Espagne

The mobility program launched jointly by the Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation (ReFAL) and the European Institute of the Mediterranean will bring about the celebration of four different initiatives by network members. This mobility program seeks to strengthen the dynamics and synergies among national member entities by covering travel and accommodation costs incurred by members within the framework of a joint initiative. In this regard, four different activities have been partially financed throughout the Spanish territory in February and March.

First, Solidaridad sin Fronteras, in collaboration with network member Ojalá Projects, will celebrate the European days of the project Fashion for Inclusion, that promotes social and labor inclusion of migrants and refugees, encouraging their access to professional training in the field of sustainable fashion. The initiative will take place on the 23rd of February in Madrid.

Second, Observatori Blanquerna de Religió i Cultura will organize Women in Research in collaboration with Sabina Civila from Grupo Ágora of the University of Huelva, a seminar focusing on the research field from a gender perspective. This roundtable will be celebrated on the 10th of March in Barcelona.

Third, a working day with workshops is being organised by Fundación ACM in the framework of drafting an inclusion guide from the perspective of refugees, with a special focus on youth and childhood. The event will count on the presence of experts on the subject from ReFAL member organisations who will share their insights for the guide on the 28th of February at the University of Valencia.

Last, Asociación Juventud para la Cultura y Minorias (JUCUM) will hold a multi-workshop event called Interracial Youth in Spanish Politics on the 24th of March in Terrassa, during which young people from diverse backgrounds will be brought together along with CSOs with the objective of bringing youth’s perspective to the attention of local governors.

Check out the organisers' websites to stay tuned and download the attached documents for more information!

Economia della Cultura is the quarterly magazine of the Associazione per l'Economia della Cultura, which aims to explore the economic dimension of art and culture both in Italy and internationally. Its XXXII edition focuses on the presentation and analysis of the results of the “Social Platform for Holistic Impact Heritage Assessment: The SoPHIA Model” (2020 – 2021), a project implemented by a consortium made up of 7 organisations and institutions – Interarts among them – and funded by the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation.

The project consortium and its network of professionals collaborated to create the SoPHIA Model and the corresponding recommendations for future public policies and lines of research. Its holistic nature, developed from 3 concepts (sectors, people and time) related to key elements of development – ​​sustainability and resilience – is what allows its adaptation and future applicability to different European contexts.

The monograph includes 5 chapters in which the challenges and gaps of existing models in terms of impact assessment of interventions in cultural heritage are analysed; the conceptual framework of the SoPHIA model is explained; the conclusions of the 12 case studies that were carried out and that helped to finalise the model are presented; the SoPHIA model and its implementation mechanism are explained; and the role of the "community of practices" that supported the development of the model is analysed.

These chapters have been elaborated by the different teams of the consortium organisations: Interarts and the European Museum Academy elaborated the chapter  "The SoPHIA Social Platform: A new community of practice."

Check out the SoPHIA platform here

Text translated from ReFAL's news

Since the crisis broke out in the Middle East, the Head of the Spanish Network has gathered proposals and actions from all members in order to effectively respond to the situation through dialogue. The Spanish Network has been doing an enormous amount of work since the beginning by implementing numerous initiatives such as informative and awareness-raising debates on the situation in the region and its context; the creation of spaces for constructive discussion and dialogue; launching fundraising campaigns for cooperation and humanitarian aid projects in Gaza and collecting signatures to demand an immediate ceasefire and the creation of safe humanitarian corridors.

Find attached the document with all the initiatives and proposals collected from members of the Spanish Network.

Are you between 18 and 29 years old? Are you a national of one of the Union of the Mediterranean –UfM Member States? This is your chance to apply to the 3rd edition of the Mediterranean Youth Academy to be held from the 6thto the 9th of November in Barcelona, Spain.

5 May 2023. The 3rd edition of the Mediterranean Youth Academy – MYA will be held from 6 to 9 of November 2023 in Barcelona, back-to-back with the High-Level Launch Event of the UfM Youth Action Plan. Young people from the Euro-Mediterranean region are encouraged to apply to secure attendance.

The mission of the MYA is to qualify and prepare selected young people from the Euro-Mediterranean area through interactive, bottom-up training programs focused on issues that are relevant to the region. The overall goal is to enhance the participation of young people in the decision and policy-making processes empowering them as active changemakers.

The 3rd edition of the MYA is co-organised by the Union for the Mediterranean – UfM and the Mediterranean Youth Foundation for Development – MYF with the support of the German Development Cooperation. The program aims at promoting awareness and involving youth in response to Mediterranean issues and challenges related to three thematic clusters: Climate Change & Climate Justice, Social Inclusion, Youth Employment. 

To be eligible, applicants must:

• Be between 18 and 29 years old by the time of the application submission.
• Be nationals of one of the UfM Member States.
• By the time of the application submission, have a valid travel document.
• Have an Intermediate level of English.
• Have the availability to follow the MYA for the full four days (6-9 November 2023).
• Have previous knowledge or experience in one or more of the three MYA Thematic Clusters.

Interested applicants must fill out the online application form by no later than 31st of May 2023, 23:59 CEST. Applications received after the deadline will be automatically rejected.

This information has been retrieved from the UfM's page, click on THIS LINK for more information.

On the 22nd of November, the first Focus Group of the Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation (ReFAL) was held.

The Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation has organized 3 Focus Groups open to all its members. These Focus Groups are meant to be a joint intercultural reflection to help define the thematic priorities of the ReFAL and on which it will base its work in the coming months.

The topics of these Focus Groups are: ‘New vulnerabilities’, ‘Universality from multiple identities’, and ‘Citizenship and Participation’.

Once this reflection is finished and the themes have been identified, we will launch a call to finance 4 intercultural projects of the Network that will take place in March 2024 within the framework of the Network's activity: “EXPLORE- CONNECT-CELEBRATE”.

Asociació Azahara and Jovesólides, members of the Spanish Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation (ReFAL), celebrated last April intercultural iftars to celebrate coexistence, bringing together a total of approximately 1000 people.

During the month of Ramadan, Associació Azahara has once again promoted the celebrations of the breaking of fasting in community. The fourth edition of the community iftar has been carried out in Salt (Girona) that took place at the Coma Cros Cultural Factory on April 14. This year, in addition, a pre-iftar activity has been added to the program in which five young Muslims of different origins and Islamic sensibilities have been able to dialogue in front of the public about what it is to be Muslim today in Salt and what is their particular and community experience of Ramadan. The other novelty proposed has been to promote for the first time the shared celebration of iftar in the municipality of Cunit (Tarragona) with the collaboration of the City Council of Cunit. The festivity took place on April 18 in the pavilion of the CEIP Pompeu Fabra and was part of the projects for the improvement of coexistence and civility of Cunit that the Associació Azahara promotes.

The Iftar de la Concordia, organised by the association Jovesólides, Casa Marruecos and the Islamic Cultural Center of Valencia, has had the participation of representatives of various Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and atheist communities as well as the entities that bring together the social and associative movements of the Valencian Community, such as the Valencian Coordinator of NGDO and the Volunteer Platform. Together they have promulgated the 'Declaration of Valencia for Concord' to vindicate cultural diversity and express the "unequivocal will to solemnly and decisively proclaim the most absolute rejection to Islamophobia in any form.  

In this way, ReFAL's entities fight against Islamophobia while contributing to an intercultural and plural citizenship.