The "Adriatic-Ionian Initiative” is based on the idea that international crises are not resolved through violence but through a mutual cooperation among the various peoples, in order to identify and jointly define a range of common interests, in all sectors.
From a modern perspective, these interests are coincident with: security, economics, trade, scientific and technological research and development, environment conservation, and, finally, preservation of cultural heritage and values, which are plentiful in this region.
Therefore the Adriatic Ionian Initiative (AII) is an extraordinary and useful tool to strengthen and widen the already existing links among the Countries of the Adriatic-Ionian Basin, increasing in this way the collaboration on fields of common interest.
The seven countries of the Adriatic Ionian Basin, namely, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, launched the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, signing the Ancona Declaration in the occasion of the Ancona Conference on “Development and Security in the Adriatic and the Ionian” (March 20, 2000)
Within the AII framework, an Adriatic-Ionian Council (AIC) was set up at the level of Ministers; without limiting the fields of co-operation, special attention was directed towards: economic and technical assistance and co-operation in traffic; environmental protection; co-operation in the fields of culture, education and tourism; and co-operation in combating all forms of criminal.
The Adriatic-Ionian Initiative is presided on rotation basis between the seven countries members.
by Christos Stremmenos (1259 KB, in English) di Christos Stremmenos (1259 KB, in Italian) (38 KB, in English) (137 KB, in English) (113 KB, in English) (85,3 KB, in English) (94,9 KB, in English) (169 KB, in English) (86,8 KB, in English) (42,1 KB, in Italian) (61,9 KB, in English) (61,8 KB, in Italian) (93,3 KB, in English)
(Web page)Within this context, all the Adriatic and Ionian coastal countries have taken part into the Conference of Ancona (19th-20th May 2000), represented by their relevant Secretaries and Ministries of Foreign Affairs, and in the presence of EU representatives, with the objective of defining the guidelines and the procedures for an effective and operative development of the “Adriatic-Ionian Initiative”.
The “Declaration of Ancona” is based upon two main pillars:
With the intensification of reciprocal relationships – involving national and local administrations, academic institutions, companies, professional associations and the individuals – a close net of common interests will eventually emerge in a gradual but systemic manner: in particular, the reconstruction, infrastructural works, multimodal transportation, migratory fluxes, common organizational and managerial patterns for harbour and maritime activities, the promotion of trade offers and of the common artistic and tourist heritage. All this will include the application of the most up-to-date telecommunication technology.
The “Ancona Declaration” is also supplemented with official texts which pool the results of an early set of guidelines for the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, produced within the Conference by the relevant working groups.
With regard to "Interuniversity Cooperation", the universities, the higher education institutions in general and the centres of excellence of the Adriatic-Ionian Region are called to contribute to the restoration, conservation and promotion of the cultural heritage and to promote the development of science and technology within common educational and research programs in a joint initiative of transnational cooperation.
In other words, the modern concept of sustainable development wants the University to interact with the territory. In this case, the same concept is extended to all Universities of the Adriatic-Ionian basin, which interact with the whole territory of the bordering countries.
As a matter of fact, the university community can contribute to the development of the Region both with scientific-based proposals and/or with the offer of technical expertise and technological support in the phase of projecting and realization.
(79 KB, in English) (55 KB, in English) by Lamberto Dini, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs(186 KB, in Italian)Under the initiative of the Universities of Bologna and Ancona, the Conference of Ravenna was held on 15th - 16th of December 2000, with the participation of all the Countries involved, (including Serbia and Montenegro), mainly at a university representative level.
The Conference of Ravenna has not only focused on the foundation of the Interuniversity Community and on the institution of the “UNIADRION” network, which were the primary objectives, but it has also extended its concern to the definition of guidelines for effective proposals and operative strategies. The intention was the elaboration of a series of operative policies regarding almost the entire range of actions for development, as programmed in the «Ancona Declaration», except for the aspects related to “security and fight against criminality”.
The Conference has revealed to be successfully, thanks to the wide participation of member countries and the effective intention by all participants to operatively contribute to the achievement of the objectives programmed in the Declaration of Ravenna.
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