Social and Intercultural Dialogue through Governance for  Local development: Mediterranean Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA)
Project in brief _x000D_
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Poverty and social exclusion take complex and multi-dimensional forms which require the mobilisation of a wide range of policies and actors. Alongside employment policy, social and intercultural dialogue has a pre-eminent role to play, while the importance of other factors such as housing, health, culture and communication should also be acknowledged. The Mediterranean area is facing a significant increase in urban groups at risk of social exclusion, although no public campaign involves Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) as a poverty and exclusion remedial tool. In addition, UPA is an activity which has been managed primarily by private citizens and it is only recently that local governments have started to seriously look into supporting UPA activities. In this context, SIDIG-MED project aims to use Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture as a means to improve governance processes for public authorities and to promote social and intercultural dialogue through cooperative organizations and associations fighting social exclusion and poverty. Implemented in cities and territories characterized by vast agricultural areas (Rome, Al-Balga, Mahdia and Barcelona), the project will adopt permaculture* and organic farming concepts including innovative and energy-efficient techniques for water harvesting, composting to enrich the soil and beekeeping for income generation and pollination. _x000D_
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Specific objectives _x000D_
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• To improve capabilities of project partner cities and public administrations towards implementing governance policies and strategies on local Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) _x000D_
• To fight urban social exclusion and poverty in city groups involved in Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture