
On the Italian page of the official participants in the Colloquia, the interventions are preceded by an abstract in English. Those interested can proceed with the translation of the complete texts using the Google translator. In addition to possible imperfections in machine translation, the system easy understanding of the text.
https://comen-fondazionemediterranea.org/interventi-relatori/
Welcome friends!
The International Association COMEN Mediterranean Conference looks to the Mediterranean as a meeting place for its different and millenary cultures, in the awareness that freedom of thought is the first foundation of human dignity, in all its creative expressions.
The circulation of ideas, the history of civilizations, the quality of life in peaceful coexistence, the beauty of the environment, the growth of local societies in a process of sustainable development, are the cardinal points of the Association.
COMEN believes in the joy of living as an indispensable right of the human person. Anyone who shares these principles, shunning any fanaticism or cultural abuse, will be welcomed into the Association and will become a participant or promoter of initiatives, projects and events.
The Association was born out of the “Kamárina Memorandum of Understanding” (Sicily, 1993), on the occasion of the International Mediterranean Meeting organized by the Mediterranean Foundation, which was attended by numerous representatives of institutions, universities, associations, diplomats, scholars and observers. Aware of the importance of Mediterranean culture in the process of changing world society, they signed the constitution of the “International Working Group” dedicated to the emerging issues of the Mediterranean Area and subsequently, on January 22, 1994, a public act was established in Rome “COMEN – International Association and Working Group for the Promotion of Cultural Centrality, the Enhancement of Common Resources and the Quality of Life in the Mediterranean Area “, without any profit.
In 1998 in Palermo, Castel Utveggio, with the active involvement of the Presidency of the Region, COMEN organized and directed the memorable event “Mediterranean III Millennium, before Man – Intercultural Talks” which was attended by illustrious representatives of almost all Mediterranean countries, including which Predrag Matvejević author of “Mediterranean Breviary”, Paolo Ungari, Franco Garbaccio, Antonio Giornelli, Michael Soudarskis, Carlo Russo, Enrico Molinaro, Nead Abdel Latif, Josè Joaquin Porras, Enrico Vinci, Tarik Mira, Rafael Fellah, Tanouti Boumediene, Josè Louis Gotor, Jan Refalo, Andrea Karajannis, Michele Capasso, Donato Matassino, Baldassare Messina and others.
The President Francesco Venerando Mantegna

MEDITERRANEAN INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUES 2020-2021
International Association and Working Group for the Promotion of Cultural Centrality, the Enhancement of Common Resources and the Quality of Life in the Mediterranean Area
ANCESTRAL CRADLE OF MAN AND CIVILIZATIONS, THE MEDITERRANEAN IS TODAY MORE THAN EVER A CROSSROAD OF DIALOGUE FOR THE SAFEGUARD OF THE PLANET AND PEACE AMONG PEOPLES.

EVENT POSTER AND INTRODUCTION
The dramatic Covid-19 pandemic leads humanity to profound reflections on the future, towards adequate choices for the defense of health and life, both in the path of science and in the new organization of economic and social systems, to overcome intolerances and conflicts , in the name of the inalienable rights of the human person. The critical scenarios of our planet, the demographic expansion, the consumption of resources, food and the environmental impacts caused by climate change, require real changes in industrial and economic policies in the short and medium term. The advancement of scientific and technological research, the policies of rational management of natural resources, the restoration of natural balances, the reduction of polluting emissions and the conquest of clean energy are the goals and challenges of the future. In this direction, in the light of the teaching of Mediterranean civilizations that have permeated history, we want to address the issue of the indispensable revision of the economic system, to build living conditions centered on human dignity and the right to the joy of living. It is necessary to create a new economic model compatible with the ethical foundations of an orderly society, removing inequalities and the exploitation of labor, rewarding virtuous business and creating the widest youth employment. The public debt of the nations that have generated the Mediterranean civilization cannot result in the condemnation of entire generations to poverty, submission and unhappiness, to satisfy speculative market logic. The great cultural heritage of philosophy, literature, the arts and sciences, now more than ever requires responsible and authentically free intellectuals to trace a new path for humanity. We need to get out of the tunnel of the progressive cultural impoverishment of the new generations, the decline of the Arts, of spirituality and of the pursuit of the right to happiness. Anyone who wants to recognize themselves on these guidelines of the Mediterranean Intercultural Colloquiums will be able to testify to this with their own contribution of ideas.

