The flagship event of the Foundation, MED FORUM, represents the largest civil society gathering and the most influential process of its kind for intercultural dialogue across the Mediterranean region. The Forum connects a unique regional network of practitioners, policy-makers, media and international donors, united to create together real and lasting change in the face of the region’s most pressing problems.

The particularity of the next edition of the FORUM will be the strengthened links between the Forum and the Intercultural Trends Report as well as the capitalisation of its outcomes. The FORUM is a farreaching participatory process comprised of three sets of activities: preparatory meetings; the Form itself; and the capitalisation of outcomes. As per the previous Forum, the next edition will continue to be based on the approach of “thinking, sharing and building together”, which can provide a space to share analysis, points of view, experiences and practices, connecting policy frameworks with grassroots levels of action and interest, and providing input and recommendations for the Euro-Med Agenda and for the Foundation’s programming.

Established in 2010, the Intercultural Trends Report represents the Foundation’s response to one of the main recommendations and concepts of the 2003 High Level Group on Intercultural Dialogue (the “Prodi Groupe des Sages”), namely that any dialogue project must be built on the understanding of deep transformations in our societies, and the analysis of their impact on behaviours, values and perceptions. The Report, that is based on a unique public polling methodology co-designed with Gallup and Ipsos-MORI, is a pioneering resource for the Euro- Mediterranean agenda.

Since its establishment, there have been three editions of the Report: in 2010, in 2014, and a new edition was launched in 2018.

Download the 2018 Report

Find out about the events to promote the Intercultural Trends Report

Young Mediterranean Voices (YMV) is the flagship debate programme connecting civil society, education and policy-makers across the South Mediterranean and Europe. The programme provides opportunities to open doors for young influencers to shape policy and media narratives.

Building on more than five years investment in the field, as well as established networks, pioneering methodologies and independent research, the overall objective of Young Mediterranean Voices programme is to empower young people to enhance a culture of dialogue, to contribute to public policy and shape media dis-courses, and to create a shared understanding with peers across the Mediterranean on how to address issues of common concern to their communities.

This programme brings the experience of the widely acclaimed programme “Young Arab Voices” (YAV) – launched in Alexandria in 2011 by the Anna Lindh Foundation and the British Council - to other parts of the Euro-Mediterranean region. Coordinated by the Anna Lindh Foundation, Young Mediterranean Voices is funded by the European Commission.

Follow the Young Med Voices movement:

www.facebook.com/YoungMediterraneanVoices
www.youngmedvoices.org

The Anna Lindh Foundation is participating in a consortium of leading partners to deliver Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, a new strategic project supported by the European Commission. Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange provides an accessible, ground-breaking way for young people to engage in intercultural learning. Working with youth organisations and universities, the programme is open to any young person aged 18-30 residing in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean.

Within this pioneering project, the “Debate Exchange” activity brings young people from different backgrounds together to develop debate skills with the support of a network of trained Debate Team Leaders, fostering listening and understanding through debate and dialogue activities. The central component of the programme is a model of debate whereby participants are first taught to listen, understand and absorb what others in the group are saying before responding to the messages being relayed, rather than reacting to the person, the situation or the assumed context of the arguments put forward.

How can you join the activity?

If you are interested in joining the Debate Exchanges and become a Leader in Virtual Debate, please register on the following link: https://europa.eu/youth/erasmusvirtual/activite/formation-au-plaidoyer_en

Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange

The Debate Exchange activity is part of the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange project and is implemented under a contract with the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, financed by the Union’s budget. The opinions expressed are those of the Anna Lindh Foundation, its partners and participants only and do not represent the European Commission’s official position.

© 2018 European Union and EACEA. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU and EACEA.

The Foundation Corporate Plan to 2020 sets out our priorities, what we will do to meet those priorities and how we will measure our impact. The plan is framed by the 10-year Strategy adopted by the Board of the Foundation, “Working Together Towards 2025”, that also aims to ensure the required infrastructure to expand the reach and impact of our intercultural dialogue movement.

Download our Corporate Plan

Our ALF Headquarters is in Alexandria and we have coordinators and management staff based across more than 40 countries. Our Board of Governors are the guardians of the Foundation's purpose, and we have an Advisory Council whose statutory role is to advise the Board, Executive and Civil Society Networks on the strategic policy orientations of the Foundation.

