Belgique

The MEDEA Institute is an European research center whose primary purpose is to build relationships of trust, cooperation and mutual understanding between EU countries and their Mediterranean and Arabic neighbours.
Its work conists in developing a network of continuous dialogue between politicians, economists and academics, and in making available to the general public, information relating to relations that Europe has with its southern neighbours.
In practice, three types of activities are the specificity of the Institute’s work.
Events
The first concerns the organization of different types of events such as:
conferences to inform the general public on Mediterranean and Euro-Arab relations and on the news in Arab and Muslim countries;
symposia and workshops that can be achieved in relatively small get-together and are intended to deepen a specific problem;
informal meetings between different actors of the Mediterranean and Euro-Arab relations (officials, diplomats, businessmen, etc..) organized in order to increase the regularity of contacts and reduce the risk of misunderstandings and mutual incomprehension.
Information
The second type of activities consists in providing information to the general public via the website of the Institute – including 1800 pages – and by writing articles published in periodicals outside the Institute.
Consultancy
The third type of activities lies in the consultancy service proposed in various forms:
Interviews given to the media;
Research and analyses conducted at the request of one third;
Setting contact with different actors of the Mediterranean and Euro-Arab relations ;
Put MEDEA’s network of contacts at disposal to find experts and speakers.

1. The YOU(th) CARE project aims to empower and mobilize the next generation of Global Caretakers for a shared, sustainable Euro-Mediterranean future. Recognizing youth's resilience and innovative approaches, the project addresses the complexity of current global crises by integrating social, ecological, and democratic perspectives. The project’s key objectives include reinforcing active citizenship and encouraging young people to participate in building a better society. The project seeks to support young people in becoming proactive young leaders by helping them develop Global CARE Agendas. The project focuses on collaboratively designing and implementing Global Care Agendas and Actions, employing a multidimensional approach to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Incorporating a gender perspective, the project will enhance gender equity by fostering gender-responsive leadership and expanding monitoring networks within youth organizations, groups, and local communities. The YOU(th) CARE is a 40-month-long project, and it focuses on engaging young people from eight EU countries (Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Greece) and four non-EU countries (Albania, Serbia, Tunisia, and Morocco). 2. The YoCoJoin project aims to intensify efforts towards more inclusive and engaging journalism by introducing youth community reporters within local news media outlets. By doing so, this project hopes to boost both the supply of quality journalism and the demand for such services among younger generations, ultimately creating a more economically sustainable business model for local news media outlets. Over the 24 months, the seven project partners – experienced local media organizations from The Netherlands, Malta, Serbia, Hungary, Ireland, Slovenia, and Belgium will collaboratively experiment with introducing an innovative youth community journalism initiative by adapting the experiences of the coordinator, Omroep Tilburg, and teaching 20-30 local young people in each country to the journalism profession through training and mentorship. The project will also directly contribute to the professional skills development of the participating partner organizations through its planned workshops and knowledge-sharing. Finally, YoCoJoin will seek to strengthen the overall sustainability of the wider European local news media sector by providing hands-on experiences to at least 20 non-partner local media services and distributing this inclusive and engaging journalism format through an online tutorial and active networking. As a result, the sector’s potential across countries and regions with different and diverse media capabilities will be increased. 3. In an effort to respond to the marginalisation and silencing of migrant voices in the mainstream European media and information environment, Migrant Voices Matter in the European Media (MigraVoice) aims to bring migrant voices into the mainstream European media space. MigraVoice brings together 6 European organizations covering seven languages to amplify the voices, perspectives, and insights of migrants in Europe within the European media information space by promoting their active participation in producing reliable mainstream traditional and social media narratives. 4. MEDIADELCOM will develop a diagnostic tool (multiple scenario building model) for policy makers, educators, media critical bodies and institutions, as well as for media experts and journalists, which will enable the provision of holistic assessment of risks and opportunities concerning deliberative communication and consequently social cohesion in Europe. The tool will enable drawing on multiple risks and opportunity scenarios of the European media landscape at large, as well as the development of media landscapes in individual countries. Conceptual and operational variables for multiple scenarios will be created by thoroughly examining the diachronic and synchronic changes in news media ecosystems in 14 European countries with special attention to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). MEDIADELCOM hosts a podcast which focuses on deliberative communication which is the core concept of the entire research project. You can listen and subscribe to the podcast by clicking on the link below.

Organisation de séminaires, d'ateliers et de formations en vue de renforcer le secteur de la distribution de films de qualité dans la région Sud-Méditerranée.
Réalisation d'études et organisation de tables rondes pour améliorer les conditions de distribution de films dans la région méditerranéenne.

Current Research includes:
- Democratic transitions in the Middle East and North Africa. A comparative study of Morocco and Egypt.
- Globalism and the Problematization of Government in the MENA-region.
- The influence of transnational political mobilization on homeland conflicts.
Other themes of particular interest to MENARG affiliated researchers:
- Social movements and contentious politics (particularly Islamism);
- Conflict and political authority in the MENA-region;
- Discourses on islam worldwide and discourse analysis;
- Cities, “governance” and the politics of resistance in the MENA-region and its periphery.
The MENARG carries out research and consultancy, can act as a partner for research for NGOs, organizes seminars and lectures, informs the general public through participation in public debates and designs educational courses.

- Accompagnement au logement décent
- Projet Explor’toit
- Les ateliers de sensibilisation aux économies d’énergie

“How different is different”: classes and exhibitions on rites of passage as a means for more tolerance in intercultural society.
“Passages”: Recording 50 life stories of new Belgians, translating them into 1/ a book 2/ workshops where the life stories are presented as a means of communication in intercultural society, focusing at sameness rather than difference in human lives.
“Marriage Migration”: Analyzing the phenomenon of marriage migration in Ghent, Belgium.
“Integrating Together”: Offering new Belgians the possibility to train their language skills and broaden their social network with a coach. Offering students in social work the possibility to deliberately gain skills as a coach, as well as to bring them in contact with other cultures.
“Growing older in a changing society”: Practice oriented research focused at the life stories of elderly new Belgians as a means for productively diversifying health care knowledge and practices.
Elaboration of a diversity policy for our Faculty