March 2014

A Vita Europe selection of civil society events around Europe

di Cristina Barbetta

Listed events (for further descriptions of events and links scroll down):
4 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium, ICT for Societal Inclusion – Better Integration for Better Future
4 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium, ’Your Wish List For Europe: Invitation From The European Ombudsman
 4 March 2014, London, UK, Free online fundraising workshop
5 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium, Violence against women at home, work, in public and online
8 March 2014, London, UK, Global Social Venture Competition 
10 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium, Innovation Convention 2014
13 March 2014, London, UK, Social Futures – Future of Enterprise Education
14 March 2014, London, UK, Sources of Funding Workshop
14 March 2014, Belgrade, Serbia, Social Innovations Forum
19 March 2014, London, UK , Unlocking Social Finance – a workshop for charities and social enterprises 
19-20 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium, CSR Europe General Assembly & Marketplace 2014
24 March 2014, London, UK, How to escape into social enterprise
25 March 2014, London, UK, ACEVO Health and Social Care Conference 2014
31 March 2013, London, UK, How to Raise Awareness of your Charity in the Media
 
 
4 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium
ICT for Societal Inclusion – Better Integration for Better Future
Large proportion of the European adult population suffering from dyslexia is being unnecessarily  excluded from a normative social life including working at high level jobs or even reading the  newspaper, depending of the severity of the problem. 
The aim of the conference is to use this opportunity and inform policy and decision makers about ICT  tools that could mitigate the problem of exclusion. One of these tools is being developing under the  project LITERACY (Online Portal for e-learning and supporting social inclusion of people with  dyslexia), funded under the ICT theme in FP7. Many years ago almost no public building had easy  access for handicap people. Nowadays, it is the norm that every public building must take care for  easy access. We hope that policy makers help us with the same vigor to achieve our goal that people with dyslexia would have easy access to information. The event is dedicated to European stakeholders, policy makers, representatives of organizations helping people with inclusion to normal participation in a society and other relevant stakeholders who could participate on the important shift from theory into practice.
 
4 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium 
’Your Wish List For Europe: Invitation From The European Ombudsman'
After five years of waiting, it's finally up to you, as EU citizens, to decide what kind of Europe you want. In May, you will elect a new European Parliament. But if you want to see real change, they need to know your priorities. 
The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, is organising an interactive event to let you do just that! As the EU watchdog elected to ensure good administration in Europe, she wants to make sure that Europe lives up to its claim of putting citizens at the heart of decision-making. Which policy areas do you want the EU to focus on? What do you expect from those who will lead Europe for the next five years? With your help, the Ombudsman plans to build an interactive wish list for Europe!
The Ombudsman will be joined by the following heads of EU institutions to listen to and engage with you, the citizens of Europe:
•Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament
•José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
This interactive event is taking place, at the European Parliament, Brussels.
 
4 March 2014, London, UK
Free online fundraising workshop
GlobalGiving UK is proud to offer a free online fundraising training workshop to interested charities.
Topics covered in the session: "Online fundraising- reaching individual donors", "Mapping and Building your Networks" and "Planning your online fundraising campaign".
 
5 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium 
Violence against women at home, work, in public and online
On 5 March, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) will present the findings from the world’s largest survey on violence against women at the high-level conference “Violence against women across the EU: Abuse at home, work, in public and online”. The event will take place at the Council of the European Union in Brussels.
The survey findings draw on face-to-face interviews with 42,000 women across the EU’s 28 Member States. Women were asked about their experiences of physical, sexual and psychological violence, childhood victimisation, sexual harassment and stalking, including new media for abuse such as the internet.
Hosted by FRA and the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the EU, the conference will bring together decision makers and practitioners to discuss the findings and their importance for EU and national policy makers. About 250 representatives from EU institutions and bodies, international organisations, national governments and parliaments, national human rights bodies and civil society are expected to attend.
 
8 March 2014, London, UK 
Global Social Venture Competition 
The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) provides aspiring entrepreneurs with mentoring, exposure, and $50,000 in prize money to transform their ideas into scalable and sustainable businesses that will have positive real world impact.
Founded by MBA students at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, the GSVC has evolved into a global network supported by an international community of volunteer judges, mentors and student organizers and a partnership of premier business schools in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Now in its 15th year, the GSVC has awarded more than a quarter of a million dollars to emerging social ventures and has introduced early-stage social venture entrepreneurs to the investment community. 
To read more: http://www.gsvc.org/ 
 
10 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium 
Innovation Convention 2014
The Innovation Convention is an essential part of the Innovation Union flagship initiative, the European Union strategy which aims to create an innovation-friendly environment that makes it easier for great ideas to be turned into products and services that will bring our economy growth and jobs. 
The Convention provides a platform to debate and inform policies that will contribute towards the building of a research and innovation eco-system in Europe that can support this objective.
For anyone involved in innovation, from the worlds of research and business to those involved in policy making and funding innovation, the Convention will provide an opportunity to:
•engage in and contribute to the innovation debate with business leaders, top researchers and high-level policy makers;
•network and share experiences with your peers; and
•gain inspiration from world-renowned speakers and great innovation showcases
 
