EuroMeSCo sets in motion the Joint Study Groups 2021 within the framework of the project EuroMeSCo: Connecting the dots.

The Joint Study Groups 2021 are made up of a selection of 4-6 experts from different think tanks and research institutes of the Euro-Mediterranean region. At the beginning of 2021 and as a result of their work, EuroMeSCo will publish five Policy Studies on five different key policy areas:

• Anticipating and Mitigating Side-Effects: The Road to a Successful Green Transition in the Euro-Mediterranean Region, coordinated by Tiziana della Ragione (INSS), and formed by Laura Basagni (GMF), Aziza Mooner (New Hampshire University) and Larbi Toumi (Secretariat General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Morocco).

• Boosting Social Protection Reforms in the MENA Region, led by Abdalhadi Alijla (Varieties of Democracy Institute, Global Young Academy), and composed by Ahmed Arel (University of Bath), Imene Cherif (Friederich Ebert Stiftung), and Izabela Marcinkowska (CASE).

• Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia: A Comparative Perspective on Maghreb Countries Migration Cooperation with their West African Neighbours, under the coordination of Abdeslam Badre (Mohammed V University), will count on the participation of Ekaterina Golovko (Clingendael), Anitta Kynsilehto (Tempere University), and Irene Schöfberger (GMDAC).

• Artificial Intelligence, Law Enforcement and Security Agencies in the MENA Region: Risks and Opportunities, coordinated by Kristina Kausch (GMF), and formed by Aitor Bonsoms (IBEI), Can Kasapoğlu (EDAM), Lewin Schmitt (IBEI) and Žilvinas Švedkauskas (Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen).

• Assessing the Job Creation Potential of Social Economy in the MENA Region, led by Phillipe Adair (Montpellier Business School), composed by Vladimir Hlasny (UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia), Mariem Omrani (Institute of Development Studies, Data-Pop Alliance), and Kareem Shabari Rosshandler (WANA).

The Connect and Kick Off Meetings will be held in September.