In 2015, in the midst of the refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people desperately crossing the Mediterranean fleeing persecution and conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the European Union proposed the creation of a program to promote talent and the economic fabric. in the countries of the southern Mediterranean basin. In an unprecedented commitment, a pioneering scientific diplomacy program, Prima, was deployed to finance research and innovation projects linked to water and sustainable agriculture with a fundamental requirement: to be promoted, at least, by one country in the northern basin and two from the southern Mediterranean basin. The headquarters of the program, for which Rome fought, was installed in Barcelona in 2018. In principle it was for seven years, but the Catalan city has just renewed its headquarters until 2034.
In the Prima offices – located in the Nexus building, in the Parc UPC – a team of 15 scientists and administrative staff from various countries work, such as Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, France, Malta, Spain and Italy. They write the calls (endowed with 70 million euros annually), evaluate the projects that are presented, select them and monitor them. Since 2018, when the first call went out, 230 projects have been funded, with 352 million, in which 2,310 research groups from universities in 19 Mediterranean countries have participated.
Since its launch, the objective of the program has been twofold. On the one hand, facilitate research collaboration between Mediterranean nations, and on the other, innovate and propose solutions on such relevant issues as water availability, sustainable agriculture and food production in a region, the Mediterranean, that fights against the impacts of climate change, rapid urbanization and population growth.
“The Mediterranean region is strategic in many ways. The problems generated by climate change impact first here and then in the north; and the problems are similar throughout the basin; for example, sea pollution or overfishing, and a country alone cannot solve them,” maintains the director of Prima, Octavi Quintana Trías.
The uniqueness of the program lies precisely in its composition: eleven EU member countries (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) and eight more (Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Algeria , Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco). Only Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Syria, Libya and Palestine would be missing to complete the Mediterranean arc.
The EU finances half of the program's global budget (474 million) and the member countries, to a greater or lesser extent, contribute the other half. Thus, the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities contributes three million annually to finance the headquarters; while Italy, for example, contributes seven million each year.
The first Prima call was formalized in 2018. The fact that the Union for the Mediterranean has its headquarters in Barcelona was decisive for this scientific diplomacy program to be established in the city. The first stage, of seven years, ended in 2024. However, last December the extension of Prima until 2027 was formalized, “and we have two million to deploy the program between 2028 and 2034,” he adds. Quintana.
One of the next objectives is to promote projects that raise problems and solutions on a more global and transversal scale. “We must bet on innovation with an integrated and not so sectoral vision; If we talk about optimizing the use of water in a given crop, also addressing the impact of that crop on the territory, on health…” explains Quintana. Other future objectives: use supercomputing and encourage greater financial involvement of the countries of the southern basin, “so that they are not partners, but also owners of the program,” she adds.
Of the 230 funded projects, 40 have already finished and 190 are still underway. The annual call, of around 70 million euros, finances innovation proposals that last between three and four years and have a contribution of between one and 4.5 million euros. Thus, for example, Spain, France, Greece, Lebanon and Tunisia have promoted a tool to optimize the use of fertilizers and water in crops; Germany, Morocco and Türkiye have developed technology to desalinate water for irrigation; Turkey, Spain, Italy, Lebanon and Egypt have presented a system to highlight fishing in the Mediterranean and certify the origin of the product.
