ACROSS THE SEA 2023: CLIMATE CHANGE AND MIGRATION

The first edition of the ACROSS THE SEA conference took place at the University of Genoa from 5 to 7 June. It was a youth-driven and youth-oriented process addressed the issues of climate change and migration. The event was held under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic and of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Among its institutional partners, it had broad support, by local authorities, the Ministry of the Environment, al Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Parliament.

Thirteen different delegations of young leaders, students and promoters of the change participated on behalf of their countries, including Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Palestine, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Türkiye.

After an opening ceremony which they attended representatives of the Municipal Council, of the Regional Council of Liguria and of the University of Genoa, and the president of the 3rd Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM): Yana Ehm, of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the delegates were divided in working groups and engaged in negotiation and brainstorming sessions on the two topics.

Subsequently, the delegations participated in specific seminars held by industry experts, including panelists from OME, ERG, ANEV, FICHTNER Italia, RINA and university professors, to provide further insights to the delegates. The latter were thus able to draw inspiration for the following sessions.

The work sessions were aimed at drafting a joint document on the engagement of young people in the Mediterranean, Final and Joint Declaration Of the Youth of the Mediterranean, which was approved and signed by all delegations, as well as by the University of Genoa e by His Excellency the Deputy Secretary General of the UfM, Grammenos Mastrojeni.