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Good practices from bilateral to multilateral
Germany cooperation with Mediterranean countries
Germany has identified specific objectives for bilateral
cooperation with MPCs, namely: i) strengthening
bi-regional
cooperation, ii) integrate international cooperation in education, iii) support the transformation in North Africa and
the Middle East, iv) support measures regarding the development of innovation capacities in science and research,
including vocational training. Germany has bilateral scientific cooperation with: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey,
Israel, Jordan, Algeria, Palestine. Water, water technology, agricultural science, natural resources management,
climate change are he major cooperation themes with Algeria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan.
Germany and Egypt have
established, in 2008, the German Egyptian Research Fund (GERF) promoting joint research projects developing
applied research, capacity building and technology development in areas of common interest including: food security,
climate change, water, renewable energy. The budget of the Fund amounts to 1M Euro per year on each side.
Bilateral cooperation France-Morocco
Morocco has an ongoing bilateral programme with France since 1981. This programme served as blueprint for other
bilateral funding schemes, with target countries like Spain, Germany and Belgium in Europe as well with Tunisia and
Egypt among the MPC.
Morocco reports higher visibility of researchers on international level and the positive effects
of enlarged international networks on the research capability within the respective countries.
Italian Strategy for Research Internationalization.
In 2011 the Italian Government has released a programmatic document on the Italian Strategy for Research
Internationalization, outlining the main guidelines for international cooperation of Italy in R&I. This document is
periodically updated in order to be in line with the National Programme for Research (PNR Italy).
According to the
Strategy, which identifies research cooperation priorities for each geographic area, the following topics are of major
interest for cooperation with all Mediterranean and Middle East countries: Agro-food and Health.
France ENVI-MED Regional Programme
The ENVIMED regional programme is a French research cooperation initiative for countries in the
Mediterranean.The programme aims to encourage discussions and initiate multilateral cooperation by supporting
the mobility of researchers as part of joint research projects and seminars, workshops and regional scientific
conferences. So far the Programme has launched four call for proposals. The last one – closed on 1st January 2016
– was encouraging applications related to the following themes:
climate change, aerosols in the Mediterranean,
water resources, anthropic impacts, climate and geological hazards, natural and anthropic risk.
Good practices from bilateral to multilateral
CNRS-Lebanon & CNR-Italy: Agreement and Cooperative Programme
The National Council for Scientific Research - Lebanon (CNRS-L) and the Council for National Research-Italy (CNR)
have an ongoing Agreement and Cooperative Programme since 2011. The agreement aims at enhancing and
strengthening cooperation, mobility and exchange of knowledge between Lebanese and Italian researchers. It
relies on the principles of equality and mutual benefits between Lebanon and Italy, and seeks to promote
cooperation and scientific research between qualified scientists in those research areas of most interest to both
parties. Within the frame of the Cooperative Programme, joint calls for proposals are launched yearly, particularly
in the fields of: Marine Sciences & Biodiversity, Management of Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, Food
Security, Archeology, and Water. To date, there has been three successful calls for proposals, and a total of 12
Projects funded (4 completed and 8 ongoing).
CEDRE:
The CEDRE programme is a collaboration between the Lebanese government and the French government (with
the National Council for Scientific Research- Lebanon acting as a focal point for Lebanon). Established in 1996,
this programme aimed at enhancing Lebanese and French cooperation through scientific research, knowledge
exchange, and academic exchange. The purpose was to establish and develop research and research instruments
in Lebanon, and to facilitate the mobility of researchers between the two countries. Calls for proposals are
launched on a yearly basis and are open for research projects encompassing
relevant discipline, mainly social
sciences, environment, health and medicine, and engineering. To date, there has been 16 calls for proposal (17
th
Call in Process). The CEDRE project has funded an average of 20 projects per year, including
a partner from
Lebanon, and a partner from France, each project being granted an average of 20,000 € (for a period of 2 years).