female.

  1. One of the article’s recommendations was to improve the legal frameworks in each MENA country to enable the optimal functioning of sharing-economy businesses. What concrete measures can be successfully implemented in the region as a whole and in case-specific contexts?

One of the main advantages of the sharing economy is its flexibility. However, this flexibility can also oftentimes mean lack of clarity for instance in terms of liability, taxation, consumer protection, licensing or insurance. Think about ride hailing services such as Uber, Careem or Lyft: in case of an accident, whose insurance should cover the damages? As drivers are using their private vehicles they may not possess commercial, but rather personal insurance, which can lead to insurers denying the claim. Should the company owning the platform through which drivers are matched with clients be liable at all? Are the drivers even their employees or clients making use of the platforms features? The answer to that question determines answers to many subsequent ones related to social protection (maternity leaves, pensions, health insurance etc.) of the collaborative service providers. Another issue is of course taxation.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. The European Union is for instance pondering issuing EU level guidelines but currently whether and to what extent the sharing economy should be regulated is still a matter of a lively debate. The big question is of course how to regulate so that you don’t overregulate and therefore kill the flexibility that makes participating in sharing economy so convenient.

In the MENA region, countries should think about solutions that work best under their specific circumstances. For instance, a voluntary health insurance scheme could be introduced to help those earning their income within the sharing economy to gain social protection (an interesting study on this topic for Tunisia by Khaled Makhloufi, Mohammad Abu-Zaineh, and Bruno Ventelou has been published recently by FEMISE). In Jordan, where the government is working on a tax reform, the question of imposing corporate law tax on collaborative platforms could be investigated.

  1. What is the role you see for the civil society and NGOs in the proliferation of collaborative economy? Would cooperation and synergies between different actors/ stakeholders possible in your opinion?

Collaborative economy has it for-profit and non-profit dimension. Speaking of increasing female labour market participation in the MENA region and the role of CSOs and NGOs, we should probably focus on the latter. The spectrum of possibilities is really broad. Both types of organizations could for instance facilitate women organizing their own car pooling schemes, helping each other to safely and conveniently get to and from work on daily basis. They could set up collaborative working spaces, where female entrepreneurs could set up and run their businesses in a friendly, safe and inspiring environment. They could create online courses in local dialects of Arabic, providing free training to women thinking about starting their own business or work on translations into Arabic of courses which are already available on various MOOC platforms and which provide knowledge and skills that make finding a job easier. All that – and much more – can of course be done in collaboration between different stakeholders. After all that is what collaborative economy is all about.

The MED BRIEF is available for download by clicking here.

Interview by Constantin Tsakas

This activity received financial support from the European Union through the FEMISE project on “Support to Economic Research, studies and dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. Any views expressed are the sole responsibility of the speakers.

FEMISE MED BRIEF no13 : “The success pillars of a national innovation system in Maghreb”

Posted on

Sonia BEN SLIMANE (ESCP Europe) & Maarouf RAMADAN (KEDGE, FEMISE))

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 on “The success pillars of a national innovation system in Maghreb” is available here.

It is also available in arabic here.

Abstract: The perspective of economic growth supported by innovation activity has now proved ineffective for Maghreb countries (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia). Our analysis under the angle of the national innovation system emphasizes the main causes such as structural weaknesses and lack of time-consuming coordination among the actors of innovation. Our recommendations are based on proposing an appropriate systemic model of innovation that takes into account the specificities of these three countries. The pillars of success of this model are first “Structural”: Setting up an effective “support structures” for innovation and entrepreneurship, offering appropriate tools and complementary services; Second, “Coordination”: Coordinated coherent interactions between public and private actors of innovation in the development of new production methods and the dissemination of knowledge; And third, “Governance”: The rehabilitation of the role of the Government in education, in ensuring and overall coherence of the actor’s actions (regulation protecting innovation, financing of innovation, supporting scientific research activities and an education system favoring the development of a new generation of innovative entrepreneurs).

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 MED BRIEF no8 : Women in the MENA labour market. Can collaborative economy be of help?

