The 30^th anniversary of the Barcelona Process represents a decisive opportunity to rethink the foundations of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and chart a new course for the region. The EuroMed Civil Society Conference 2025 will take place in Barcelona on 26 November 2025, as a side event of the UfM Regional Forum.  Organised by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), and the Government of Catalonia and co-funded by the European Commission (DG MENA), the conference is framed within this moment of strategic transition, with a view to setting the basis for an enhanced role of Civil Society within Euro-Mediterranean relations.

The Conference seeks to build on the momentum of this pivotal milestone, bringing together representatives of Euro-Mediterranean networks, programmes, and trans-Mediterranean alliances, alongside representatives from the UfM, the European Commission, and key regional institutions.

The main objective of this event is to provide a platform to reaffirm the strategic role of civil society in the next phase of Euro-Med cooperation in terms of governance and participation. Around one hundred Euro-Mediterranean academic, professional, social organisations and economic actors, are expected to showcase how civil society’s role has evolved from consultation to co-design and co-implementation and will examine new forms of partnership to better contribute to the European Commission’s New Pact for the Mediterranean and the UfM’s new regional strategy.

The EuroMed Civil Society Conference 2025 is a platform linking civil society actors with institutional stakeholders. Building on IEMed’s knowledge-broker role and the EuroMeSCo network, the conference will showcase how civil society’s role has evolved from consultation to co-design and co-implementation and will examine new forms of partnership for the next phase of Euro-Med cooperation. The full-day programme combines high-level dialogues, thematic panels, and interactive working groups—run in plenary and parallel breakouts—to distil successful models of collaborative governance and to reaffirm the people-to-people approach envisaged in 1995 as key to addressing today’s regional and global challenges.