The Youth Euro-Mediterranean Meeting on The Future of Cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean Region took place in Paestum on May 24-26, 2013. The Meeting was organized by the Italian Atlantic Committee, in cooperation with the Atlantic Treaty Association, and attended by 12 young researchers, professionals and Ph.D. candidates belonging to the Youth Network for Cooperation in the Mediterranean of the Italian Atlantic Committee and the YATA South-Eastern European Working Group. Also graduate students, young researchers and professional selected by the University of Salerno participated in the initiative.
The Meeting was organized over three days:
– Friday 24th was devoted to briefings on the cooperation programs of the International Organizations in the Euro-Mediterranean region and the Italian Atlantic Committee and the Atlantic Treaty Association activities therein. The participants also received the necessary guidelines and directions to outline a project proposal aimed at advancing the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in the youth field. After the Meeting, a visit to the Giambattista Vico Foundation Museum was organized, followed by an excursion to Agropoli, where the participants were greeted by the President of the Giambattista Vico Foundation, Prof. Vincenzo Pepe, and by local Authorities and Institutions.
– Saturday 25th, the participants were actively involved in the drafting and presentation of youth cooperation projects focused on the Southern Mediterranean and the Balkans. In the evening, the participants attended the bestowal ceremony of the 2013 Legality Award promoted by the Italian Foundation for Legality and Development, in collaboration with the Rotary Club Paestum, the Giambattista Vico Foundation and the Aquara BCC Bank. Among the prize winners was the President of the Italian Atlantic Committee, Hon. Prof. Enrico La Loggia.
– Sunday 26th, the participants had the opportunity to visit the archaeological sites of Paestum, with its three majestic Temples.
The Meeting intended:
– To facilitate the gathering of young researchers and professionals, Ph.D. candidates and university students from Eastern Europe and the Southern Mediterranean region, and to promote dialogue and cooperation among them;
– To provide the participants with a platform to exchange ideas, expertise and best practices on the way forward to achieve common solutions to the common challenges regarding the Euro-Mediterranean region;
– To discuss and draft cooperation projects in the youth field which will be brought to the attention of the Euro-Atlantic institutions;
– To promote a better understanding of the International Organizations’ programs in the Euro-Mediterranean region, also through non-formal learning activities.