Against an international backdrop of escalating conflicts, disregard for international law, and the normalization of political and social violence, Mediterranean civil societies are facing increasingly difficult conditions for action. Yet, all around the Mediterranean, people continue to organize, create, defend rights, and devise new ways of living together as a society.

To highlight these efforts, the REF is organizing the inaugural "Rencontre des Mondes Solidaires en Méditerranée" (Gathering of Solidarity-Based Worlds in the Mediterranean) in Marseille. Over three days, the city will host associations, collectives, artists, journalists, trade unions, and citizen-led initiatives from both shores of the Mediterranean. Participants will share stories, citizen analyses, accounts of local struggles, and concrete experiences from those active on the ground.

The program features opportunities to meet and get to know one another, utilizing practical formats such as speed-networking sessions between organizations, project presentations, workshops for sharing methods, and spaces for collective reflection on shared challenges. Dialogue will flow freely through open discussions, public debates, and public engagements, as well as through city-wide events and a radio broadcast platform that gives a voice to participants and the realities they face on the ground.

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