Time: 10-12 March 2006
Venue: Barcelona, Hospital de San Pablo
Contact: 91 337 35 91

‘Arab Studies’, as they have traditionally been known in Spain, and ‘Middle East Studies’, as in the UK, have a long track record in Europe, notably in Britain and Spain. While traditional approaches have experienced a degree of crisis, and certainly fresh challenges, since the 1990s, more recent Mediterranean or Euro-Mediterranean Studies programmes have provided fresh stimulus to discipline-based and interdisciplinary studies of the region. Increasingly, what has been known as ‘area studies’ in the UK has had to be come to terms with international studies in an increasingly interconnected world. There is potential for current interest in the Barcelona Process to inspire fresh approaches to Arab, Middle East and Mediterranean studies that will deepen understanding of this politically important area, and be of value to research users, including policy-makers and practitioners.

Spain and the UK not only possess two of the most productive research communities in this field, but also have close historical links with one another and outstanding policy interests in the region. Spanish and British scholars and researchers in this field bring complementary approaches to these studies, and there is ample room for synergy. However, so far there has been no attempt to conduct a broad search for areas of joint interest or to establish regular interaction and cooperation mechanisms. The UK Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2005 and the close cooperation with the Spanish Foreign Ministry to organise the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Heads of State and Prime Ministers in Barcelona (27-28 November) provide an excellent opportunity to launch parallel cooperation in this field between the academic communities of the two countries.

This ‘ENCUENTRO’ aims to bring together a representative sample of social science researchers and scholars working in the UK and Spain on the contemporary (post-Independence) Mediterranean and Arab world, in order to get to know each other (better), exchange views on the state of their field of study and explore the possibilities of co-operation. The main purpose is to discuss the state and evolution of Mediterranean and Middle East studies (problems and prospects), learn about the respective specialist institutions and their research priorities, and network with a view to prospective co-operation or joint projects.

The ENCUENTRO will convene around 40 researchers and scholars from the two countries with a wide variety of areas of subject specialization (sociologists, international relations specialists, political scientists, historians and economists, plus area studies people with a more interdisciplinary approach) and geographical interests (the Mediterranean as such, the Maghreb, Middle East and Gulf countries, North-South relations in the Mediterranean). Participation is not limited to researchers of British and Spanish nationality, but rather to researchers working in the UK and Spain. Apart from the gender balance and that between institutions and regions in each country, care will be taken to involve young researchers at the beginning of their careers, who have specific views and problems. Those invited will need to commit to participation in the entire event and not simply to some of its sessions. We believe this to be essential to the aim of creating collaborative links and the basis for an ongoing network.

The programme revolves around the professional activity of academics and researchers on the Mediterranean and the Arab World and its institutional and social environment in both countries and the state of studies in this field, focusing on:

•researchers and main lines of research
•institutions and research programmes
•study programmes (presence in postgraduate studies in particular)
•publications
•resources
•obstacles to academic activity
•interaction with policy-making
•interaction and presence in education curriculum
•presence of Mediterranean and Middle East studies in the media

In order to focus discussions and form a basis to start with, the British Council has commissioned two papers on the state of Mediterranean studies in each of the two countries. These studies address the following issues:

•Overview of the evolution over time of Mediterranean studies and the driving forces behind them (for instance, policy relevance of subjects, public interest, institutional support)
•Brief description of research institutions, publications and postgraduate programmes, as well as regular courses on Mediterranean studies
•Elements for an overview of resources for, obstacles to and prospects of Mediterranean studies (including the activities of new generations of researchers)
•Description of main ways of interaction of researchers and research institutions with policy-making communities
•Main programmes and lines of research of Mediterranean studies and current/recent PhD theses
•Preliminary list of researchers in the field and contact information

Besides this, all participants in the ENCUENTRO will be required to fill in a detailed form with data on their current research projects, research interests, recent publications, institutional affiliation(s), etc. These forms will be distributed to all other participants to facilitate exchanges and discussion on common interests and (eventually) projects or even simply invitations to give lectures or address seminars.

Interestingly, in both countries, there have been recent networking initiatives, implying a need for innovation in this field, and the ENCUENTRO will play a very important role in helping to strengthen and consolidate them and encourage the engagement of area studies academic communities in wider international debates.