A pioneering investigation into the challenges of human and cultural relations across Europe and the southern and eastern Mediterranean region will be launched at a public event in Brussels on Wednesday 15th September taking place under the Belgian Presidency of the European Union.

The Report, entitled ‘EuroMed Intercultural Trends 2010’ and coordinated by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, is based on the very first public opinion poll on intercultural out trends and values with 13,000 people from across the two shores of the Mediterranean.  With analysis and proposals from experts in over 40 countries of the Region, the Report addresses key issues in the public debate including ‘Islam, the West and Modernity’, ‘Differences and Similarities in Value Systems’, ‘Prospects of Regional Peace’. The thematic focus of this first edition of the Report is the role of Media in shaping public perceptions.

The international launch event, which is being co-organised by the European Policy Centre, the King Baudouin Foundation and the Anna Lindh Foundation, will be opened by  Stefan Füle, the European Union’s Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy, and André Azoulay, President of the Anna Lindh Foundation and Counselor to the King of Morocco, to be followed by a debate involving intercultural experts and media representatives.  

Key findings the Report is set to reveal include:

•             The similarities and differences in values of the people on the two shores of the Mediterranean, and the possibilities of creating a space of shared values

•             The extent to which there is a gap in mutual perceptions and understanding between the people of the North and the South of the Mediterranean

•             The extent to which people in the Region are in favour of Mediterranean cooperation as envisaged through the ‘Union for the Mediterranean’

The Report is coordinated by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures which is the institution for the human and cultural relations of the Union for the Mediterranean.  With its international headquarters in Alexandria, Egypt, the Foundation leads and supports projects across its Network of 43 National Civil Society Networks which brings together over 3000 NGOs and organizations.  Through the regular publication of its Report on Intercultural Trends, the Anna Lindh Foundation aims to reinforce its advocacy role on issues related to intercultural relations in the Region and provide a unique tool of action in the hands of dialogue actors, including opinion-leaders, policy-makers and civil society organisations.

EUROMED INTERCULTURAL TRENDS 2010: THE ANNA LINDH REPORT

The Anna Lindh Report is a pioneering tool for knowledge and action on cross-cultural relations. Published every three years, the Report combines a Public Opinion Poll gathering the voices of many thousands of people across Europe and the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, with a wide range of analyses by a network of intercultural experts. The themes discussed in the Anna Lindh Report 2010 are at the heart of public debate at the international level, including: Differences and Similarities in Value Systems; the Religious Factor in Intercultural Relations; Media Treatment of Cultural Diversity; Human Mobility; Culture at the heart of Mediterranean relations; Intercultural citizenship; Islam, the West and Modernity; the Union for the Mediterranean and regional cooperation. Through combining the voice of the Region’s people with expert analysis, the Anna Lindh Report is an instrument in the hands of policy-makers, opinion-leaders and civil society providing proposals for the intercultural dialogue agenda and guidelines for intercultural action at the local and international level.

Public Opinion Survey and Country Coverage. The Anna Lindh/Gallup Opinion Poll 2010 was carried out with 13,000 people from 13 countries in Europe and the southern and eastern Mediterranean.  It is the very first time such a Euro-Mediterranean Survey has been carried out on intercultural trends and values. Key questions and findings in  the Survey include: Interest in people in other countries across the Mediterranean; Levels and methods of interaction between people; the vision for the Union for the Mediterranean; The role of Media in promoting cultural diversity. The thirteen Euro-Mediterranean countries involved in the Anna Lindh/Gallup Poll 2010 were: Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey and the United Kingdom

Intercultural Experts.  The Anna Lindh Report has involved experts from over forty Euro-Mediterranean countries, coming from different disciplines and providing an in-depth analysis of issues at the heart of intercultural relations. Rasha A. Abdulla (Egypt); Rym Ali (Jordan); Catherine Ashton (United Kingdom); André Azoulay (Morocco); Michele Capasso (Italy); Andreu Claret (Spain); Youssef Courbage (Lebanon); Grace Davie (United Kingdom); Heidi Dumreicher (Austria); Mona El Hamdani (Morocco); Thierry Fabre (France); Mike Jempson (Ireland); Aïsha Kassoul (Algeria); Bichara Khader (Palestine); Bettina Kolb (Austria); Maria Kontochristou (Greece); Tolga Korkut (Turkey); Anat Lapidot-Firilla (Israel); Amin Maalouf (Lebanon); Robert Manchin (Hungary); Natalia Ribas-Mateos (Spain); Predrag Matvejevic (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Tuomo Melasuo (Finland); Antoine Messarra (Lebanon); Dalia Mogahed (Egypt); Amre Moussa (Egypt); Laura C. Navarro (Spain); Magued Osman (Egypt); Isabelle Rigoni (France); Alexa Robertson (Sweden); Martin Rose (United Kingdom); Jorge Sampaio (Portugal); Eldar Sarajlić (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Naomi Sakr (United Kingdom); Sabine Schiffer (Germany); Ismail Serageldin (Egypt); Sara Silvestri (Italy); Katerina Stenou (Greece); Mohamed Tozy (Morocco); Anna Triandafyllidou (Greece); Erhan Üstundag (Turkey)

For more information on the report:

www.annalindhreport.org