Italy

Italy has held out in the face of the unsustainable state of the Mediterranean Sea caused by war and poverty. It has personally answered for the so many innocent victims and the increasing wider areas of social distress in the region.

Through NEMO project, the Italian Cooperation has invested in stability and development of coastal communities through an overall action plan in fisheries, the agricultural sector and tourism carried out by CIHEAM Bari. It has pursued and fostered dialogue with competent national institutions. It did so through an innovative idea based on bottom-up participatory Cooperation. It no longer consists only in technology and qualified services made available to developing countries, but in favouring dialogue between communities in order to grow while respecting the environment and the human person.

The Port Museum of Tricase, together with its community, its fishermen and social, cultural and economic realities, is a good practice shared with other local communities of the Mediterranean, to enhance typical regional products and improve the quality of life in deprived areas. Since 2016, it has been the venue for meetings between the institutional representatives of the countries involved in NEMO project.

Since 2007, it has interacted with the Mediterranean to share experiences aimed at enhancing coastal territories, favouring exchange between communities for the creation of new sustainable development chains. In this perspective, the MARE Outpost of Tricase and the Port Museum of Tricase – managed and animated by CIHEAM Bari, Associazione Magna Grecia Mare, the City of Tricase and the University of Salento in collaboration with the Regional Natural Park “Costa Otranto – Leuca and Bosco di Tricase” – are the organizational venue and the coordination centre of WEBPORT activities. They are a garrison to promote participation and continue the dialogue which is taking place. This is the first step towards establishing an Italian Task Force for the Mediterranean.

Today, the MARE Outpost of Tricase and the Port Museum of Tricase are the start and the concrete proposal for a more stable and safer future.