Education, research and gender: the sources of progress

In 1995, with the birth of the Barcelona Process, the idea emerged of creating a Euro-Mediterranean space of peace, stability, socioeconomic progress and mutual awareness between societies on both shores of the Mediterranean. The work programme established the need to cooperate in matters of education: “Professional training, universities, technology applied to education, higher education and research centres ... while paying special attention to the role of women”. Eventually, the importance of recognising universities as a key issue in the development of the Barcelona Process appeared for the first time on the European and Euro-Mediterranean agenda.

Paper No. 4 reflects the need for an analysis and understanding of the situation of universities in the Mediterranean which, together with political will, have the power to transform the region into a great space of knowledge and socioeconomic growth.