TRANSFORMED

Fostering Transnational Knowledge for a More Inclusive and Participatory Mediterranean (TRANSFORMED) is a 30-month governance project conceptualised by the ALF and funded by the European Union under the Interreg NEXT MED Programme.
TRANSFORMED comes into action in a Euro-Mediterranean regional context where local administrations often struggle to design social inclusion policies that reflect the real needs of their communities. A lack of participatory planning and coordination has weakened civic trust and limited the impact of public programs.

Building on this context, the project aims to respond to the needs of communities that are facing growing social, economic, and governance challenges that demand more inclusive and participatory solutions by placing people and communities at the heart of local governance.
Through cross-border cooperation among partners in Egypt, Italy, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Greece, the project strengthens collaboration between municipalities and civil society actors, upscales successful community-serving programmes, and supports the co-creation of inclusive, locally tailored planning blueprints. Central to this effort is building a strong bridge between local administrations and civil society organisations as genuine partners in governance.

Who TRANSFORMED Benefits

TRANSFORMED is designed to benefit a diverse range of stakeholders and actors across the Mediterranean:

• 5 local authorities and 5 civil society organizations in Egypt, Italy, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Greece.
• At least 125 participants in national and transnational learning events
• Regional policy makers and intergovernmental bodies informed through the project’s outputs and exhibition.
• Local communities benefiting from more inclusive and responsive public programmes.

TRANSFORMED pursues the below main three core objectives to achieve its mission:

• To enhance the capacity of local authorities and civil society actors to jointly design inclusive local plans.
• To share and adapt four successful governance models for social inclusion across Mediterranean cities.
• To foster policy learning and cooperation at national and regional levels for a more inclusive society.

To achieve its objectives, TRANSFORMED delivers five concrete outputs:

• 1 Transnational Handbook based on lessons from 4 successful inclusion programmes and 5 community symposia.
• 5 demonstration pilots and peer learning labs to test and transfer participatory methods.
• 5 jointly developed Local Planning Blueprints addressing key inclusion priorities in partner countries.
• Online knowledge capsules and mentorship programmes connecting civic actors and policymakers.
• A regional Knowledge Sharing Exhibition to scale visibility and influence of inclusive governance models.

Through its activities and outputs, TRANSFORMED expects to generate the following changes:

• Stronger cooperation between local authorities and civic actors in five countries.
• Improved institutional capacity to address social inclusion challenges with participatory tools.
• Better-aligned, community-driven local plans responding to real social needs.