13 March 2014, London, UK
Social Futures – Future of Enterprise Education
Social Futures is UnLtd’s policy space for collaboratively exploring key themes affecting social entrepreneurs.
Focused on the future of enterprise education, this event will explore the challenges and opportunities for inspiring and supporting more young people to participate in enterprise and social entrepreneurship activities in Schools, Colleges, Universities as well as young people outside of formal education.
Supporting Lord Young’s review on enterprise education, this event will provide the opportunity for young people to inform and shape policy recommendations to ensure enterprise and social entrepreneurship is open to new entrants at all ages and stages of people's lives.
UnLtd is the leading provider of support for social entrepreneurs in the UK, working in partnership with education providers and youth organisations to find, fund and support young people to start a social venture which positively impacts their lives and the community where they live.
 
14 March 2014, London, UK
Sources of Funding Workshop
On March 14th, The School for Social Entrepreneurs London is once again holding its popular ‘Sources of Funding’ workshop.
This highly regarded one day course is for staff from charities and social enterprises that are seeking to secure new and sustainable income streams. 
 
14 March 2014, Belgrade, Serbia
Social Innovations Forum
The first regional Social Innovations Forum is taking place on 14 March 2014 at the Cultural Centre REX in Belgrade, Serbia!
The Social Innovations Forum will focus on developing social entrepreneurship in the region. Together with the leading international and domestic experts in this area, the Forum will try to provide answers to a number of key questions: How to create a favorable environment for the development of social entrepreneurship in the region, how competitive are social enterprises in a free market, and what is the business sector’s role in developing social entrepreneurship?
The Social Innovations Forum is organised by Smart Kolektiv and the Coalition for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship, in partnership with the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit Team, the British Council, the Business Leaders Forum and the students’ organization AIESEC. The Forum is also supported by TACSO, USAID and the Institute for Sustainable Communities.
 
19 March 2014, London, UK 
Unlocking Social Finance – a workshop for charities and social enterprises 
The not for profit and social enterprise sectors are buzzing with new financial terms: ‘social investment’ ‘social impact bonds’ and ‘investment readiness’.  But what do these terms actually mean, and how can social enterprises and not-for-profits access these new forms of income?  This workshop at the School for Social Entrepreneurs London will help you to make sense of social finance. 
 
19-20 March 2014, Brussels, Belgium
CSR Europe General Assembly & Marketplace 2014
On Wednesday 19 March 2014, CSR Europe will hold its annual General Assembly for members.
On the following day 20 March, CSR Europe will launch its European Business Campaign on Sustainable Living in Cities under the Enterprise 2020 flagship with a Marketplace event.The purpose of the Marketplace is to highlight and share with members and urban stakeholders innovative projects that members and national partners have undertaken in the field of Sustainable Living in Cities and start a collaborative movement toward advancing solutions for a more sustainable living in cities for citizens and consumers.
 
24 March 2014, London, UK
How to escape into social enterprise
Escape the City evenings are a really fun way to spend an evening with some friends, meet some interesting like-minded people, and hear from someone who has an interesting story.
Back by popular demand, Escape the City is hosting Tom Rippin, an ex-McKinsey management consultant who kept the ‘I’ll only do this for a few years and then go and do something else’ promise. 
He is the founder and CEO of social enterprise leadership programme On Purpose.
Tom will be talking about his own experience leaving the commercial world, the reasoning behind setting up On Purpose and giving an introduction to the world of social enterprise and some advice on how to pursue a career in the sector. 
 
25 March 2014, London, UK
ACEVO Health and Social Care Conference 2014
This year’s event will consider how to better distribute health and social care resources so they meet the needs of the UK population this century. Coming just over a year before the expected General Election in 2015, it will be an important time to evaluate recent health reforms and to hear from key decision-makers, in healthcare and in Westminster, on how they see the landscape developing after 2015. It will also be an opportune moment to compare notes, with colleagues in the VCSE sector, on work in the build-up to 2015.
This event will provide a chance to:
•Network with Charity leaders and other health and social care professionals
•Discuss current issues for the voluntary and social enterprise sector with fellow colleagues
•Question the leaders of the new health and social care system on how they are doing one year on
 
31 March 2014, London, UK 
How to Raise Awareness of your Charity in the Media
ITV Daybreak News Producer, Natalie Lisbona and ex-This Morning Editor, Shu Richmond join forces to provide a hands-on workshop specially designed to advise smaller charities on how to market their organisation and how to exploit the subject area of their charity for maximum media exposure.
The workshop is suited to anyone working in, or with, the charity sector and looking to raise awareness. The workshop covers:
– Effective ways to market your charity to TV and print media
– The use of celebrities, inc how to find and contact potential celebrity ambassadors
– How to find and use relevant experts effectively
– Making the most of research in your subject area
– The value of human-interest stories to the media
– How to approach TV producers and Media Editors


Qualsiasi donazione, piccola o grande, è
fondamentale per supportare il lavoro di VITA