Prof. Najoua Essoukri Ben Amara,
President-Elect, RMEIM (2026–2028)
Director, National Engineering School of Sousse (ENISo)
University of Sousse, Tunisia

Dear RMEIM Members and Partners,

 

It is an honor to assume the presidency of the RMEIM network at a time when higher education institutions are called upon to play an increasingly strategic role in addressing global transformations.
The Mediterranean region, at the crossroads of cultures, knowledge systems, and development trajectories, stands as a space of both profound challenges and extraordinary potential. In this context, academic networks such as RMEIM carry a shared responsibility: to strengthen cooperation, advance knowledge, and contribute to inclusive and sustainable development through education, research, and innovation.
Building on the strong foundations, shared values, and spirit of cooperation that have shaped RMEIM over the years, particular attention will be given to encouraging academic and research collaborations that address key challenges facing the Mediterranean region, including sustainability, environmental protection, access to quality education, gender equality, and the development of innovative approaches in areas such as water, energy, health, and resilient societies.
As the network approaches its 30th anniversary in 2027, this milestone represents far more than a commemorative event. It offers an opportunity to reaffirm our collective ambition and to further strengthen RMEIM as a reference platform for academic excellence and cooperation across the Mediterranean and beyond.
The future of the network will continue to be guided by a clear strategic orientation aimed at consolidating and strengthening cooperation into sustainable and impactful partnerships among member institutions. This includes the consolidation of joint academic initiatives, the reinforcement of mobility schemes for students and faculty, and the gradual development of shared frameworks for academic collaboration.
Particular emphasis will be placed on operationalizing inter-institutional cooperation through further developing structured academic agreements and joint dual-degree programs, supporting the development of collaborative research and innovation initiatives, enhancing the pooling of expertise, competencies, and institutional resources, and expanding opportunities for students to benefit from diverse academic and cultural environments.
In parallel, RMEIM will continue advancing the development of a shared quality and excellence label, which will serve as a tool for mutual recognition, reflecting our shared standards and collective commitment to academic quality and visibility.
The network will also continue to broaden its engagement with international academic organizations, institutional partners, and socio-economic stakeholders, with the aim of reinforcing its role as a key platform for dialogue, innovation, and knowledge exchange.
In a world marked by increasing complexity, the role of academic networks is not only to connect institutions but also to contribute, within their capacities, to shaping more resilient, inclusive, and forward-looking societies.
As we move towards our 30th anniversary, our collective ambition is to further enhance the impact and strategic relevance of RMEIM, grounded in cooperation, shared responsibility, and academic excellence, as we move forward together.

 

Prof. Najoua Essoukri Ben Amara
President-Elect, RMEIM (2026–2028)
Director, National Engineering School of Sousse (ENISo)
University of Sousse, Tunisia

 

While political leaders are debating the future of collaboration and unions between Mediterranean countries and European countries, the RMEI wants to be an actor for sustainable development in the Mediterranean and innovation.

The RMEI allows its students to have a good image of training and research in the Mediterranean countries, which is an important asset for the Mediterranean in the globalization of the economy. It situates its action within the framework of innovation and territoriality, areas which were not major axes of training for engineers. It wants to train "engineers/managers/architects-citizens" open to the major challenges of our societies.

This promotion of the Mediterranean in the minds of students will reduce their desire for expatriation and therefore slow the loss of young talent.

The RMEI also offers the local authorities concerned a pool of high-level academic researchers who can get involved in the identification, monitoring and evaluation of research and innovation policies in the Mediterranean basin. It wants to be a force of proposal and action. It facilitates meetings between researchers, which makes it possible to respond as quickly and efficiently as possible to international calls for tender (Med, Neighbourhood, Tempus programs, etc.).

The RMEI acts as an interface between the business world and the technical colleges and universities. It must facilitate and intensify the relationship between Universities - Grandes Ecoles - Research Laboratories - Mediterranean Companies in the service of innovation but also the recruitment of competent engineers and scientists, challenges for large industrial groups but also for SMEs/VSEs in the Mediterranean.

The RMEI is open to other regions of the world through its close links with many laboratories located in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Brazilian, American, … and … European universities.

The RMEI is a network of conviviality where universities from countries rub shoulders which, unfortunately, have little dialogue with each other. On a very modest scale, it contributes to the development of cultural tolerance.

The RMEI is committed to disseminating the results of its action to major international organizations (United Nations decade, UNESCO, UfM, etc.), at conferences related to sustainable development, territoriality, economic activities and the Mediterranean .

The RMEI is also aware of the major effort to disseminate its action locally in the suburbs, to schoolchildren and to any local committee concerned with societal approaches to sustainable development.

This policy is translated through the various RMEI working groups.