the civil society during its meetings. Bureau: The first bureau of the Mediterranean Commission of UCLG was established in the Commission’s meeting during the World Council of UCLG held in Marrakech on Monday October 30, 2006. On the basis of a rotating tripartite presidency it was composed of elected members representing the three shores of the Mediterranean: for Europe: Mercedes Bresso, President of the Piedmont Region (Italy), for the Maghreb: Omar El Jazouli, Mayor of Marrakech (Morocco) and for the Middle East: Abdel Mounim Ariss, Mayor of Beirut (Lebanon). Mr Jean-Claude Gaudin, Mayor of Marseille and Mr Michel Vauzelle, President of the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur Region, were the vice-presidents. Following the renewal of the mandate of the Mediterranean Commission of UCLG at the World Congress of Mexico in November 2010, a new bureau will be constituted soon. The Commission’s Headquarters and the Technical Secretariat are located in Marseilles. Members The Mediterranean Commission is open to members of UCLG and to thematic or general networks of Mediterranean local and regional authorities. Territorial authorities that are not members of UCLG and that wish to join the Commission may do so by sending a written request to the president of the Commission. Activities In its technical dimension, the Mediterranean Commission of UCLG does not seek to be an additional network nor an additional operator. By becoming a center of resources, on a Mediterranean scale, for projects, procedures, and mechanisms concerning territorial authorities, the Mediterranean Commission offers an overview of strategies and opportunities in the region. It brings closer the supply and the needs in the cooperation process by: - Capitalizing on and disseminating knowledge and expertise in local and territorial management, urban development and decentralized cooperation—in a multilateral framework—by relaying calls for proposals, projects, or ideas for the implementation of innovative forms of cooperation. - Providing technical assistance to Mediterranean project leaders (local authorities and their networks and associations): assistance with legal, administrative, and financial aspects of the implementation of projects of local authorities and their networks. - Carrying on the technical assistance over the long term through the implementation of tools that will contribute to the visibility and evaluation of activities of local authorities: website, database, technical data, newsletter. - Carrying out action research on Mediterranean issues and publication of work aimed at practical applications, particularly the creation of groups of experts who may work on specific problems and/or geographical areas.