The EWANA Center aims to promote cultural exchange and understanding between and within Europe, West Asia, and North Africa. It believes that cultural development takes on a central place in human development and that it can strengthen the inclusion of a wide range of actors in social, economic, and political activities. The center was founded in Brussels, Belgium, in 2023 by a group of individuals from the EWANA region who strongly believe in the value of culture as a means to human development and communication. Its team is based in Brussels, Utrecht, Berlin, and Baghdad. In addition to this team, the center has an advisory council made up of individuals who offer expertise in the different fields related to the EWANA region. Our Vision The EWANA Center strives for a world in which cultural diversity and development are celebrated and cherished on all levels of society on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. The EWANA Center uses a broad conception of culture, meaning: the spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional practices that are shared by a society or group, including high and popular culture, laws and rights, value systems, traditions and beliefs. This broad conception allows for an interdisciplinary approach that relates the cultural field to that of the political, social, security, and economic. While the acronym EWANA in English stands for Europe, West Asia, and North Africa, in Arabic it refers to the word “Iwan”, a traditional architectural form developed in Mesopotamia and found in religious and secular buildings all around the West Asia and North Africa region. It is a rectangular space or hall used as a place for meeting, which is what the EWANA Center strives to be.