Tetouan is hosting, starting today until July 11, 2025, the first edition of the Aula Mediterrània Morocco Summer School, a pioneering initiative promoted by the Government of Catalonia’s Delegation in North Africa, the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD), in collaboration with the Abdelmalek Essaadi University of Tetouan. Additionally, this first edition is supported by the Education Office of the Spanish Embassy in Morocco. This new educational space marks the beginning of an academic cooperation phase between Catalonia and Morocco, and forms part of IEMed’s interuniversity program Aula Mediterrània, which this year celebrates its seventeenth edition with the participation of seventeen Catalan university master’s programs.

Under the theme “Understanding the Mediterranean in Turbulent Times”, the program will address, through a transversal and critical lens, the major challenges affecting both shores of the Mediterranean: migration, hate speech, historical narratives, cultural diplomacy, and urban diversity, among others. The School will combine lectures, workshops, debates, and academic visits, offering participants an immersive experience. It will also serve as a platform for presenting master’s theses, helping to highlight emerging research in Mediterranean studies.

The Summer School is aimed at master’s and doctoral students, early-career researchers, and professionals in diplomacy, cooperation, and social sciences. Its goal is to foster a vibrant, connected, and engaged Mediterranean academic community committed to intercultural dialogue and critical research. The Summer School is established with the intent to strengthen collaboration between Catalan and Moroccan universities, to continue the Aula Mediterrània program as a platform for knowledge and academic networks, to empower young researchers, and to create new spaces for Euro-Mediterranean dialogue. Faculty from various Catalan universities (UAB, UB, UPF, UdG, URV, Blanquerna-URL, ETSAB-UPC) and Moroccan universities (UAE, Moulay Ismail University), specialized in areas such as international relations, sociology, communication, law, urbanism, and history, will participate.