About the Project
The main objective of the EastMed project is the development of a HEI-level Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), focusing on the region of the Eastern Mediterranean. The MOOC, entitled "EU and the Eastern Mediterranean: Prospects and Challenges", will give an emphasis to the concurrent refugee crisis and energy security, and will be developed and delivered in accordance with ECTS/ESG.
Europe and the Mediterranean countries are bound by history, geography and culture. At the crossroads of the European, African and Asian continents, the Mediterranean region presents political and economic challenges that have recently relaunched the debate on Euro-Mediterranean integration and cooperation.
The Eastern Mediterranean has existed geographically throughout the ages. However, developments in the 21st century have necessitated viewing it conceptually as a distinct “new” region with specific characteristics. Comprised by Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Turkey, the region is assuming increased significance in world affairs. More specifically, the region of Eastern Mediterranean is currently of vital importance for the EU, due to a number of prospects and challenges. The Eastern part of the Mediterranean is indeed witnessing some of the most intriguing, worrisome and dangerous events in today’s world. Consider the civil war raging in Syria, the rise of ISIS, the unraveling of Libya, the strength of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, the outbreak of Islamic sectarian conflicts, the uncertainty about Egypt’s future (and that of the Arab Spring more generally), the ambition (and some would argue unpredictability) of Turkey, substantial new energy findings and, more recently, a refugee crisis.
The Eastern Mediterranean has existed geographically throughout the ages. However, developments in the 21st century have necessitated viewing it conceptually as a distinct “new” region with specific characteristics. Comprised by Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Turkey, the region is assuming increased significance in world affairs. More specifically, the region of Eastern Mediterranean is currently of vital importance for the EU, due to a number of prospects and challenges. The Eastern part of the Mediterranean is indeed witnessing some of the most intriguing, worrisome and dangerous events in today’s world. Consider the civil war raging in Syria, the rise of ISIS, the unraveling of Libya, the strength of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, the outbreak of Islamic sectarian conflicts, the uncertainty about Egypt’s future (and that of the Arab Spring more generally), the ambition (and some would argue unpredictability) of Turkey, substantial new energy findings and, more recently, a refugee crisis.
Thinking of the Eastern Mediterranean as a separate “new” region (and not as merely an extension of the Middle East or of South Eastern Europe) has several advantages. First, regions are becoming a more useful analytical concept for the international relations of the 21st century. The world is simply too diverse for “one size fits all” policies like that of containment in the past. Secondly, there is the issue of energy.The possibility of friction and conflict over energy resources among regional actors cannot be discounted.There is one other reason that requires the region to be viewed separately: It constitutes possibly the most important border within East and West. In today’s Eastern Mediterranean, the forces of modernity democracy, secularism, peace and toleration,let us say the best of the “West,” meet (and inevitably clash) with the forces and ideologies of authoritarianism, theocracy, terrorism, intolerance, fundamentalism and perpetual conflict—the worst of the “East.”Ultimately, understanding the Eastern Mediterranean as a “new” region with the aforementioned characteristics can lead to more prescient analyses of shared regional challenges and, perhaps more importantly, actions and initiatives aiming at cooperation and stability.
In this context, the proposed project aims at the development of HEI-level MOOC focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean and, in particular, on the largely contested issues of the concurrent refugee crisis and energy security.
The EastMed project is also in full line with the EU Policy Agenda, as it fully conforms with the Strategic Partnerships Call:
The horizontal priority of open and innovative education embedded in the digital era, as it promotes the digitisation of quality learning content and the use of ICT to increase the quality and relevance of education, through the development of the EastMed educational material and digital content (OER) (O4), including the EastMed OER Database, and the EastMed MOOC delivery through the EastMed Moodle Platform.
The horizontal priority of transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications to facilitate learning, as it promotes the tools for transparency, validation and recognition of learning outcomes through the design, development and delivery of the EastMed MOOC, using ECTS/ESG. EastMed consitutes an innovative solution for the recognition and validation of competences acquired through digital and open learning.
The field-specific priority of promoting the development of new modes of delivery and exploiting and responding to new technologies in learning and teaching, as outlined in the 2013 Communication on Opening up Education, through the design, development and delivery of the EastMed MOOC through the EastMed Moodle Platform.
The transnational character of the EastMed is crucial for the attainment of its aims and objectives as it:
Contributes to the achievement of opening up education, beyond geographical obstacles, and promotes mobility, thus contributing to the attainment of all aforementioned priorities.
Contributes to the EU foreign policy agenda,as it recommends understanding the region as a "new" one, thus offering a new analytical tool in the frame of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).