Posted on

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 eighth issue of MED BRIEF “Boosting female labour market participation rates in the MENA region : Can collaborative economy be of help? ”is available by clicking here.

Dr. Katarzyna Sidło, CASE (Center for Social and Economic Research), FEMISE

This policy brief evaluates the potential of collaborative economy for increasing labour force participation of women in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Specifically, it examines the ways in which the collaborative economy can enable joining labour market to those women who wish to do it, but for various practical (lack of jobs, difficult commutes), societal (restrictions on outside-of-the-house activities), or family (caring responsibilities) reasons had been unable to do so.

 

Also available in Arabic here.

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.

Med Change Makers e02 : Simona RAMOS, Climate-Induced Migration: Issues and Solutions

Posted on

FEMISE recently launched its new series of interviews called « Med Change Makers ».

« Med Change Makers » are text and video-based interviews that allow dynamic FEMISE researchers to illustrate how their research addresses a policy-relevant question and contributes to the policy-making process in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Med Change Makers e02 : Simona RAMOS, Climate-Induced Migration: Issues and Solutions

Interview with Simona RAMOS, Aix-Marseille Université (France), Institut de la Méditerranée and FEMISE

Simona RAMOS, Aix-Marseille Université (France), Institut de la Méditerranée and FEMISE

The latest edition of the ENERGIES2050 / Institut de la Méditerranée / FEMISE report “The challenges of climate change in the Mediterranean” provides insight into the specific place of the Mediterranean basin in the new International Climate Agenda.

Simona Ramos (Aix-Marseille University (France), Policy Researcher at Institut de la Méditerranée / FEMISE) contributed to the report by studying the link between “Migration and climate-change in the countries of the southern Mediterranean”.

In this interview, Simona Ramos offers avenues for political reflection to deal with the continuing effects of climate-induced migration.

  1. Regarding implementation efforts of the Paris Agreement which country/countries in the South Med region are examples to follow and why?

Countries in the South Med region do differ in their progress towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Morocco and Israel are considerably ahead in terms of policies and actions. At the core of Morocco’s current emissions reduction efforts stands the National Energy Strategy, which aims to extend the share of renewable electricity capacity to 42% by 2020 and to 52% by 2030. Morocco has demonstrated policy-in-action, with massive investment on solar energy debuting with the construction of the giant Noor solar complex (using concentrated solar power) near Ouarzazate. On the other hand, Algeria, Tunisia and Palestine, seem to be willing to take more valiant measures for mitigation and adaptation to climate change although they also face serious constraints. For example, in terms of legislation, Tunisia became one of the few countries to recognize climate change in its Constitution, even though climate related policies in the country have still a long way to improve.

  1. You suggest that there has not been enough cooperation among South-South countries. Why is this so important and what are your suggestions in this regard?

Indeed, one of the key problems that South Med countries are facing is the lack of mutual collaboration in the implementation of their climate-based policies. A solid South‐South collaboration could foster significant improvement in the implementation of South Med policy implementation in terms of climate change. Cooperation can assist in mutual capacity building in the realm of research and development. Also, technological and know-how transfer can be fostered through Legislative and Institutional frameworks (ex. by developing technology transfer frameworks and enabling environments to integrate technology transfer policies at the national levels). The potential of South-South cooperation is vast and as such should be seriously taken into consideration.

  1. How do climate processes affect human migration? Has anything been done at the national policy level in this regard within SMCs?

Climate processes seriously affect human migration. Nevertheless, it can be argued that this topic doesn’t receive proper attention as contrary to climatic events, climatic processes occur in a gradual and cumulative way, and as such establishing a strict causal relation is difficult. Nevertheless, the effect of climate change on populations can operate in multiple ways. Water, food and land availability can be seriously affected and populations can be forced to migrate from affected areas. The South Med region has been among the most climatically affected regions worldwide, with sea level rise and desertification occurring on an ongoing basis. With regards to policy, what has been done so far has to do more with adaptation and mitigation measures (often as part of countries’ NDCs or NCs). Nevertheless, it can be argued that these measures do not necessarily tackle and/or fully address climate induced (forced) human migration.

