CIVIC ACTIVISM

First results of the Civil Society Index project. The gathering of information about the state of the Italian civil society is going to be concluded; it is the main part of the action research Civil Society Index (Second edition) that FONDACA and Cittadinanzattiva are carrying on from the beginning of this year. The information referred to our nation will be send to Civicus, the organization that coordinates the project, and they will be published together with the data of the other 56 countries involved in the research in January on Civicus web site

Experimental course on active citizenship. At the end of November, FONDACA is going to organize an experimental course on active citizenship. The aim of the course is to verify the feasibility of opening an advanced training course on civic activism in addition to the well-established training offer of the Foundation on corporate citizenship. Further details about the course will be available on the Foundation website as soon as possible.

GOVERNANCE

What are citizens participating in? The reconsideration of the connection between participatory democracy and civic activism. The 23rd edition of the annual conference of the Italian Society of Political Science was held on September 17-19 in Rome. The conference included plenary sessions and panel discussions on different topics. Giovanni Moro and Marco Almagisti chaired the panel discussion entitled “Between parties and organizations: changes in political participation” dedicated to the theoretical reflections and empirical analysis on the changes in political participation, were Giovanni Moro also presented his paper entitled “What are citizens participating in? The reconsideration of the connection between participatory democracy and civic activism”. Download the paper

Beyond the orders. Mayors and the local safety policy. After the passing of the 125/2008 law and 94/2009 law, ANCI – National Association of Italian Municipalities and Cittalia Foundation carried out a reconnaissance on the orders promulgated by Mayors on the issue of local safety. The data was gathered in an updated version of a publication presented last September which includes a new chapter on the civic participation in local safety policies. The results of FONDACA’s research on “Civic Resources for Urban Safety: a survey on the role of active citizenship organizations” carried out in March 2009 and commissioned by the Municipality of Genova - Safe City Department, are reported in this chapter. The research is focused on the roles of the citizens organized within the local safety policies both in Europe and international level. Download the publication

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

Cosmic Project: CSR oriented supply-chain management to improve competitiveness in the textile/clothing sector. FONDACA participates, as research partner, in the Cosmic Project sponsored by the European Commission - DG Enterprise and Industry. The study, which takes place simultaneously in France and Spain, aims to analyze the relationship between corporate social responsibility and competitiveness throughout the supply-chain, with specific focus on small and medium enterprises in the textile, leather and apparel sectors. Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (Beneficiary and coordinator), the Agency for Development Empolese Valdelsa and the Center of Innovation and Conceptual Development of New Products (CID) of the University of Girona are Project Partners too. Read more on the project

Global Compact presentation meeting. A presentation meeting of the Global Compact and the Global Compact Network Italy was held on October 8 at the ENI S.p.A’s headquarters in Rome. The meeting gathered representatives of Italian companies and organizations which have never participated in the initiative or which, though adhering at the international level, are interested in learning more about the local situation and Italian Network activities. The materials of the event are available on the Global Compact Network Italy website.

The American Session of the 2009 Edition of the Euro-American Colloquia on Citizenship was held on October 28-29 in Boston and New York. The main speaker of the events on “Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the World: Food, Governance and Sustainability” was Paolo Barilla, VP of Barilla G. & R. Fratelli. Read more

The Regional Debate on “Education: Challenges and Perspectives in Europe” will be held on November 6 in Nice. It was one of the five regional debates organized in order to analyse the results of the European Citizens’ Consultations 2009. Read more

In issue n. 26 of the international journal EAST, Europe and Asia Strategies an article entitled “It’s time to listen, dear politicians” written by Monica Ruffa and Mariano Votta was published. The article is focused on the European Citizens’ Consultations 2009 organized by Cittadinanzattiva during last spring. The article contains a contribution by Giovanni Moro.

The International Conference on Civil Participation in Europe will be held on November 12-13 in Ljubljana. The conference, organized by the Council of Europe’s Conference of NGOs, the Slovenian Ministry for Public Administration and the Centre for Information, Co-operation and Development of NGOs (CNVOS), will gather representatives of NGOs and public authorities from Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland, Macedonia and Turkey. Read the programme of the conference

BOOKS. The book Laicità vista dai laici written by Emilio D’Orazio has just published by UBE. Go to the books section

PRESS REVIEW. A selection of newspapers and reviews articles have been published on the Foundation’s website. They apply to events carried out in the last period. Read more on press review.

FONDACA POINTS OUT. National and international conference, seminar and workshop. Read more about the events

OPPORTUNITIES. The Foundation points out new updates in the section related to call for applications, call for papers and grants.

NOVEMBER 2-4, TAIPEI – 6TH EDITION ISTR ASIA AND PACIFIC REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON THIRD SECTOR

NOVEMBER 3-5, MILAN – 15TH EDITION COM-PA 2009

NOVEMBER 6, ROME – DEMOCRAZIA PARTECIPATIVA E NUOVE FRONTIERE DELLA CITTADINANZA, LUISS

NOVEMBER 6, NICE – 2009 EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ CONSULTATIONS, REGIONAL DEBATE

NOVEMBER 12-13, LJUBLJANA -CONFERENCE ON CIVIL PARTICIPATION IN EUROPE

DECEMBER, VILNIUS - EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF THE NETWORKING EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION (NECE)

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