VitaEurope comes of age

What impact does the third sector have in today’s Europe? What is volunteering’s total labour service value? What percentage of the GDP does the sector contribute to? Who are the new protagonists of Europe’s civil society? Who will win the battle between the donor based charity model and social enterprise?

Looking for the answers to these kinds of questions is the task that we have decided to focus on in 2009, a goal we have set our selves because:

1) Of the tremendous success of VitaEurope’s Non Profit Atlas and the precious feedback received from our users;  

2) The Non Profit Atlas has aroused unexpected interest among academic and student circles;

3) Europe’s political agenda requires it. The results of USA’s presidential elections have hit the world with a wave of optimism, a force we believe European civil society must harness to its advantage in the 2009 European elections.

In 2009 VitaEurope will embrace the Non Profit Atlas as its core mission but without straying from our motto for civil society to “Get involved, get informed and get active!”.

What will change?

Little will change from the outside as our as our graphic design and key features will remain as they are. What will change slightly will be the angle of our content, in particular:

Cover stories: Four fresh covers a week geared at hunting out and showing off the face’s behind Europe’s non profit sector, highlighting the latest studies on civil society and showcasing examples of best practice from the four corners of Europe.

Reports: A new widget will collect the most up to date research into Europe’s non profit sector so professionals can not only flick through the reports produced by established institutions, but also read graduate and post graduate dissertations and academic papers produced in Europe’s leading universities.

European Elections: A dedicated widget will be the fulcrum of our coverage of Europe’s Parliamentary elections in June: interviews with the candidates, civil society’s manifestos, the expectations of European citizens. And one appeal: to let your voice be heard!