It is time to listen to the student’s voices!

As an output of the latest Mediterranean Student Summit (MSS), 25 students – coming from 10 countries all around the Mediterranean – elaborated a series of recommendations for a better future of the Higher Education sector in the Mediterranean, with the support and contribution of UNIMED and ESN.

During the Mediterranean Student Summit, the students conducted a deep analysis of challenges concerning Higher Education in the Region, related to key themes such as the internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions, governance, inclusion (with a focus on gender dimensions), digital education, and greening/sustainable development and elaborated a series of recommendations to be brought to the first Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Higher Education. 

These recommendations are addressed to universities, national and international stakeholders and are an invitation to reflect on what we can do together to bring concrete solutions. 

You can find HERE the Recommendations full document and HERE a shorter version summarizing the topics tackled and the key figures. 

Background information

Since 2022, UNIMED and the Erasmus Student Network – ESN have joined forces to organize the Mediterranean Student Summit, an initiative that seeks to bring together Higher Education students from different backgrounds and from both shores of the Mediterranean to foster intercultural dialogue and work together on common challenges. 

The Pilot Edition was organized thanks to the University of Barcelona and its success was a clear signal of  the need to establish it as an annual event. On this occasion and during a debate organized at the Union for the Mediterranean, Nasser Kamel, the Secretary General, advised us to organize the second edition before the Ministerial Conference on Higher Education which should have been held in Fez, in order to bring student’s recommendations to the Ministries’ table. The Ministerial Conference was postponed but the MSS students have fulfilled their mission!

The second edition was in fact organized in Tangier in September 2023, in collaboration with the University Abdelmalek Essaadi. The 25 participating students worked hard, with passion and hope, reflecting on the challenges they face and drafting recommendations on how to improve Higher Education in the Mediterranean region.