From Vienna and Amman to Beirut and London, civil society actors and artists are coming together through a series of new

Intercultural projects launched during the month of April with the support of the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Living Together

From the 8th to 11th April, the first conference of the project ‘Euro  Mediterranean Abrahamic Forum’ took place in Amman, Jordan on the theme “Living Together: The Role of Religion in Establishing Dialogue”.

The Project sets out to build an active and effective network of religious leaders and practitioners committed to interfaith dialogue and focused on working towards the establishment and reinforcement of harmonious inter-communal relations between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The Conference, which is part of a two-year long-term program supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation through its Call for

Proposals, was organized by five partner organizations: the Interfaith Encounter of Israel, Youth Spirit Centre of Jordan, Hope Flowers School of Palestine, Via Dialoog of Belgium and the Polish Peacemakers Community.

Articulating Values

From the 25th to 30th April 2010, an international training seminar ‘Articulating Values’ is taking place in Vienna with the participation of twenty-two schools and youth groups from a range of Euro-Mediterranean countries including Austria, Denmark,

Hungary, the Netherlands, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Speaking about the upcoming initiative, Rebecca Zeilinger, project leader from Austria’s Interkulturelles Zentrum, said: “We are setting out with the aim to use culture as a tool to build bridges between minority groups and the wider population within the countries of the Region, breaking down stereotypes about asylum seekers and refugees”. The participants who are attending the seminar will have the opportunity to take part in writing and drama workshops, with the challenge of putting together a final performance to be presented at the end of the program to the general public.

Arab Creative Women

From the 15th to 16th April in London a two-day conference took place on the theme of ‘Arab Creative Women’. The conference brought together over twenty artists including designers, filmmakers, journalists and performers from the Arab world, sparking a debate about the role of creative women in their societies and the obstacles they encounter in the creative sector.

Organized by the University of Kingston, in partnership with the Anna Lindh Foundation, the conference marks the beginning of a series of discussions and debates about creativity as a tool in gender representation.

Research-based Art / Art-based Research

On the 1st April, the official kick-off meeting took place for the initiative ‘Research-based Art / Art-based Research’, with representatives from Germany, Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine, Portugal and the UK. The aim of the project, organized with the Einrich Boll Foundation, is to develop a partnership among art academics and institutions across the Euro-Med Region, focused on integrating artistic research into an international post-graduate program and supporting and promoting mobility through the exchange of artists, students and teachers.

Faces of the Mediterranean

The ‘Faces the Mediterranean’ exhibition is a common action of the Anna Lindh National Networks in Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Lebanon, Bulgaria and Egypt taking place between April and May, which aims at engaging with young people and with individuals from migrant backgrounds. The Euro-Mediterranean cultural exhibition, which will last over a two-week period, will be hosted in a range cities and towns across the two shores of the Mediterranean including Athens, Beirut, Cairo, Nicosia,

Podgorica, Zagreb and Belgragchik.