Leadership Team

We were founded in 2004 and our Alexandria Headquarters inaugurated in 2005, making us the first common institution for dialogue co-created by the European Union and its Mediterranean Partner countries.

Why the Foundation was created?

The early years of the 21st century were marked a series of global events that risked fueling polarization between societies in the Mediterranean region, from September 11 and the ‘War on Terror’ to the invasion of Iraq and Madrid bombings.

We were created on the political initiative of the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, “to take action to restart dialogue and defuse the risk of a clash of civilizations”.

A High Level Advisory Group was formed by Prodi to explore the roots of polairsation between societies, taking into account the impact of conflicts in the Mediterranean and the broader context of economic globalization, immigration and “identity”. In its Report, that continues to serve as operational blueprint for the Foundation, the High-Level Group stress education, skills and media to renew cultural dialogue, and foresee the centrality of civil society and investment in youth.

Originally called the “Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures”, the Foundation was given the name of the late Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, who was assassinated in 2003 in an act of hate crime; Anna’s lifetime commitment to equal partnership between the North and South, and to multilateral partnership action, became a guiding principle for our work.

Institutional Milestones

1995

The Barcelona Declaration establishes the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the far-reaching political partnership between the EU and its Mediterranean partner countries.

2003

High-Level Group on Intercultural Dialogue, on the initiative of the European Commission President, recommends the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean Foundation.

2004

Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Euro-Med Member States agree on creating the Anna Lindh Foundation and establish it's statutes.

2005

Creation of the Foundation National Civil Society Networks. The Alexandria Headquarters inaugurated, with the first general assembly of the Network coordinators.

2006

Launching of the first regional intercultural learning programme, Mediterranean Journalism Awards, grants and capacity-building programme. “Dialogue 21” Youth Campaign is launched in response to the Danish Cartoon Crisis.

2008

Landmark “1001 Actions for Dialogue” Campaign launched for the EU and Euro-Med Year of Intercultural Dialogue, with syncronised civil society-led intercultural initiatives in 30+ counties. 

2009

“Restore Trust, Rebuild Bridges” regional initiative in response to the Gaza War and the impact of the economic crisis on intercultural relations.

2010

First MED FORUM takes place in Barcelona, and the flagship report “Intercultural Trends in the Euro-Mediterranean region” launched with Gallup.

2011

Tunis Exchange Forum and “Young Arab Voices” debate programme launched in response to the historic social uprisings in the Arab countries.

2013

Second MED FORUM takes place in Marseille with more than 1300 civil society members from 42 countries.

2014

The Foundation marks its 10th anniversary in Naples, and launches the second edition of its flagship Intercultural Trends Report.

2015

42 Member States adopt new 10 Year Strategy, “Working Together Towards 2025”. The Foundation becomes member of the steering group for the first UN-mandated global report on Youth, Peace and Security.

2016

Launch of “Young Mediterranean Voices” at MED FORUM in Valletta, under the patronage of EU High-Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini. Five years in the making, first Education Handbook on “Intercultural Citizenship” published.

2017

The Foundation dialogue methodologies show-cased on the regional and global stage, with the Africa-EU Summit in Abidjan and the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

2018

The Foundation is member of the consortium tasked to implement the pilot phase of the first “Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange” as part of the new European Commission programming from 2020.

We’re currently living a historical era in which mistrust and polarization between societies are rising.

In this context the Anna Lindh Foundation firmly believes that:

1. We need alternative narratives to fight extremist discourses and radicalizations

That’s why we empower young voices by providing platforms for young people to build together more open, inclusive and resilient communities.

2. We need more inclusive and empathetic societies to fight the lack of trust and intolerance

To do so, we introduce impactful research on international policymaking. We provide a unique understanding of conflict dynamics through research and opinion-leadership.

3. We need to build a culture based on dialogue and exchange

By leading a movement. Our network aims to bring together and inspire other civil societies and multiplying our impact in that way.

Narratives, inclusiveness, empathy, and exchange. In other words, this could be summed up in the notion that we firmly believe in the power of dialogue, because increases our tolerance, make us freer, enlarges our perspectives, defines our individuality, speeds up our progress, makes our democracies real and gives hope and courage to oppressed people around the world.