June 2013

A Vita Europe selection of civil society events around Europe.

di Cristina Barbetta

 

Listed events (for further descriptions of events and links scroll down):

3 June 2013, Naples,  Italy, Closing Seminar of Naples 2.0: International Social Innovation Competition 
3-4 June 2013, Zagreb, Croatia, International conference on "Cultural Diversity, Civil Society and International Cultural Cooperation"
4-5 June 2013, Brussels, Belgium, European Integration Forum – 9th meeting 
4-7 June 2013, Brussels, Belgium, Green Week 
5 June 2013, worldwide, World Environment Day 2013
7 June 2013, Utrecht, The Nederlands, 'Fostering A Citizens’ Europe: Locality-led Transnational Conference'
8 June 2013, London, UK , SenseCamp UK 
10-12 June 2013, Barcelona, Spain, Ph.D. conference: Local welfare systems and social cohesion
11 June 2013, London, UK, First Steps In Social Enterprise
13 June 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark, Impact Measurement  Three Dimensional 
13-15 June 2013, Athens, Greece, European Young Leaders: '40 under 40' – Athens Seminar
17 June 2013, Sheffield, UK, Sheffield Business School Cooperative And Social Enterprise Summer School 2013
17 June 2013, London, UK, Fit for the future – delivering care and value
19-21 June 2013, Berlin, Germany, Berlin High-level Dialogue on Implementing Rio+20 Decisions on Sustainable Cities and Urban Transport 
20-21 June 2013, Trento, Italy, IV International Workshop on Cooperative Finance and Sustainable Development
28 June 2013, Bilbao, Spain, Social innovation, creating value with and for people
28-30  June 2013, London, UK, London Innovation Weekend 
 
3 June 2013, Naples,  Italy
Closing Seminar of Naples 2.0: International Social Innovation Competition 
UniCredit Foundation, Project Ahead and Euclid Network are holding a final event to celebrate the successes of and reflect on the lessons learnt from the Social Innovation Competition Naples 2.0. 
The morning session boasts some high level speakers, including the President of UniCredit Foundation and senior government representatives. It will also mark the launch of two new social enterprises which have come about as a direct result of the social innovation competition, as well as the presentation of the  final publication. The afternoon seminar is by invitation only.
 
3-4 June 2013, Zagreb, Croatia
International conference on "Cultural Diversity, Civil Society and International Cultural Cooperation"
This UNESCO conference  will analyze the integration of cultural diversity into a wide framework of public policies in South East Europe and the status of implementation and monitoring of UNESCO's Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). 
The Conference will be structured in four thematic round tables: Integrating Cultural Diversity in Sustainable Development Policies; Promoting Cultural Policies; Strengthening the Diversity of Cultural Expressions; Promoting Mobility and Engaging Civil Society.
To read more: http://www.unesco.org/
 
4-5 June 2013, Brussels, Belgium
European Integration Forum – 9th meeting 
The European Integration Forum – the dialogue platform on integration of immigrants launched in April 2009 by the European Commission and the EESC – will meet for the ninth time in the EESC premises. The main theme of this meeting will be: 'The Integration of young migrants in the European society'.
This theme will be introduced by Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Xavier Prats Monné, Deputy Director-General for Education and Culture in the European Commission and a Member of the European Parliament, Jean Lambert (UK/Greens). Experts from the field of education and labour will present their work, while young migrants will share their perception of their situation in the society.
The aim of the 9th European Integration Forum is to allow for dialogue and to feed the on-going policy reflection on integration of migrant youth. The Forum will have a specific focus on integration in the education system, access to the labour market and diversity in the public space.
 
4-7 June 2013, Brussels, Belgium 
Green Week 
Green Week is the biggest annual conference on European environment policy. This year's theme is Air quality. 
Despite progress in recent years, several air quality standards are still widely  exceeded in the EU's most densely populated areas, especially from pollutants such as particulate matter, ground-level ozone, and nitrogen dioxide. 2013 will be a year in which the Commission's current air policy is reviewed, with a focus on finding ways to improve the quality of the air we breathe. 
Green Week offers a unique opportunity for debate and exchanges of experience and best practice. Over the past decade, the conference has established itself as an unmissable event for anyone involved with protecting the environment. The 2012 edition attracted some 3.100 participants from government, business and industry, non-governmental organisations, academia and the media. 
 
