On 2 and 3 December, the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of the National Research Council (CNR-ISMed) promoted and organised an international conference entitled “Mediterranean or Mediterraneans?” at the Monumental Complex of Santa Maria La Nova. The conference was attended by numerous researchers and scholars from countries on the three shores of the Mediterranean, providing an opportunity for in-depth discussion on the challenges and dynamics that characterise the contemporary Mediterranean.

During the conference, the “Mediterranean Studies District” was inaugurated, a hub that brings together the universities of Naples with the aim of ‘creating a system’ for research on the Mediterranean, which is still too divided and fragmented. The initiative symbolically promotes the city of Naples as a “bridge” between the three shores of the Mediterranean, emphasising the importance of shared scientific and cultural collaboration.

Currently, the District consists of the Department of Human and Social Sciences of the Università l’Orientale, represented by its director Paolo Wulzer; the Departments of Political Science and Humanities of the Università Federico II, represented respectively by their directors Paola De Vivo and Andrea Mazzucchi; and the Università Parthenope, represented by its rector Antonio Garofalo. Through this collaboration, the District aims to create synergies between the various academic institutions, promoting integrated, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research on the Mediterranean, capable of enhancing the plurality of perspectives and promoting international scientific dialogue.

The contemporary Mediterranean as a whole presents a profound contradiction. On the one hand, it is a complex reality characterised by deep divisions, dramatic conflicts and conflicting interests, the result of the way in which relations between the different parts of the region have been structured in recent history. On the other hand, however, it faces the need to tackle common challenges, many of which are the subject of the papers presented at the conference: migration, climate change, environmental degradation of the sea, energy problems, and economic and social inequalities.

Faced with this profound contradiction, the world of research can and wants to initiate a process of building “common knowledge”, as research is linked to the concept of “community” and is based on “sharing”. This is the reason behind the establishment of the District.

The establishment of the District is intended to be a starting point for the creation of a broader network, through agreements and conventions, capable of involving universities and research institutions in the countries on the southern and eastern shores, with the aim of building shared knowledge capable of addressing the common challenges affecting all the countries bordering this sea, providing concrete responses to the issues of our present.

The District aims to pursue multiple objectives. First, it intends to promote research on issues relevant to the Euro-Mediterranean region, such as climate change, energy transition, migration, coastalisation, marine biodiversity, the impact of cooperation policies, social and gender inequalities, among others. This research will be conducted through an interdisciplinary approach, involving scholars from different disciplines: historians and economists, demographers and sociologists, anthropologists and geographers, lawyers and philosophers. The District aims to encourage the mobility of researchers and students between universities and research centers in different countries, contributing to the training of a new generation of “Mediterranean scientists”. At the same time, it aims to develop a network of expertise capable of transcending the boundaries of academic study to produce knowledge that is useful to policy makers, local communities and public institutions. Finally, the District intends to promote scientific dissemination and public engagement initiatives, contributing to strengthening the social and cultural cohesion of the Mediterranean region and enhancing the plurality of perspectives present in the area.

The title chosen for these two days, “Mediterranean or Mediterraneans”, refers to the need to study the Mediterranean through a complex set of analytical tools and interpretative categories capable of deconstructing the Mediterranean as an object and its univocal or stereotypical representations, highlighting the profound internal differences and plurality of realities that characterise it.

The conference aimed not only to present the most original and innovative research on a series of topics central to public debate, but also to reflect on the analytical tools needed to understand their dynamics and complexity. What questions can open up original avenues of research? What tools do we need to equip ourselves with in order to generate shared knowledge aimed at addressing the challenges common to all countries bordering this sea?

The aim is to identify the underlying and virtual processes, the potential that is still largely untapped and little recognised. We cannot be satisfied with information about the Mediterranean coming from the various components of public debate – media, social media, docufiction, opinion makers – but we must start from the deeper social, cultural, environmental and economic aspects that transcend geopolitics, power relations and inter-state relations, allowing us to discover the underlying movements that animate communities, local institutions and translocal relations between different territories. In other words, it is a question of identifying the still hidden “seeds” from which a better future, based on sustainability and peace, can take shape.

The conference featured in the Canale 16 news broadcast on 2 December (7:45 p.m. edition) at 13:28 minutes

Interview with Gabriella Corona, Director of CNR-ISMed

Some images from the conference