Francesco Venerando Mantegna, President of the COMEN Mediterranean Conference International Association
Message of wishes from the President of the Senate of the Italian Republic
On. Sen. Avv. Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati



The organizational activities
Many scientists, university professors, researchers and exponents of culture and the arts have already joined the work of the Colloquia as speakers. Further growth is expected by the end of the current year. Leaders, executives and exponents of political parties of the Mediterranean countries do not take part directly in the Colloquia, in order to guarantee complete independence from any political influence. The Mediterranean Colloquies 2020-2021 want to be an independent place of reflection with a high cultural and scientific profile, to offer a contribution of ideas to government institutions in the direction of sustainable development, the necessary renewal of economic models and the dignity of the human person.
OFFICIAL OPENING
On November 30, 2020, the official opening videoconference of the Mediterranean Colloquia took place with the interventions of the 18 Italian and foreign Coordinators, introduced by the President of the international COMEN Association.
THEMATIC AREAS
Currently the list of thematic Areas is as follows:
1. Human rights and fundamental freedoms, disparities, evolutions and prospects. Overcoming discrimination based on race, nationality, language, religion and sex. The goal of building a shared orientation of Mediterranean societies towards regulatory adjustments aimed at the quality of life. (Italian coordinator: Fausto Pocar, Emeritus Professor of International Law at the University of Milan and former President of the United Nations Human Rights Committee; Foreign Co-Coordinator Eugene Papandile, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of Albania).
2. The geopolitical and economic framework of the Mediterranean area, possible developments, the role of the European Union in the construction of innovative cooperation strategies. A new economic model centered on the dignity of the person. The public debt of the nations that have enlightened the civilization of the Mediterranean peoples cannot translate into the condemnation of entire generations. The critical scenarios of environmental resources, determined by the speculative logic of the markets, foreshadow an uncertain destiny of humanity. (Italian coordinator: Prof. Nino Galloni)
3. Defense and enhancement of cultural heritage: arts, literature, archeology; the identity roots of the Mediterranean peoples. Cultural and social tourism in the Mediterranean in a new perspective of dissemination and amplification of knowledge, especially among the new generations. The sea of navigation and its value in the dialogue between Mediterranean civilizations: from the Peoples of the Sea to the contemporary age. (Italian Coordinator: Prof. Franco Foresta Martin, Foreign Co-Coordinator Archaeologist Dr. Ferdi Sabah – Algeria)
4. The sea and the Mediterranean coastal systems, biodiversity as an irreplaceable heritage of life, the contribution of pollutants and contamination, the shared planning of environmental policies between the coastal countries. (Italian Coordinator Dr. Lorenzo Ciccarese; Foreign Co-Coordinator Prof. Magda Boudagher – Lebanon).
5. Agriculture and livestock, food industry: criticality of water resources, new technological frontiers for the rationalization and implementation of water resources; production and trade, new proposals for international cooperation and market balance. (Italian Coordinator Prof. Andrea Segré, Alma Mater Studiorum UNIBO; Foreign Co-Coordinator Dr. Sihem Dabbou – Tunisia).
6. Climate change: impacts on the terrestrial and marine environment, on human activities, medium and long-term forecasts, environmental spatial planning models that can be shared in the Area. Italian Coordinator Prof. Arch. Michele Talia, President of the INU-National Institute of Urban Planning; Foreign Co-Coordinator Dr. Albalawneh Abeer, NARC-National Agricultural Research Center – Jordan).
7. Scientific research and technological innovation dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the environmental heritage, to the monitoring, forecasting and prevention of risks in the most exposed areas, to the mitigation of environmental and socio-economic damage. The new frontiers of the circular economy. (Italian Coordinator: Dr. Stefano Laporta, President of ISPRA-Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research; Foreign Co-Coordinator Prof. Milagrosa Oliva Ramirez – Spain).
8. The right to health and happiness, the quality of life, bioethics, moral values, the guidance of childhood in the family unit, interaction with the environment; the quality of nutrition, food losses and waste, the culture of psychophysical well-being and natural treatments. The specter of the Pandemic, the emotional isolation, the lack of hope and the effects on the psyche. The new social adaptation: sociological and religious aspects. (Italian Coordinator Prof. Leopoldo Rizzi, Foreign Coordinator Prof. Soumaya Bourougaaoui – Tunisia)
9. The new challenges of the scientific community for the conquest of clean energy, the overcoming of current industrial models; assessments and insights into models for reducing pollution and emissions; the waste and energy cycle, the restoration of the natural landscape. The vision of the scenarios of the future. Italian Coordinator Prof. emeritus Vincenzo Balzani, Alma Mater Studiorum UNIBO; Foreign Co-Coordinator Prof. Ofer Hadar, Ben Gurion University of Negev, Israel.
Italian Coordinators of the themes of the Mediterranean Colloquia
Fausto Pocar
Professor emeritus at the University of Milan, ad hoc judge of the International Court of Justice; former President of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and Judge and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Stefano Laporta
President of ISPRA-National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research and of SNPA-National Network System for Environmental Protection; President of the Council of Presidents of the ConPER Public Research Institutions (Italy); President, with internal organizational coordination functions, of the ISIN Council (National Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection)
Vincenzo Balzani
Professor emeritus of the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna; Member of the Accademia dei Lincei, of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna and Turin, of the National Society of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Naples; of the European Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Andrea Segrè
Full Professor of International and Comparative Agricultural Policy at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, former Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, President of the Agri-food Center and of the FICO Foundation for food education and sustainability.
Michele Talia
President of the INU-National Institute of Urban Planning, Full Professor and Professor of Urban Planning at the School of Architecture of the University of Camerino, Member of the Scientific Committee of Urban Planning, has carried out research at the Center for Environmental Studies in London and the Planning Department of the University of Rome La Sapienza.
Nino Galloni
Economist, former Director General of the Ministry of Labor, has taught at the Luiss in Rome, at the University of Rome, at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, at the University of Modena and at the University of Naples.
Lorenzo Ciccarese
Head of the Area for the conservation of species and habitats and for the sustainable management of agricultural and forest areas at ISPRA, President of the Forest Plantations of the International Union of Forest Research Organization, Intergov. Panel on Climate Change (Ipcc), National Focal Point for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Leopoldo Rizzi
Strategic consultant for national and international State Bodies and companies, Avocado, Europartner Finance Director (Extraordinary EU Finance) Milan; former Mayor of Vigo di Fassa, promoter of the “Bell of Peace of Ladins and linguistic minorities around the world” , First Counselor of the Imperial and Royal House of Swabia.
Franco Foresta Martin
Geologist, Geochemist, Director of the “Laboratory Museum of Earth Sciences of Ustica”, scientific journalist, popularizer, scientific editor of Corriere della Sera for 35 years, professor at the Master in Communication of Science of the Physics Department at the University of Padua, associate Researcher INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology).

