This course is based on the Anna Lindh Report on Intercultural Trends and Social Change in the Euro-Mediterranean region launched in 2010. The study is built on a unique public opinion survey among a representative sample of the Euro-Mediterranean population about mutual perceptions, values and openness to diversity. The surveyed countries for the 2018 edition included Algeria, Austria, Croatia, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Tunisia. 

Eleonora Insalaco, Head of Intercultural Research and Programming at the Anna Lindh Foundation, explains that these data “have been complemented by a large number of studies and comments from experts from countries around the region. Nevertheless, the richness of the data allows for multiple interpretations and continuous analysis and debate”.

Elisabeth Guigou, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation, and Nabil Al-Sharif, Executive Director of the Foundation, state that the Report provides “an evidence base for the required new thinking on how regional cooperation and global relations are constructed. There is strong support for a bottom-up, youth-led, cross-cultural dialogue; a move from supply-driven to demand-driven initiatives. The Report reflects the perspective of placing the Mediterranean and its Millennial generation at the centre of the international agenda, replicating globally-transformative methodologies tested in the laboratory of one of the world’s most challenging and evolving regions”. 

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, affirms that the Report shows: “A large majority of people in our region – from North to South, from East to West – understand the need for greater participation of our young people in public life…”. She confirms that the direction of the work done between the European Union and the Anna Lindh Foundation “…invests particularly in education and intercultural learning, promoting youth-led dialogues and virtual exchanges.”

Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, notes “The Report illustrates that a majority of those surveyed continue to believe in the importance of reinforcing cooperation among both country groups, and that there are mutual benefits that can be accrued across the Mediterranean, especially in the fields of new opportunities, education, training, entrepreneurship, innovation and youth employment… providing invaluable analytical analyses that will enable us to pursue our common goals”.

Miroslav Lajcák, President of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly, and Chair of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group, in referring to the UN Security Council Resolution 2250, sheds light on the well-timed Survey that “has been carried out in parallel to the Foundation’s work with the UN on the first global study on Youth, Peace and Security mandated by this Resolution. The Report provides a further evidence base to the UN’s new long-term action plan for investment in youth-led initiatives”.