On 2 October, around 250 volunteers gathered in Alexandria, Egypt, for Interreg Cooperation Day 2026, organised by the Interreg NEXT MED Programme in partnership with the Anna Lindh Foundation and Banlastic Egypt, the event brought together citizens, young people, civil society organisations and environmental actors for a day focused on environmental action, awareness and community engagement.

At the heart of the event was a beach clean-up covering a 300-metre stretch of coastline in West Alexandria. Participants worked together to remove waste while learning about marine litter, plastic pollution, waste segregation, recycling and sustainable consumption.

The programme also featured environmental learning activities, beach sports and plogging, a collective sustainability pledge, and a cultural performance celebrating Alexandria’s strong connection to the Mediterranean. The opening remarks highlighted the importance of cooperation among Mediterranean communities in addressing environmental challenges that cross borders.

Dr. Esmat Karadsheh, Regional Office Coordinator at Interreg NEXT MED, highlighted the significance of bringing the Cooperation Day campaign to Alexandria and raising awareness about the need to protect the Mediterranean basin and Alexandria’s coastline for future generations. Eng. Mohammed Al-Awad, Acting Manager of the Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Centre at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, highlighted the institution’s contribution to protecting Alexandria and its coastline through environmental research, heritage documentation, sustainable development initiatives and cooperation across Mediterranean initiatives.

For Youssef Aroog, Elected Co-president of the Mediterranean Youth Foundation, cooperation is also essential to addressing the environmental and climate pressures facing Mediterranean communities and marine ecosystems. Beyond the clean-up itself, the event showed how cross-border cooperation can turn shared Mediterranean challenges into visible local action.

The Alexandria event offered a practical example of this approach: bringing people together around a shared environmental challenge and showing that local action can contribute to a broader Mediterranean commitment. The event was part of the 2026 Interreg Cooperation Day campaign, marking 15 years of bringing European territorial cooperation closer to citizens and showing how working together across borders can make a tangible difference in communities.