REA projects to reset our thinking of the Middle East

During the public conference “The Middle East and the EU: New Realities, New Policies” on 6 March, experts illustrated the findings of the MENARA and MEDRESET projects, to shed light on the perception of the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa.

MENARA and MEDRESET are two successful examples of Horizon2020 projects that pool the expertise of researchers, policy makers and practitioners in the field of social science. Over three years MENARA conducted more than 300 interviews to analyse the concerns, perception of opportunities and the awareness of the EU role in those regions to elaborate a set of recommendations for EU policy makers.

The High Representative Mogherini also awarded the Young Writers Prize, a crucial component of the MEDRESET project to raise awareness and empower youth. In his essay the winner, Omar Shanti, analyses a sample of recent Maghrebi fiction to explore the Maghreb’s evolving cultural understanding of the ‘Haraga’. This Arabic word describes "those who burn", meaning those who burn their ID-papers and seek their fortune as asylum-seekers in Europe.

REA Director, Marc Tachelet said after the conference:  ‘By funding those initiatives, the Research Executive Agency can contribute to advancing research and understanding the geopolitical situation in key EU neighbour regions’.

Under Horizon Europe, the 2021-2027 programme for research and innovation, the EU will continue to fund Euro-Mediterranean projects and partnerships that contribute to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

More info

HR Mogherini’s keynote speech

Agenda

MedReset Policy Recommendations                      

MENARA Imagining Future(s) for the MENA region           

MedReset Infographics                                                

MENARA Infographics

Background info

MEDRESET
MEDRESET is a multidisciplinary consortium of researchers and academic institutions from the Mediterranean region. It develops alternative visions on a new Mediterranean partnership and corresponding EU policies. Based on the multiple perspectives of local and bottom-up actors, it aims at designing a future role for the EU that is inclusive, flexible and responsive to the region.              
Budget: € 2.5 million
Duration: April 2016 - August 2019
Website: http://www.medreset.eu/project/

MENARA
MENARA stands for Middle East and North Africa Regional Architecture, and it is also the Arabic word for lighthouse. It tries to foresee what might come next and help us to sail turbulent waters. MENARA is a Horizon2020 collaborative research project that brought together 14 research centres from the EU, Türkiye, Maghreb, Mashreq and the Gulf.                                                                                       
Budget: € 2.4 M
Duration: April 2016 - March 2019   
Website: http://www.menaraproject.eu/menara-project/