5 June 2013, worldwide
World Environment Day 2013
World Environment Day is an annual event that is aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action. World Environment Day activities take place all year round and climax on 5 June every year, involving everyone from everywhere. 
The World Environment Day celebration began in 1972 and has grown to become one of the main vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action.
Through World Environment Day, the United Nations Environment Programme is able to personalize environmental issues and enable everyone to realize not only their responsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.
World Environment Day is also a day for people from all walks of life to come together to ensure a cleaner, greener and brighter outlook for themselves and future generations.
 
7 June 2013, Utrecht, The Nederlands
'Fostering A Citizens’ Europe: Locality-led Transnational Conference'
This conference marks the culmination of the Fostering A Citizens’ Europe project. The project objectives were to identify effective mechanisms to respond to the common EU problem of falling welfare spending and the underlying dynamic of economic restructuring in Europe, forcing governments to look for new ways to recast state-citizen relations, to promote civil society and to help citizens to help themselves, especially in deprived communities. The Fostering A Citizen’s Europe  project is a transnational initiative which brought together community sector partners from five member states: 
-Locality (UK)
-Landelijk Samenwerkingsverband Aandachtswijken (Netherlands)
-AEIPLOUS: Institute for Innovation & Sustainable Development (Greece)
– Suomen Setlementtiliitto (Finland), Fritidsforum (Sweden)
  Workshops: Community Enterprise and Asset Ownership, Localism and Community Rights, Working with the Public Sector, Communities under stress: migration & illegal immigration.
 
8 June 2013, London, UK 
SenseCamp UK 
On the 8th of June MakeSense London brings together 200 Sense Makers from around the UK for an inspiring bar-camp on social enterprise. It’s a chance to collaborate on ideas, share knowledge, solve challenges for social entrepreneurs and extend the MakeSense community around the UK and beyond. MakeSense is an open-source global community of passionate people who use their skills, knowledge and experience to tackle business, design and technology problems facing social entrepreneurs.
 
10-12 June 2013, Barcelona, Spain 
Ph.D. conference: Local welfare systems and social cohesion
The course is hosted by the Department of Sociology Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and has been organized by four FP 7 projects, i.e. Localise, Cope, Wilco and Flows in collaboration with the Doctoral School of Social Science, Aalborg University. 
The local welfare state plays a major role in the delivery of services to welfare recipients, as administrative and political decentralization has delegated responsibilities for service provisions to local political and administrative entities. In effect, massive variations in the organization and distribution of welfare services from municipality to municipality exist, and such differences can be the result of differences in wants and needs of the population, just as they can be the result of different local cultures, traditions and political priorities.
Comparing local policies, partnerships, governance structures and practices, some stand out as contributing better to social cohesion than others, and the purpose of this Ph.D. course is to identify local promising practices most favorable to social cohesion.
 
11 June 2013, London, UK 
First Steps In Social Enterprise
First Steps In Social Enterprise is a free 12 week programme of business advice and support delivered by experienced specialists. It is aimed at budding social entrepreneurs or social enterprises who need advice and guidance. 
The programme guides learners over 12 weeks through the business planning process working alongside a group of peer social enterprises. The structured process is an opportunity to develop participants’ business plan, test the viability of participants’ ideas  and prepare to trade in a supported context.
The programme will give participants a developed business plan including feasibility study and access to social enterprise networks. First Step In Social Enterprise is for aspiring social enterprises  that  are: 
-Benefiting migrant communities/whole community
-Trading or intending to trade to meet social or environmental objectives.
-Frontline organisations (engaging directly with people through services or support)
-Migrant Led or Minority (Black Asian Minority Ethnic and Refugees)
 
13 June 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark
Impact Measurement  Three Dimensional 
CO2 emissions, corporate taxation and community investment are all different aspects of a corporation’s impact on society. The purpose of Corporate Citizenship's upcoming conference is to answer the question: How do we define and measure a corporation’s holistic impact on society?
Three speakers will contribute with their view on holistic impact and how this might be approached in companies. Following the three contributions, a dialogue will be facilitated between the speakers and the participants.
 
13-15 June 2013, Athens, Greece 
European Young Leaders: '40 under 40' – Athens Seminar
Among the many challenges that Europe faces, the absence of a collective vision presents one of the principal obstacles to an effective and sustainable system of governance, as well as stable and harmonious societies. The 40 under 40 programme aims to remedy this deficit by bringing together some of the most talented individuals from across the continent, capable of forging the type of vision that is currently missing. They will be asked to reflect upon the major problems confronting the continent and to generate innovative ideas that can provide lasting solutions. Each year, forty young leaders from diverse professional and cultural backgrounds will be invited to participate in two three-day seminars. They will become ambassadors for a new vision, one which can counter the re-emergence of nationalist tendencies and provide the inspiration for a European renewal.
 
