The Forum
Overview
The Forum brings together leaders, decision-makers, entrepreneurs, scholars, intellectuals, and artists to discuss pressing issues of the MEM region. The young change-makers have a unique opportunity to exchange views with senior representatives and experts, and to present ideas and proposals elaborated during the Seminar. The Forum is articulated in panels, key-note speeches by high-level speakers, and interviews. The number of panels varies depending on the current issues, ongoing projects, and collaborations. However, three themes are central and offered at each edition: geopolitics, economic challenges, and culture and art.
MEM Forum 2024
The Forum of the MEM Summit 2024 will open with a panel devoted to Swiss diplomacy, a series of keynote speeches delivered by institutional representatives and political leaders who will highlight the importance of diplomacy and dialogue during difficult times in the Middle East Mediterranean region.
Programme
Opening addresses and Keynote speeches
Welcome and opening addresses:
Lorenzo Cantoni, Pro-rector for Education and Students’ experience, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Morena Ferrari Gamba, President of the City Council of Lugano, Switzerland
Marina Carobbio Guscetti, Member of the Cantonal Council, Director of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport, Republic and Canton Ticino, Switzerland
HE Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councillor, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
Keynote speeches:
HE Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Kingdom of Morocco
Alexandra Xanthaki, UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Switzerland
HE Jacques Ducrest, Ambassador, Head of International Relations Division, State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, Switzerland
8 November 17:00 – 19:30
9 November 09:00 – 14:00
Panel 1: Evolving geopolitical configurations in the MEM Region: what lies ahead?
Over the past year, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East has undergone rapid and profound transformations, with significant implications for the region’s future. Tensions are at their highest: the war in Gaza, increasing violence in Lebanon, and escalating tensions between Iran and Israel are driving instability to new heights. As hopes for de-escalation diminish, the region faces immense human suffering, widespread destruction, economic setbacks.
As the situation continues to evolve, the future geopolitical configurations and power balances in the region remain uncertain. This panel will explore a wide range of critical issues, including the role of external powers, the potential for diplomatic resolutions, and the humanitarian consequences of ongoing conflicts.
In this unstable and unpredictable context, distinguished experts in geopolitics, international relations and journalism will provide invaluable insights and perspectives for analyzing the region’s ever-shifting dynamics and potential future outcomes.
Panel 2: How Culture Fosters Dialogue and Drives Innovative Diplomatic Approaches
This panel seeks to emphasize the expansive role of culture in promoting dialogue, collaboration, and peace across borders. Political power dynamics and relationships between countries will be analyzed through the lens of culture and cultural narratives. By fostering and strengthening multifaceted engagement among people and countries — while respecting and enhancing their diverse identities — there is immense potential to sustain a deeper global dialogue.
Art and literature, in particular, offer powerful tools for imagining new solutions to complex global challenges, inspiring innovative perspectives beyond traditional frameworks. Culture, in its broadest sense, is an essential aspect of international relations, and cultural diplomacy has emerged as one of the most influential tools within diplomatic strategies.
This discussion will also highlight the importance of reintroducing the human dimension into diplomacy, ensuring that empathy and human values are central to diplomatic efforts, while also integrating the non-human dimension, recognizing the ecological and environmental factors that impact global challenges. Speakers from diverse fields will approach this question from various perspectives, offering a range of insights and examples.
Panel 3: Shared Waters, Shared Futures: building cooperation through water diplomacy
Water is one of the most crucial yet contested resources in the Middle East Mediterranean region, where shared water sources often span across national borders, creating both opportunities for cooperation and risks of conflict. This panel will explore how water diplomacy can serve as a tool for fostering regional stability, cooperation, and sustainable development amid increasing water scarcity and environmental challenges.
The discussion will focus on key transboundary water issues, such as the management of the Jordan River, Tigris-Euphrates system, and the Nile, where multiple countries rely on shared water resources for agriculture, energy, and drinking water. Panelists will explore successful examples of water diplomacy and cooperation, as well as examine ongoing disputes and the geopolitical tensions they create.
Experts will also address the impact of climate change on water availability, including how rising temperatures, decreasing rainfall, and overuse are exacerbating water shortages. The session will highlight innovative approaches to water management, technological solutions, and policies that can promote equitable water sharing and environmental sustainability.
By focusing on the role of international law, regional cooperation mechanisms, and the potential for multilateral negotiations, the panel aims to identify pathways toward lasting peace and security in the region, built around shared waters and shared futures. This discussion will underscore the critical importance of water diplomacy as a pillar of regional resilience in the face of growing environmental and political challenges.
Panel 4: Is dialogue still possible during difficult times?