The foreign co-Coordinators of the Mediterranean countries
Theme area 1 | EUGEN PAPANDILE | General Secretary of the Constitutional Court – Albania |
Theme area 2 | MARTA POSTIGO ASENJO | Profesora Titular de Filosofía Moral y Política, Universidad de Malaga, Spagna |
Theme area 3 | SABAH FERDI | Archeologa, Inspecteur du Patrimoine culturel chargée du site de Tipasa, Algeria |
Theme area 4 | MAGDA BOUDAGHER | Full professor at the Faculty of Science, Saint Joseph University of Beirut – Libano |
Theme area 5 | SIHEM DABBOU | Researcher, Center Agriculture Food Environment, University of Trento / Edmund Mach Foundation – Tunisia |
Theme area 6 | ABEER ALBALAWNEH | Director of the NARC-National Agricultural Research Center and Climate Change – Jordan |
Theme area 7 | MILAGROSA OLIVA RAMÍREZ | Profesora del Dep. de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, Spagna |
Theme area 8 | SOUMAYA BOUROUGAAOUI | Italian language teacher at the Higher Institute of Applied Studies in Humanity of Sbeïtla-University of Kairouan, Tunisia |
Theme area 9 | OFER HADAR | Full Professor at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering , Department of Communication Systems Engineering , Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. |

METHOD OF PRESENTATION OF THE WORKS
Usable languages
The interventions can be written in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Arabic. In any case, an abstract in English that appropriately summarizes the speech is appreciated, if that language is not used.
Types of formats of the interventions
A) in word format with a maximum of 6 folders of 1800 characters each (30 lines per folder) including illustrations.
B) in PowerPoint (pdf), with a maximum of 40 slides.
C) on video, with a maximum duration of 20 minutes.
Delivery time
The works can be transmitted starting from December 1st 2020 and until November 31st 2021.
For each contact write to:
comen-conferenzamediterranea@pec.it (also open to ordinary e-mail)
comen@comen-fondazionemediterranea.org
General organizational coordination
Francesco Venerando Mantegna President, Leopoldo Rizzi, Angelica Artemisia Pedatella, Melita Ricciardi, Isabella Mecarelli, David Venerando, Mario Andrea Corsaro

Progressive interventions by the official speakers
https://comen-fondazionemediterranea.org/interventi-relatori/

“Rivers don’t drink their water, trees don’t eat their fruits, the sun doesn’t shine for itself and the flowers don’t disperse their fragrance for themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature; life is beautiful when you are happy, but life is extraordinary when others are happy because of you. Our true nature is to be at the service so that everything is better. Those who do not live to serve do not need to live ”.

IBAN : IT65G0760103200001051796181