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Page Updated:
20-Sep-2006
Collaboration in the Mediterranean Region
Through NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue, seven countries of the Mediterranean region are closely involved in the Science for Peace and Security programme. Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia are the countries of the Mediterranean Dialogue, and together with the NATO and Partner countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, they form a varied and fascinating region, which many recognise as the cradle of Western civilisation.
The SPS programme allows the scientists of the region to collaborate with their peers in our transatlantic alliance, and we will showcase here some of these activities. Certain research topics are of particular interest to the region - and the CCMS-Science joint workshop on Desertification in the Mediterranean Region is a pertinent example. Others, such as topics in the physical sciences, are less easily accessible to the non-specialist, but have given the scientists of the region the opportunity to work in collaboration with the wider scientific community.
Scientists in some of the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) countries have had little opportunity in the recent past to meet and work with colleagues in other countries, either for economic, cultural or political reasons, and we are making efforts to bring to their attention the opportunities presented by the NATO programmes. Nevertheless, scientists from all the MD countries have already participated in the programmes. Our challenge is to increase this participation. Many of the new priority research topics are of concern to the security and stability of the region, and we hope that their scientists will be able to make use of the opportunities on offer to work in these important fields. Since 2004 the scientists from MD countries are eligible for support under Science for Peace, and also in the science and technology policy area, which has been expanded to include social sciences.
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