ENHANCING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION THROUGH EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT RESOURCE EXPLOITATION AND MOBILISATION IN AFRICA, MEDITERRANEAN AND EUROPEAN UNION POST COVID -19

Organization
AMENET Jean Monnet Network
Link to Event
https://www.uaces.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/CALL%20FOR%20PAPERS%20AMENET-ACCRA%202021.pdf

Description

Success in Regional Integration between Africa, the Mediterranean and the European Union (AME) has been a long-standing desire. However, very few success stories can be outlined with the benefits more skewed to the European Union as a result of diverse challenges such as unequal trade relations, lack of trans-border infrastructures, tariff and non-tariff customs barriers, weak investment security, among others. This situation is bound to worsen with COVID-19. Today what is being observed is a situation where each country in AME is focusing on how to overcome the challenges posed by COVID19 leaning more towards inward-looking policies at the expense of outward-looking policies that would allow these countries to gain more from trade as well as enjoy the benefits of integration. The impact of COVID-19 can be felt in all sectors of the economy, especially in the area of integration since a major outcome to the COVID-19 pandemic is the limitation on labour and capital mobility, which restricts integration and the achievement of sustainable development goals. Specifically, international human mobility has been drastically limited while international cargo traffic and investment has shrunk. At the same time, one can observe that COVID-19 comes with some positive impacts on the environment in areas such as the use of fossil fuels. It is also possible for COVID to facilitate transformative changes in certain areas. For example, the reduction in economic activity has led to a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and GHG emissions. However, these short-term effects will inevitably return to similar levels with economic recovery. Given that the current production model is not sustainable, this crisis should be used to redesign productive activity, with a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, an increase in sustainable electricity generation, more efficient production systems that limit the increasing use of transportation and ensure the transformation of services, with more intensive use of ICTs. This will make some of the usual work trips less necessary and help achieve more sustainable cities. In this way, the pandemic could become a turning point towards much needed productive transformation, generating new opportunities. Post COVID-19 management of regional integration and the overall implementation of the sustainable development agenda will require intense collaboration between countries to enhance gains from trade and regional integration. Specifically, the inward-looking strategy that COVID-19 has brought about will surely not be the best way to go. Rather, effectively addressing common challenges that go against integration and have been exacerbated by COVID-19 offers the solution. Also, the trade tensions between the US and China have resulted in travel and trade restrictions which have the potential to influence the integration of AME positively or negatively in post-COVID-19 macroeconomic management. Currently, most economies are in a recession. The knowledge and resources to reverse the current state of the economy require priority to be given to mainstream sustainable development. Policy-focus by AME countries should ensure that growth and development are pro-poor taking into consideration the environmental implication and the need to ensure effective collaboration and integration of AME countries. For this to happen, it will be necessary to find the most suitable growth path: a policy to foster the integration of AME countries whilst dealing with the economic and social consequences of Covid-19. It is only through such a policy that the global agenda of sustainable development will be achieved.

MAIN GOAL
This conference aims to harness ideas on how to revive AME economies in an environmentally sustainable manner by getting experts to discuss and evaluate the impact of the pandemic on economic growth and development as well as options for ensuring growth, development and regional integration post-COVID -19. We are therefore kindly calling for contributions aimed at providing insights on the following, but not limited to these indicative themes:
i. Impact of COVID-19 on the environment
ii. Efficient natural resource exploitation in an era of COVID-19
iii. Climate change adaptation and city resilience
iv. Energy consumption, the environment and sustainable development; before and after COVID – 19
v. International trade and the environment post-COVID-19
vi. Educational reforms in the context of COVID-19: challenges and prospects
vii. ICT deployment for transformational growth post-COVID-19
viii. Vulnerabilities: Socio-cultural, health, poverty and inequality issues,
ix. Small, medium and large scale firm resilience and employee dynamism in the COVID-19 era and beyond
x. Tourism, transport and the hospitality industry in an era of COVID–19
xi. Regional integrations, grant and support packages for developing countries
xii. Investment and industrial diversification in different sectors of activity
xiii. Monetary and fiscal policies,
xiv. Internal and external migration

PUBLICATIONS
The conference will only accept abstracts in French and English. The abstracts should have a word limit of 1000 and must include 5 keywords. It must necessarily include an introduction, methodology, results and discussions and main conclusions. The exhibition of the work can be made through a presentation of a maximum time of 15 minutes. It is highly recommended to send the presentation in ppt to the organisation before the beginning of the Congress. The abstracts will be selected and compiled into a book of abstracts. There is the option to send the abstract and not present it. These abstracts will be included in the book of abstracts in a special section, called Free Documents. It is not necessary to send the manuscript. The Scientific Committee, based on the quality of the abstracts received, may choose to request the complete manuscript from the authors for publication in a special issue of a journal indexed in Scopus. THIS CONFERENCE IS FREE OF CHARGE, as it is co-financed by the Jean Monnet Programme of the European Union.

IMPORTANT DATES
Call for abstracts: 29th September, 2020.
Deadline for abstracts: 15th December, 2020
The abstracts can be submitted, in pdf or word format, through the Conference website.
More information: https://www.amenet.eu/3rd-amenet-international-conference-on-regional-integration-22-23- february-2021-accra-ghana/
Acceptance of abstracts: 11th January, 2021
Dates of the Conference: 22nd -23th February, 2021
The Organising Committee of AMENET JEAN MONNET NETWORK
Technical secretary of AMENET: Esther Alarcón Number phone: +34 914975241 Mail: info@amenet.eu AMENET website: www.amenet.eu Twitter: @AMENET_UAM
Any communication or publication related to this action, made by the beneficiaries in any form and using any means, reflects only the author's view and the European Commission and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.