  1. You state that current policy measures fail to fully address the ongoing effects of climate induced migration. Why and what are your policy suggestions to address the ongoing effects of climate induced migration in the South Mediterranean countries?

Although it can be strongly argued that current policy measures and climate based strategies are crucial with regards to climate change improvement, they are not expected to fully address the spectrum of climate change consequences, such as the one of “climatic processes-induced migration”. This is due to several reasons. Mitigation, adaptation as well as capacity building and technology transfer strategies take time to be implemented, which means that the millions of presently affected people are not likely to immediately benefit from these measures. Also, in order for these strategies to be effective, a global consensus is needed. Unfortunately, this is not always the case as recent history has shown.

One of the policy recommendations in this regard would be to incorporate climate-induced migration under the international legal framework, as an adaptation strategy rather than as a failure to adapt. In this case, having a legal status for ‘climatic migrants” would properly address and protect people crossing bothers. Other suggestions include using “planned re-alocation”, an approach that has often been incorporated in cases of natural disasters. Many have favored this approach because it usually takes place within the borders of the country, allowing for higher flexibility and avoiding the complexity of requiring international agreements.

  1. How can re-allocation measures be used to address people affected by climate induced migration?

Planned re-allocation strategies can be complex and difficult to implement especially if a country lacks institutional, technological and financial capacity.

  • At first, there should be an early identification of populations exposed to disasters and other impacts of climate change or affected by mitigation and adaptation projects associated with climate change. A National Mapping of such populations needs to be systematized and publicly shared to maximize awareness-raising.
  • Planning for relocation should be integrated within the national strategies and requires the creation of an enabling environment, including a legal basis for undertaking planned relocation, capacity-building, institutionalization, and a whole-of-government approach.
  • The sustainability of planned relocation should be assured through adequate attention to site selection, livelihoods, integration (identity and culture), and host communities, among other factors.
  • Independent, short and long-term, quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation systems should be created to assess the impacts and outcomes of planned relocation.
  1. What is the Green Wall Project and what are its implications and potential for South Mediterranean countries?

Planned relocation should be an option of last resort as it is a complex and expensive process. It is necessary to enable improvement in the living conditions of areas affected by climate change. One of the most prominent projects in this regard is the Great Green Wall, an African led initiative to green the desert (by growing more plants and trees) with a goal of providing food, jobs and a future for millions of people who live in regions that are affected by climate change.

The inability to make a living from the land can be an important push factor for migration. Greening areas that are currently scarcely populated and not able to fully sustain human necessities could bring multiple benefits as i. people already living in those areas wouldn’t be forced to move and ii. these areas could also serve as potential place for reallocation for people in neighboring affected zones. Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia are already partners within this project and could serve as an example to other SMCs.

Interviewed by Constantin Tsakas

Report “The Challenges of Climate Change in the Mediterranean” (2018)

Posted on

FEMISE is pleased to announce the publication of the final version of the 2018 edition of the report on “The challenges of climate change in the Mediterranean: the Mediterranean in the new International Climate Agenda”, in the “Guides for Action” series. The report is a ENERGIES2050 – Institut de la Méditerranée – FEMISE coproduction.

 

The report (in french)  is available for download by clicking here

 

This report, coordinated by Stéphane Pouffary (ENERGIES 2050), Guillaume de Laboulaye (ENERGIES 2050) and Constantin Tsakas (Institut de la Méditerranée, FEMISE), presents in an updated way the realities of climate change in the countries around the Mediterranean basin and the actions implemented by stakeholders to respond to the challenges of the fight against climate change. The Mediterranean is one of our planets’ “hotspots” and the impacts of climate change are very pronounced and particularly visible on countries of the South and East shores. International mobilization on the climate issue shows there is a real awareness whether for the signatory States of the UNFCCC or for the non-state actors and subnational governments that are strongly mobilized.