17 June 2013, Sheffield, UK 
Sheffield Business School Cooperative And Social Enterprise Summer School 2013
Pathways out of Crisis: a three-day short course on co-operative and social enterprise responses to economic austerity.
The course provides participants with an opportunity to develop their knowledge about the rationale, purposes and practices of co-operative and social enterprises in order to frame policy and enterprise development discussions with: local, national and international development bodies; policy makers;  co-operative members;  work colleagues;  financial institutions;  business advisers; charity trustees.
 
17 June 2013, London, UK 
Fit for the future – delivering care and value
With the Health and Social Care Act in full force, and new commissioning powers handed to Clinical Commissioning Groups at the beginning of April, now is the time for social enterprise and national health bodies to create partnerships that meet the challenges of our health and care systems. Following last year's sold-out event in Nottingham, Social Enterprise UK is hosting the second installment of Fit for the Future – Delivering Care and Value, a one day event designed to bring both sectors together and explore the role of social enterprise in the future of health and care services.
As well as the opportunity to meet and network with experts in leadership, business and organisational development, and key social enterprise leaders and national health-sector influencers, the event will offer delegates practical advice and support on how to commission and deliver social value in UK health services.
 
19-21 June 2013, Berlin, Germany 
Berlin High-level Dialogue on Implementing Rio+20 Decisions on Sustainable Cities and Urban Transport 
This dialogue, which coincides with the first anniversary of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), aims to: (a) highlight proven sustainable urban planning and transport policies and measures, (b) identify good and best practices in this regard, and (c) facilitate capacity building through national and international exchanges of information and experiences among relevant practitioners, experts and policy makers, in particular from developing countries. It is also intended to contribute to the UN Secretary-General's plan to “convene aviation, marine, ferry, rail, road and urban public transport providers, along with Governments and investors, to develop and take action on recommendations for more sustainable transport systems that can address rising congestion and pollution worldwide, particularly in urban areas.”   
 
 
20-21 June 2013, Trento, Italy 
IV International Workshop on Cooperative Finance and Sustainable Development
The workshop is  organized in collaboration with Federcasse (Italian federation of Cooperative Credit Banks) and with the support of EACB (European Association of Co-operative Banks).  
The Workshop will unfold at three distinct levels: 
a) The contribution of cooperative banks to development: The organizers are inviting papers that explore the central argument in question of the workshop which is “how could cooperative banks continue to act as essential contributors to economic growth and as an irreplaceable source of credit for SMEs and of local development for their communities”. 
b) Promoting research on cooperative finance: A special session will be organized for PhD students currently active in financial cooperative research. Early stage researchers are invited to present their work in progress and benefit from a thorough and case to case discussion on their research endeavour.
c) Promoting cooperation among cooperatives: A special session will be organized in order to provide the setting for different types of cooperatives’ representatives to meet and discuss their mutual future and cooperation with financial cooperatives.
The three levels will be introduced by key-note speakers.
 
28 June 2013, Bilbao, Spain
Social innovation, creating value with and for people
Social innovation might be the answer Europe is looking for to support a smart, sustainable 
and inclusive growth. This is well explained in the “European Guide to Social Innovation” that
will be presented along this conference. During the event, we will also have the opportunity
to learn how other European regions have included social innovation in their smart specialization
strategies. In addition to this, several social innovation good practices will be presented together with a Basque cooperation platform to connect regional social innovation with European networks.
At the end of the session, the regional index of social innovation (Resindex) will be presented:
this is a pioneer pilot project in Europe promoted by Innobasque in collaboration with Sinnergiak
Social Innovation (UPV/EHU) that measures and assesses the state of social innovation.
 
28-30  June 2013, London, UK
London Innovation Weekend 
London is hosting the third Teach First Innovation Weekend in 2013 at The HUB Kings Cross. The Weekend is an opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded people, to generate new ideas for ways to tackle educational disadvantage and to work with social enterprise experts to turn them into reality.
The Weekend will be run by experienced innovation facilitators and social enterprise experts. It's free to attend and open to anyone with ideas, entrepreneurial flair and an ambition to turn ideas into real solutions which will radically improve education in the UK.
 

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