Adel Tawfic: Building an EU–Africa Bridge through MADmax
- EER
- 1 day ago
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2nd GREEN PORTALS international symposium
The participation of Adel Tawfic, Chairman of the Board of Kol El Nas Association for Development and Peace (ELNAS), Assiut, Egypt, in the MAD MAXS Symposium in Thessaloniki marks an important step towards strengthening cooperation between ESAI EN ROI and ELNAS. More than an international contribution to a single event, Adel's participation opens the door to a longer-term partnership connecting youth, environmental action, creativity, and community development.
As a trainer and contributor to the MAD MAXS campaign, Adel brought an Egyptian perspective to the discussion on environmental responsibility, youth participation, creativity, and community action. His contribution demonstrated how a shared environmental challenge can create meaningful opportunities for organisations from different contexts to learn from one another and develop practical, community-based responses.
From MADmax to a Long-Term Partnership
The cooperation between ESAI EN ROI and ELNAS can build on the common values and experiences emerging from MAD MAXS: empowering young people, using creativity as a tool for environmental awareness, transforming waste into artistic and social value, and encouraging communities to take an active role in addressing ecological challenges.
The next step is therefore to move from participation to co-creation. Future cooperation between ESAI EN ROI and ELNAS could include youth exchanges, environmental and recycling campaigns, creative laboratories, educational activities, artistic residencies, community-based ecological projects, and joint events in Greece and Egypt.
In this sense, the partnership between Thessaloniki and Assiut can become a practical model of cooperation between organisations working at the local level while contributing to a broader European and African perspective. The relationship does not need to be defined primarily as an institutional EU–Africa dialogue; rather, it can demonstrate how direct cooperation between civil-society organisations, young people, and communities can reflect and contribute to the wider goals of EU–Africa cooperation.
A Shared Vision
For ESAI EN ROI and ELNAS, MADmax can become the starting point for a partnership in which environmental action serves as a bridge between communities. Both organisations can bring their own experience, networks, cultural perspectives, and local knowledge while creating activities with a shared purpose.
The value of this cooperation lies precisely in its bottom-up character: beginning with two organisations, two communities, and a common project, and gradually creating connections that can reach a wider network of young people and civil-society actors.
The cooperation between ESAI EN ROI and ELNAS therefore represents both a concrete partnership and a reflection of something larger: the potential for European and African communities to work together through youth engagement, environmental responsibility, creativity, and peace-building.
The symposium will be recorded and rebroadcast as part of the International Section of the DHIA Festival Conference on 27 September 2026.
Symposium Programme
Theme: Recycling Law: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Future PerspectivesTime: 10:00–14:00 CETFormat: Online
Live Streaming:📺 @rethinkingyouth YouTube🎥 @greenexecutiveclub Livestream
Time | Country / Presentation |
10:00–10:10 | Welcome & Introduction || Welcome Remarks from the Supporting Organizations |
10:10–10:22 | 🇭🇺 Hungary & 🇦🇲 Armenia |
10:22–10:34 | 🇦🇹 Austria |
10:34–10:46 | 🇨🇿 Czechia |
10:46–10:58 | 🇬🇪 Georgia |
10:58–11:10 | 🇬🇷 Greece |
11:10–11:25 | ☕ Break & Project Presentations: Jaime & Cem |
11:25–11:37 | 🇹🇷 Turkey |
11:37–11:49 | 🇪🇸 Spain |
11:49–12:01 | 🇨🇳 China |
12:01–12:13 | 🇫🇮 Finland |
12:13–12:25 | 🇳🇬 New Guinea |
12:25–12:37 | 🇫🇷 France |
12:37–12:49 | 🇮🇹 Italy |
12:49–13:01 | 🇲🇪 Montenegro |
13:01–13:15 | ☕ Break & Project Presentations: Lev & Martin |
13:15–13:50 | Protocole of COoperation between ESAI EN ROI & COLIN & Koliselmat: Adel Heshmat Tawfic |
13:50–14:00 | Closing Remarks |
Topic of presentations:Recycling Laws: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Future PerspectivesEach country presentation includes a special guest contribution.
From Thessaloniki to Assiut, cooperation begins locally.Through MADmax, ESAI EN ROI and KAI ELNAS can turn a shared environmental challenge into a shared space for creativity, youth action, and lasting partnership.
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