The Mediterranean Capitals of Culture and Dialogue is born from the collective efforts of over 200 young representatives from the civil society of over 20 countries, who gathered at the Forum des Mondes Méditerranéens in February 2022 in Marseille. Their recommendations, alongside the call of Ministers of Culture of the Euro-Mediterranean region in June of the same year in Naples, inspired the 43 Member States of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership to endorse it to further promote the diversity and shared identity of the Mediterranean and contribute to a better mutual understanding of its peoples. 

Mediterranean Capitals of Culture and Dialogue 2026: 183 applications from 28 Euro-Mediterranean countries received in response to the Anna Lindh Foundation’s call for proposals for Matera and Tétouan.

The M.A.R.K.A.T.O. project . – Maintaining And Revitalizing Knowledge And Traditional Occupations -  was presented some days ago, at HubOut in Matera. It is a cross-border cooperation initiative funded by the Interreg VI-A Greece–Italy Programme 2021–2027 and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), under Specific Objective RSO4.6 dedicated to culture and sustainable tourism.

At the opening ceremony of Matera, Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue 2026, EcocNews interviewed Ms Dubravka ŠUICA, the European Union’s Commissioner for the Mediterranean. Below is the full text of her speech during the Opening.

With an opening ceremony attended by European Commissioners Raffaele Fitto and Dubravka ŠUICA, the city of Matera – which was European Capital of Culture in 2019 – is preparing to spend a year as the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue.