The President of EMUNI, Dr. Rado Bohinc, participated in the high-level UfM event “Regional Resilience and Recovery – Advancing Collective Responses to Crisis: Building a Resilient Mediterranean through Strategic Partnerships”, held at the Palau de Pedralbes in Barcelona.
The event, organised by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), took place on the eve of the UfM Regional Forum and marked a particularly significant milestone as it coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Barcelona Process. The Forum reaffirmed resilience as a central strategic pillar guiding Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in the coming years.
EMUNI’s Contribution to Higher Education and Research Recovery
President Bohinc took part in the Thematic Roundtable “Bridging Knowledge in Crisis: Regional Cooperation for Higher Education and Research Recovery”, dedicated to the role of universities in post-crisis reconstruction and academic resilience in conflict-affected regions, including Palestine, Syria, Libya and Lebanon.
During his intervention, Dr. Bohinc highlighted EMUNI’s concrete efforts to support students from vulnerable communities, with a particular focus on the enrolment of Palestinian students in EMUNI study programmes. He underlined the University’s unwavering commitment to ensuring access to quality higher education, even in times of crisis, and to reinforcing education as a driver of stability, dialogue and long-term resilience across the Mediterranean.
Universities, he stressed, are not only institutions of learning but also key actors in societal recovery, mobility, and regional cooperation.
Strengthening Structured Regional Academic Cooperation
The roundtable brought together representatives of universities, international organisations, national authorities, research institutions and student networks to exchange perspectives on:
scalable models of higher-education cooperation,
structured academic mobility mechanisms, and
sustainable frameworks for long-term recovery in crisis-affected contexts.
The outcomes of the discussion will feed into the preparation of a major UfM Policy Event on Higher Education and Research Recovery in 2026, as well as into the development of donor-supported regional cooperation projects.
EMUNI’s participation reaffirmed its positioning as a key regional academic stakeholder within the UfM framework, alongside leading Euro-Mediterranean institutions and networks.
Alignment with the New UfM Vision
The event took place in the broader strategic context of the newly adopted UfM Vision Statement 2025, which places a strong emphasis on:
connecting people through education and mobility,
reinforcing regional resilience, and
investing in youth, research and innovation as engines of sustainable development.
Within this Vision, EMUNI is explicitly recognised as a flagship initiative contributing to Euro-Mediterranean knowledge connectivity and academic cooperation.
EMUNI’s Ongoing Commitment
Through its continued engagement with the Union for the Mediterranean and its regional partners, EMUNI remains firmly committed to:
strengthening regional academic cooperation,
promoting inclusive access to higher education,
supporting academic mobility and human-capital development, and
contributing to post-crisis recovery through education and research.
EMUNI will continue to actively support initiatives that foster a resilient, inclusive and interconnected Mediterranean region.
