MEDS was co-founded by Zana and Can in 2010 where they started off with an international workshop in Alanya, Turkey. When the co-founders decided to step back in 2011 they asked Joe to take over as international director. Since 2015, MEDS is organised by departments and its active members.

After the second workshop edition in Istanbul in 2011 MEDS officially expanded into the European continent with its first workshop in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2012. With each year the network and the ambitions grew to go outside of Europe. In 2018 the Workshop took place in Lebanon and in 2023 in Gyumri, Armenia.