As the MEM Forum 2024 comes to a close, young change-makers will offer valuable recommendations and insights on whether and how it is possible to sustain meaningful dialogue during challenging times. These contributions are the result of a process initiated during a MEM workshop in Cyprus with MEM Alumni, leading to the drafting of a document titled Foundations for Dialogue. Alumni and young participants will closely collaborate, during the MEM Seminar, to shape a shared vision, culminating in a call to action aimed at fostering enduring conversations even in the face of uncertainty.
Speakers
HE IGNAZIO CASSIS
Federal Councillor, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Switzerland
Ignazio Cassis worked as a medical doctor before starting his political career as a member of the communal parliament for Collina d’Oro, in the district of Lugano. Whilst serving as the cantonal physician, he was elected 2007 to the National Council as a member of FDP – The Liberals. 2017 Ignazio Cassis was elected to the Federal Council. In line with the seniority principle of the Federal Council he took on the presidency of the Swiss Confederation in 2022.
Ignazio Cassis (FDP), elected by the United Federal Assembly on 20 September 2017, took up his post as head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on 1 November 2017.
For two years prior to his election to the Federal Council, Mr Cassis was president of the parliamentary group of the FDP.The Liberals, of which he was a member since his election to the National Council in 2007. From 2015, he chaired the National Council’s Social Security and Health Committee. He was also vice-chair or chair of various parliamentary groups. His political career began in 2004 with his election to the legislative authority of the Ticino municipality of Collina d’Oro.
After graduating in medicine from the University of Zurich in 1987, Ignazio Cassis obtained a doctorate from the University of Lausanne in 1996 and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Geneva the same year.
From 1988 to 1996 he worked as a doctor, specialising 1998 in internal medicine and in prevention and public health. From 1997 to 2008 he was cantonal physician for the Canton of Ticino. From 2008 to 2012 has held the office of Vice-President of the Swiss Medical Association and since 2012 has held the office of various organisations in the health sector (Curafutura, CURAVIVA, EQUAM, RADIX, etc.).
His university teaching activities (in charge of courses) have taken him to various universities, such as Università della Svizzera italiana, Université de Lausanne, Universität Bern and Universität Zürich.
MARINA CAROBBIO GUSCETTI
Member of the Cantonal Council, Director of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport, Republic and Canton Ticino, Switzerland
After studying medicine at the University of Basel, where she graduated in 1991, she worked as a family doctor.
From 1991 to 2007, she was a deputy to the Grand Council of Ticino. From 2007 to 2019 she was a member of the National Council, where she was a member of the Finance Commission, the Social Security and Health Commission and the Finance Delegation. In 2018 and 2019, she was elected as President of the National Council and Federal Assembly. Also in 2019, she became the first woman from Ticino and the first Ticino member of the Socialist Party to win a seat in the Council of States. In the Council of States she was a member of the Finance Commission, the Social Security and Health Commission, the Science, Education and Culture Commission, as well as the Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe.
WOLFGANG A. BRÜLHART
Ambassador, Swiss Special Envoy MENA Division, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)
Ambassador Wolfgang Amadeus Brülhart serves as Swiss Special Envoy MENA since February 2022. Previously, he was Head of the Swiss Mission to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna. From 2012 until 2019, he was Assistant State Secretary and Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division (with the title of ambassador) at the Swiss Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berne (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA in Bern). Between 2008 and 2012, he served as Swiss Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, and from 2003 until 2007 he was Head of the Human Rights Policy Section and Head of the Task Force “Human Rights Council” at the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs in Berne.
Ambassador Brülhart was always committed to culture and its role in peace processes, as his assignments as Cultural Counsellor at the Swiss Embassies in London (1999-2002) and Sarajevo (1996-1998) testify. At the beginning of his career, he worked as Private Secretary to the former Swiss President, Swiss Minister of Foreign and former Swiss Minister of Home Affairs, Flavio Cotti, and served as Head of Studies and Planning for the General Secretariat of the Christian Democratic Party of Switzerland.
Ambassador Brülhart attended “Mediation and Negotiation Courses” at the UN and at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2016, he was facilitator, during a 14-months negotiations period, between US and Iran on the exchange of prisoners, and in the same year he was recipient of the “Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award” from the Sarajevo Film Festival, for his “cultural achievements in 1996-1998” in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
FLORENCE TINGUELY MATTLI
Swiss Ambassador to Qatar
ROXANE FARMANFARMAIAN
Academic Director, Institute of Continuing Education, University Cambridge
Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian is Director of International Studies and Global Politics at the University of Cambridge Institute for Continuing Education, and is a specialist in Middle East politics and security. She teaches the International Relations of the Modern Middle East at the Politics Faculty (POLIS) at Cambridge, where she served as editor of the Cambridge Review of International Relations, and where she obtained her MPhil and PhD. She wrote Blood and Oil: Inside Iran from the Shah to the Ayatollah (Random House), has published in numerous academic journals including Media, Culture and Society, and Middle East Critique, and edited a number of collected volumes, including Media and Politics in the Southern Mediterranean (Routledge 2021), and War and Peace in Qajar Persia (IB Tauris 2008). She appears regularly on the BBC, Sky News and Al-Jazeera, is a Senior Fellow at the European Leadership Network, and served as a Resident Fellow at the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies from 2017-2018. She received her BA from Princeton, and currently lives in London.
