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 | Newsletter
Number 23 - 22/01/2016 | |
 | HIGHLIGHTS 25 years working for urban development in the Mediterranean In 2016 MedCities celebrates the 25th anniversary. After its creation in 1991, the network has been contributing to the development in the Mediterranean region through the empowerment of local authorities and decentralised cooperation | |
 Resources IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook 2015 The main topics that IEMed analyses in its current yearbook are the crisis and the new agenda of the Arab States, jihadism and violence in the Arab World and changes in the regional order |  Resources Towards converging management approaches for Mediterranean coastal zones The Global Water Partnership Program (GWP) has edited a reporte that proposes an Integrative Methodological Framework (IMF) and operational guidelines for coastal, river basin and aquifer management in the Mediterranean | | |
 | Strategic Allies GWP-MED Partnership Council Meeting celebrated in Athens MedCities participated in the 18th Partnership Council Meeting of Global Water Partnership–MED that took place in Athens on December 21st. MedCities is part of the Partneship Council in representation of local authorities in the Mediterranean |  | International Organisations 7th Plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM) in Nicosia Last 18th and 19th of January Medcities participated in the 7th plenary session of ARLEM. During the meeting, ARLEM members adopted the thematic reports of 2015 on Employment and territorial development in the Mediterranean region, and the report on Sustainable urban agenda for the Mediterranean region |  | KTC Sfax Missions to Tunisian MedCities members The Knowledge Transfer Centre of MedCities in Sfax has launched a round of visits to the Tunisian cities members of the network in order to exchange with the political representatives on the priorities and needs of their cities |  | Bilateral cooperation Exploratory diagnostic mission of the Municipality of Marseille to Tanger From 9th to 13th December, the Department of International and European Relations of the Municipality of Marseille visited to Tanger for an exploratory diagnostic in the frame of the preparation of a decentralized cooperation agreement between both cities |  | Urban Innovative Actions The 1st Call for Proposals of the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative is open from 15 December 2015 to 31 March 2016. Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is an Initiative of the European Commission that provides urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges.The beneficiaries of the UIA Initiative are urban authorities involving all the key stakeholders that can bring expertise and knowledge on the specific policy issue to be addressed |  | European Programmes The European Commission adopts new ENI CBC Med Programme The European Commission has adopted the 2014-2020 cross-border cooperation (CBC) "Mediterranean Sea Basin" Programme with €209 million of EU funding under the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI). The Programme aims to foster fair, equitable and sustainable economic, social and territorial development in regions placed along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea | |
 International Organisations CPMR Policy Position on Migration Management During its last General Assembly in Florence on 5-6 November 2015, the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) adopted a Policy Position on Migration Management, counting with the presence of Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management | | | EDITORIAL New year, new opportunities 2016 presents a wide range of opportunities for new cross-border cooperation programmes and projects. The Mediterranean will continue being in the focus of the EU 2014-2020 financing period. The Interreg MED cooperation programme was launched during the last months of 2015 including both standard and horizontal capitalisation projects. Moreover, the European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI) has recently adopted the "Mediterranean Sea Basin" Programme 2014-2020 as part of its cross-border cooperation component. Together with other bilateral and multi-country programmes included in the ENI, they constitute an excellent opportunity to enhance cooperation among Mediterranean cities, through project partnerships. MedCities is willing to promote new partnership among our members and with oher international actors, contributing to the definition and development of future projects when the different call for projects will be launched. We really hope that 2016 will be a very fruitful year for our cities and the network, with new and better projects to contribute to the development of our cities | | |
|  Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. Albert Einstein,German theoretical physicist 
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| acting as General Secretariat  |
