Union for the Mediterranean Launches Capitals of Culture, Dialogue

Rabat – The Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), in cooperation with the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures (ALF), is launching an initiative to designate two cities annually, representing north and south of the Mediterranean, as its Capitals of Culture and Dialogue.

Founded in 2008, UfM is an intergovernmental organization that brings together 43 countries including the entire European Union and 16 countries from the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, including Morocco, Algeria, Palestine, Spain, France, and more.

Uniting a region with over 800 million inhabitants and 15 trillion euro (165 trillion MAD) GDP, UfM contributes to regional stability, human development and integration through providing a forum for strengthened cooperative dialogue.

From April 25 until July 23 of this year, Euro-Mediterranean cities can apply to become the inaugural Capital of Culture & Dialogue, which will be announced at the 8th Regional Forum of the 43 UfM Foreign Affairs Ministers in November 2023.

Applications are accepted from local or regional authorities from a city in a UfM member state. For the two chosen cities, the initiative promotes their historical and cultural heritage, enhances their civil societies, and fosters a sense of identity while encouraging sustainable tourism.

The two capitals will prepare its programs — including but not limited to conferences and seminars on topics critical to the region, civic engagement initiatives, and cultural performances — culminating on the Day of the Mediterranean, or November 28, 2025. The celebration should be relevant both to Mediterranean interest and its local communities, with a focus on international partnership.

“Together, the two cities will be sending a message of openness and solidarity in our region. This initiative is deeply rooted in the confidence that our cities, no matter where they are or what they have been through, can pave the way to a better future with culture as their catalyst,” UfM Secretary General and Egyptian statesman Nasser Kamel said in a statement.

The “Capitals of Culture & Dialogue” initiative originated in February 2022 when over 200 young civil society representatives from over 20 countries proposed the idea of a designated capital of the Mediterranean. The plan further solidified in June 2022 when the Ministers of Culture of the Euro-Mediterranean region recalled the model of the European Capital of Culture.

As such, UfM hopes to “promote and celebrate Euro-Mediterranean’s rich cultural diversity and shared heritage, as well as to foster mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue,” the organization wrote in a press release.