EMILIANO BOS
Journalist, RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera, Switzerland
Emiliano Bos writes on international issues and has produced reports from about forty countries, in particular from Africa and the Middle East. From 2015 to 2021 he was a correspondent for RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera, from the United States. For RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera, he has followed the conflict in Ukraine from the beginning, where he went twice, spending over a month on the ground and making reports for TV, radio and the web. In 2011 he was the author of the TV documentary “Mare deserto” about the shipwreck of dozens of migrants in the Mediterranean. A year earlier he published the book “In fuga dalla mia terra”, a journey along the immigration routes.
FERNANDO GENTILINI
Author and Diplomat
MICHAEL A. KÖHLER
Ambassador and co-lead of the Grand Bargain to improve humanitarian aid systems
NATASHA CARMI
Water-Peace Programme Manager, Geneva Water Hub
Eng. Natasha Carmi is the Water Peace Programme Manager, leading the programmes for building peace through water in the West Asia and North Africa region at the Geneva Water Hub- a Centre of Competence on Water for Peace based at the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. Since 2018, she has co-led the establishment of the Global Observatory on Water and Peace at both the global and community of expert levels, and is co-founder of the Women in Water Diplomacy in the MENA region initiative.
Prior to her current post, she was water, agriculture and environment policy advisor to the Palestinian Negotiations Support Project, working closely with decision makers. She has experience in bilateral and regional water negotiations, in which water is a core political issue and international water law is a necessary framework for resolving conflicts , and identifying opportunities and solutions. She is used to working in highly sensitive and timely political environments, and has over 25 years experience in the WANA/Mediterranean region. She is frequently a speaker at universities, conferences and workshops on transboundary water resources and water for peace diplomacy , and runs role play and mock negotiations.
An engineer by education, Natasha holds a Master’s Degree in Hydrology for Environmental Management, from Imperial College in London.
JAUAD EL KHARRAZ
Executive Director at the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Dr. Jauad El Kharraz is the CEO of WECEN (Water-Energy-Climate Experts Network). He has been Executive Director of the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) for the last 3 years. Dr. El Kharraz has over 25 years of experience in various sustainability fields including energy policies, in addition to water policies, desalination, water-energy-food nexus, climate and water diplomacy. Dr. El Kharraz has been senior consultant for several prestigious institutions (e.g., European Commission, UN-ESCWA, FAO, PRIMA Foundation, EU-GCC Clean Energy Technology Network..), and he held the position of Director of Research at the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman (2015-2020). He is a member of the Mediterranean Water Institute, Oman Energy Majlis, and Oman Water Society.
Dr. El Kharraz sustainability career officially started in 1998 as a researcher at the Global Change Unit -University of Valencia and projects manager later at the Euro-Mediterranean Water Information System, France (2004-2015). Dr. El Kharraz obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Physics from the Department of Earth Physics, University of Valencia, Spain, and a diploma in enterprises management and strategies from SKEMA Business School, France. He is a fluent French, Arabic, Spanish and English speaker.
ILARIA ESPA
Università della Svizzera italiana
Ilaria Espa is Associate Professor of International Economic Law at USI Lugano and Senior Research Fellow at the World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern. She is furthermore Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan and Lead Counsel of the ‘Natural Resources’ Programme of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL). On 23 June 2022, the European Commission she was added to the “List of Candidates for Appointment as Arbitrators and Trade and Sustainable Development Experts”. She has taught and held visiting positions in several universities in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, China and the US.
LUISA LAMBERTINI
Rector, Università della Svizzera italiana
Luisa Lambertini is Rector of Università della Svizzera italiana and Professor of International Finance at EPFL and at USI. She has been Associate Vice-President of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), at the head of the Doctoral School (with 2400 students and 22 programmes) and of continuing education. Professor Lambertini has held the chair of International Finance at EPFL since 2009, which she arrived at after a brilliant academic career developed at prestigious American universities such as the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Boston College. A world-renowned expert in the fields of international finance, macroeconomics and political economy, she has worked with a number of major international institutions, notably as an advisor to the European Central Bank (Fiscal Policy Division), the Federal Reserve Bank and the Swiss National Bank. She was president of the International Banking, Economics and Finance Association (IBEFA). For many years she chaired the WISH Foundation (Women in Sciences and the Humanities) at EPFL, inaugurating innovative initiatives, financed by private donations, to promote women’s careers in research.