However, the ambition of collective and individual commitments is unanimously recognized as very insufficient in view of the realities and challenges to which all  countries and territories concerned are and will be confronted. Moreover, beyond commitments, implementation and action remain insufficient, sporadic and fragmented. The Mediterranean is no exception and more than ever there is a need for setting up a common agenda for action as the pace of international negotiations is not the same as the speed with which changes and alterations take place.

The report will be presented at a dedicated session of the Workshop on “Climate Change in the Mediterranean and Economic Attractiveness of local Territories”, Marseille, May 15th 2018. 

A first draft of the report had been presented on the occasion of the 23rd Conference of the Parties (CoP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Bonn, Germany from 6 to 17 November 2017. This report is intended to become a regular publication and to be accessible to the entire community of actors involved in these issues. The idea of this action being i. to produce politically relevant research and ii. to encourage the emergence of an ecosystem of EU-Med actors (macro, meso and micro) to respond effectively to the posed challenges.

For a Policy Brief (Med Brief) issued from the report click here.

For a “Med Change Makers” interview (video and text) on the case of Lebanon click here.

For an overview of the presentation of the report at COP23 at the Pavillon of France, click here.

To rediscover the past FEMISE publications on “Environment, Energy, Climate Change” please visit here.

For a journalistic article (french) in AfricaPress.Paris on the presence of IM and FEMISE at COP23 click here.

Workshop on “Climate Change in the Mediterranean and Economic Attractiveness of local Territories”

Posted on

UPDATE: View the summary of the event below:

The Mediterranean is one of our planets’ “hotspots” and the consequences of climate change will always be felt stronger than elsewhere. There are necessities for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and issues to be dealt with regarding water, desertification and adaptation needs of riparian countries. In addition to the necessary impetus at the state level, the measures that will respond to realities must also be declined at the level of territories to multiply means of action.

The workshop, organized by Institut de la Méditerranée and the Departmental Council of the Bouches du Rhône, in partnership with FEMISE and ENERGIES2050, addresses the actors for whom these issues have a resonance, the political actors of the territory as well as non-state actors (private operators, civil society organizations, universities …). While considering the recent and current economic situation, this workshop highlights the development opportunities to be seized. It illustrates the momentum created by local actors and makes a positive contribution to debates on climate issues in the Mediterranean in the light of current realities and challenges.

This workshop will also be an opportunity to present the ENERGIES2050 – Mediterranean Institute – FEMISE report on:

 “The challenges of climate change in the Mediterranean (2018)” (available here in french)

 

– The Concept Note of the Workshop is available here (in french).

– The program of the day is available here.

IM and FEMISE are participating with funding under the EU-FEMISE project “Support to Economic Research, Studies and Dialogues of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. The opinions expressed in this conference are the sole responsibility of the authors.

FEMISE MED BRIEF no6 : The Importance of Reconciling South MED Countries positions on The Paris Agreement

Posted on

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 sixth issue of MED BRIEF “The Importance of Reconciling South MED Countries positions on The Paris Agreement” is available by clicking here.

The Paris Agreement is a breakthrough in global efforts to address the threats of climate change. However, fulfilling the agreement requires countries to rapidly implement nationally determined contributions (NDCs), meet emissions reduction targets for 2020 and set future targets that are even more ambitious. This is far from a done deal for the South Mediterranean (MED) countries.

Constantin Tsakas (General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE)

Constantin Tsakas (General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE)

This MED Brief, by Dr. Constantin Tsakas (General Manager of Institut de la Méditerranée, General Secretary of FEMISE) argues that MED governments and stakeholders need to think about the various constraints on the effectiveness of the Paris Agreement, identify partners and practices that could complement the process more broadly. This brief alludes to the need of cooperation and collaboration between South Med countries themselves. Governments will need to develop a long-term plan on climate change and provide concrete steps to actually apply it. They need to deal better with domestic economic groups that contribute to the limited level of environmental reforms. Meanwhile, solutions shall always be made while considering the economic and social reality of MED countries.

 

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.