MED-O-MED NETWORK

The Med-O-Med network was created in 2009, with the funding of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), as an instrument of cooperation for sustainable development in the Mediterranean basin, fostering the encounter and peaceful coexistence among cultures. Since then, many initiatives for the recovery of the natural and cultural heritage have been promoted and developed in countries such as Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine or Syria. The network serves as an engine for the promotion of an inclusive and sustainable development, while holding a human rights, diversity and gender approach.

Likewise, the Med-O-Med platform has highly contributed to the exchange of experiences, training and raising awareness initiatives. As a result of this work, four networks and natural heritage inventories for the Med-O-Med area have been constituted: botanical gardens, centers of plant diversity, cultural landscapes and sustainable initiatives.

GOALS

Med-O-Med aspires to making the development of Islamic countries in these regions compatible with the preservation of their environment and heritage. It aims to set up projects involving maximum participation by regional social and public agents, with total respect for genetic sovereignty and the cultural identity of the local populations.

Med-O-Med is an inter-cultural platform with a multi-disciplinary approach that aims to overcome ideological barriers by searching for solutions that are acceptable to all.

The Platform is open to participation by international organisations, national and local administrative bodies and civil society through NGOs and academic institutions interested in working closely within a network, helping to organise activities and projects within the scope of Med-O-Med. It brings together countries in the South and East of the Mediterranean basin as well as those in the North, with the common goal of achieving fruitful scientific and cultural exchanges.

The Med-O-Med network is founded on the strong historical and cultural links that exist between Spain and Islamic countries, and the special concern amongst Spanish society for the problems of its Mediterranean neighbours.

WHO WE ARE

The Islamic Culture Foundation (FUNCI) is a Spanish non-profit, apolitical, non-denominational and scientific institution established as an organization in 1982. Its aim is to tear down the walls of incomprehension between the the Muslim-majority countries and the West.

Specializing in the Al-Andalus culture, the FUNCI relies on this common heritage and paradigm of intercultural respect to promote cultural understanding.

FUNCI is registered as a private cultural foundation in the Registry of the Protectorate of Cultural Foundations of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, and as a Non-government Development Organization in the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, which belongs to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. It focuses exclusively in matters related to cultural research, development and cooperation.