RAOUL GHISLETTA
Member of the City Council of Lugano, Switzerland
ROBERTO BALZARETTI
Swiss Ambassador to France
THOMAS OERTLE
Swiss Ambassador to Oman
DIANA SEGANTINI
Advisor for Arts, culture, heritage and media, Switzerland
Diana Segantini is a Swiss/Norwegian citizen who specialised in Arab-Islamic Studies at L’Orientale University in Naples and holds a Masters in International Relations from IUHEI Geneva. Segantini started her professional career in the art and documentary film scene, as well as gaining extensive experience working in different countries serving the UN, various NGOs and more extensively in the Middle East as a delegate for the International Red Cross ICRC for 4 years. Fluent in Arabic and 9 other languages, she has become an expert on the Arab region and with regard to intercultural issues.
In 2008, she founded Segantini Unlimited, an agency specialised in cultural mediation and international cultural productions such as art exhibitions, music events, debates and documentary films, mandated by the Global Ethic Foundation.
Segantini has also led women’s empowerment programs in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC. For 6 years, she was head of Arts & Culture for Swiss TV and radio RSI and a Member of the RSI Board, producing music concerts and over 100 feature and documentary films, acclaimed at various international Festivals.
Since 2019, she has contributed to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 through several projects; in 2019 she was appointed Chief Heritage & Culture officer at Diriyah Gate Development Authority in Saudi Arabia, responsible for this UNESCO Heritage Site, building up several cultural institutions such as museums, academies and an Art District. She subsequently served as senior director for Arts & Culture at AMAALA. Currently, she is Partner for Culture, Heritage & Communication at AEON Strategy, a Saudi firm specialised in true sustainability. Moreover, she is an independent advisor for arts, culture, media & philanthropy in different projects in GCC and Switzerland.
SCOTT G. NELSON
Department of Political Science Virginia Tech
WIDAD TAMIMI
Writer
FEDERICA FREDIANI
Lecturer, MEM Project Leader, Università della Svizzera italiana
Federica Frediani is a lecturer at the Università della Svizzera italiana. She is a member of the Project Committee and the Project Leader for the Middle East Mediterranean Summit. Dr. Frediani earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Università di Siena.
Her research primarily explores representations, narratives, cultural productions, and the political and intercultural dynamics of the Middle East Mediterranean region. She has published various books and articles, with a particular focus on women’s travel literature and the cultural and political relationships between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.
MAYSOON AL-ZOUBI
Representative of Blue Peace Middle East
Maysoon Al-Zoubi currently Project Manager of the seven-year project titled “Building resilience to cope with climate change in Jordan through improving water use efficiency in the agriculture sector (BRCCJ)”, at Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations (January 2020-present). Until recently has been the Secretary General of the Higher Population Council. From January 2009 to July 2012, she has been the Secretary General of the Jordan Ministry of Water & Irrigation. She joint the Hashemite Royal Court as Senior Policy Analyst / Economic Affairs Department from 2007 to 2009. Before that, she was seconded to the Prime Ministry of Jordan as Senior Infrastructure Specialist from April 2005 to April 2007.
She has more than 30 years of experience managing water resources in Jordan demonstrating political savviness and diplomacy working closely with numerous political and private stakeholders. She served as the Technical Committee Chair for the ambitious Red to Dead Sea Project, Negotiator and Ambassador for Climate Change, Jordan. She is the chair of the Management Committee of the Blue Peace Middle East Regional Mechanism, under the supervision of HRH Prince Hasan Bin Talal, Initiator and Co-founder of Women & Water Diplomacy in the MENA region initiative, Member in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences committee on Transboundary Water security.
HAMZA SAIDI
Moderator and MEM Alumni
Hamza Saidi is a versatile civil society and youth empowerment advocate with extensive project management and partnerships experience in fast-paced, complex environments in the Middle East and North Africa and the wider Mediterranean region, including in relation to the EU. He is the Project Manager at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s Regional Program Energy Security and Climate Change MENA. In this role, he conceptualizes and implements key projects across the region and the EU on various strategic topics, bridging cooperation through multi-stakeholder dialogue and research. Hamza was an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Human Sciences, Mohammed V University and a regional research assistant at Global Young Academy (GYA), covering North Africa for the GloSYS Africa project. Hamza is a Wilson Center Agents of Change Youth Fellow, U.S. Dept. of State Professional Fellow, UNAOC Fellow, World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and the co-founder of the non-profit the Youth Forum for Democracy and Citizenship (YFDC).
Online Streaming
You will be able to follow the online streaming of the Forum here, on 27 August, at 09:00 (CEST).