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Building the Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education, Research and Innovation Area

As part of its Mediterranean strategy, amU promotes several thematic networks around scientific issues and challenges such as climate (Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change), law (Ecole Doctorale des Juristes Méditerranéens) and Mediterranean studies. ��é�ٳ���, of which amU is the founding member, is a highly original institutional network.

It was in the context of the Barcelona Conference that the ��é�ٳ��� Consortium of Euro-Mediterranean Universities was created on January 28, 2000, to contribute to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership in higher education and research, with the aim of ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the region. 

��é�ٳ���, which celebrated its 24th anniversary in 2024, currently comprises over 80 universities from 21 countries. It brings together leading universities in the Maghreb, Mashreq and Southern Europe. This partnership makes it possible to undertake large-scale actions, supported by national and European programs, for the benefit of young people on both sides of the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean, as in the rest of the world, universities must be vectors of development, mobility and innovation.

To strengthen cooperation between Euro-Mediterranean countries through knowledge-sharing, harmonization and cultural exchanges

��é�ٳ��� is at the heart of major Mediterranean events, taking part in those organized by international organizations (UPM, EU, United Nations agencies), government initiatives (Forum des Mondes Méditerranéens) and universities (UNIMED, international conferences). ��é�ٳ��� also organizes numerous annual meetings between its members.

The network's main missions are to :

• Build a forum for cultural and scientific exchange, making a strong and lasting contribution to the construction of the Euro-Mediterranean Higher Education, Research and Innovation Area;
• Promote cooperation between Euro-Mediterranean countries by sharing knowledge, harmonizing skills and exchanging cultures;

To drive large-scale international collaborative projects

��é�ٳ���' strength also lies in its contribution to the major challenges facing the Europe-Africa-Middle East zone, by bringing together partners with complementary and innovative fields of intervention in training and governance projects.

Capitalizing on its remarkable success in the field of higher education capacity building, the ��é�ٳ��� network has, since its launch, stimulated 33 collaborative projects, 27 of which are financed by the European Commission, for a total of over 40 million euros.

Through the ��é�ٳ��� network, the DRI's Strategic Projects and Networks Unit  assists teacher-researchers in submitting their projects.

Here are a few examples of structuring projects: 
 

The AfriConnect+ project  Democratize digital skills and education. AfriConnect+ is a joint capacity-building project involving 12 partners in France, Morocco, Senegal and Romania. Coordinated by amU's IUT, it began in June 2023 and will run until December 2026. Its main objective is to democratize education and skills in the digital domain. To achieve this goal, the project team will focus its efforts on 4 areas: transferring IdO (Internet des objets) skills, identifying and developing applications to create startups, supporting entrepreneurship, and strengthening links between universities, high schools and industry.  >>	WE4LEAD  For gender equality and empowerment. Women's Empowerment for LEADership in higher education and research, which aims to increase women's access to the highest decision-making positions within Higher Education Institutions (EES), is the CBHE ERASMUS + project developed within the framework of the ��é�ٳ��� Consortium of Euro-Mediterranean Universities. Coordinated by �鶹tv (amU), the project brings together eight partners. Under the leadership of Isabelle Régner, Vice President for Equality between Women and Men and the Fight against Discrimination at AMU, the WE4LEAD project aims to contribute to a fully inclusive governance and management of EESs, notably through the dissemination of a culture of equality between women and men. It was launched in March 2023 for a three-year period. >>
EuNIT (2016-2019) Coordination, Capacity Building  European project desigN and management in the South MediTerranean region. EuNIT was a joint project designed with 16 partners from the ��é�ٳ��� network. Coordinated by amU, it also closed in October 2019 at the end of a 3-year funding period. It responded to the priority of Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions (EES) in the South-East Mediterranean, particularly in Jordan, Lebanon and Libya. The overall aim of the project was to enable EESs in partner countries to build sustainable international partnerships and maximize their internationalization efforts. Train-the-trainer programs and practical internships were carried out in 2017; these measures enabled the eight partners to acquire the skills needed to set up and manage project set-up and management units with institutions in the southern Mediterranean.   >>	SATELIT (2016-2020)  Coordination, Academic Solutions for the Territory  Euro-Mediterranean, leader in innovation and technology transfer.  SATELIT was an Erasmus+ capacity-building project involving 21 partners (universities, ministries, chambers of commerce, public institutions, etc.) from the Mediterranean region (Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco and Tunisia). The main aim of the project was to strengthen the capacities of partner universities in the Maghreb region in terms of innovation, technology transfer and the valorization of research, so that they could become pilot universities in their respective countries. SATELIT has made it possible to propose solutions at local level (exchange of best practices), at national level (transfer of skills), and at Mediterranean level (creation of a regional cluster), by mobilizing the region's driving forces and key players.  >>
YABDA (2017-2021) – Partnership Strengthening relations between higher education and the socio-economic world.  The project has significantly strengthened relations between higher education and the socio-economic world in the Maghreb, stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation. >>	AUDITUM (2017-2022) – Partnership Auditum has accelerated the introduction of internal control and audit systems in Moroccan universities.     >>

PolyCIVIS  Facing the polycrisis in Europe and Africa. Jean Monnet partnership network coordinated by the Université Libre de Bruxelles, made up of 21 universities: 11 CIVIS universities, 6 CIVIS African strategic partners and 4 other African universities. PolyCIVIS paves the way for new partnerships with African universities, putting science at the forefront of global challenges.   >>

To strengthen student and teacher exchanges through targeted partnerships

��é�ٳ��� is also a vast space for exchanges between students, doctoral students, teachers and staff from the network's member institutions.

Thanks to the Erasmus+ program's International Credit Mobility (MIC) scheme dedicated to collaborations with partners outside Europe, they can benefit from incoming and outgoing mobility grants for study stays, internships, training or teaching.

Since the initiative was launched by the European Union in 2015, amU has secured MIC contracts every year, enabling it to significantly strengthen its collaborations with strategic partners in Africa and the Mediterranean. 

 

��é�ٳ��� Annual General Meeting

Each year, all the universities in the network come together for a general assembly, held in a different country each time. This event is an opportunity to present actions, organize exchanges and invite partner institutions: the European Commission and the Union for the Mediterranean, academic networks and associations.

In May 2024, the General Assembly was held at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, bringing together 60 representatives from 30 universities and 8 Mediterranean countries (Algeria, France, Italy, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Morocco, Spain and Tunisia). During the event, six universities from four countries (Algeria, France, Northern Macedonia, Spain) joined the network.

At the same time, the network organized a doctoral workshop bringing together more than 30 doctoral students from various consortium member universities. Participants worked together on the theme “What can Mediterranean universities do to tackle climate change?

To find out more about the network, .

��é�ٳ��� student network

��é�ٳ��� aims to bring out proposals and initiatives from students of member universities, by creating a framework conducive to meetings and discussions. At the first “��é�ٳ��� Étudiants” meeting in 2022, a declaration was promulgated on student perspectives for multidimensional cooperation between Mediterranean universities.

Students were able to work on making the student network a reality, and a Tunisian-French initiative was launched as part of the Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Development summer school organized by the University of Sousse in 2023.

��é�ٳ��� training courses 

Since 2022, training courses have been offered through the ��é�ٳ��� network to introduce the Erasmus+ program and its opportunities. To date, 130 teacher-researchers and administrative staff in Morocco and Tunisia have benefited from this program.