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Mediterranean Metropolitan Seminars

Territorial, environmental, and energy transitions

2 weeks

French

Montpellier and Alexandria

Application process

On-site

The training course in detail

Overall theme and context

The 20th century was a time of urbanisation with widespread movements of people from rural areas towards cities. This has led to different territories having diverse relationships between urbanised, natural, and agricultural areas and between capital cities, medium-sized cities, and smaller towns. Today, these growing metropolitan areas face challenges that have been amplified by the urgency of multiple crises and the dawn of environmental, economic, health, digital, and social transitions. These megacities are also being questioned on a fundamental level as public policies lean towards more balanced regional planning. As a result, local and regional stakeholders must collectively find solutions and adapt and transform development models to their territories.

Learning objectives

  • To create an urban immersion where participants meet a city’s stakeholders and learn about projects in order to understand the changes taking place in metropolitan areas.
  • To share examples of innovative and effective actions that embrace a strategic and integrated approach to territorial projects.
  • To discuss projects carried out by participants and assess personal professional practices.

The seminars are structured around two immersion periods in Mediterranean cities that will feature field visits, interviews with local leaders and stakeholders, and participatory strategic analysis workshops. At the end of each seminar, an integrated analysis of the territory will be produced that describes any exciting projects that are potentially transferable to other Mediterranean environments, and suggests new projects to meet identified challenges. In addition, each year, there will be webinars that focus on a specific theme and encourage the exchange of experiences between participants.

Registration details

The course consists of three two-hour webinars, followed by two five-day face-to-face seminars in two pilot cities. This year, the face-to-face seminars will take place in Montpellier and Alexandria. Call for applications for 2025 to be issued between October and December 2024.

If you are interest in more information, contact formation@avitem.org

Target audience

Local elected representatives, public- and private-sector leaders involved in regional planning and development, urban planners, teachers, researchers, students from around the Mediterranean, and AFD staff.

Partners

AVITEM, Agence des Villes et Territoires Méditerranéens Durable, French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs