Non profit
March 2010
A Vita Europe selection of civil society events around Europe.
Listed events (for further descriptions of events and links scroll down):
1-2 March 2010, London, United Kingdom: Powering the Low Carbon Economy. Electricity’s role in decarbonizing energy use.
1-5 March 2010, Geneva, Switzerland: Essentials of Human Resource Management
1-21 March 2010, Italy: Nation-Wide:Anti-racist spring
2 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium: Conflict Prevention and Resolution: A New Role for Cultural Relations?
4 March 2010, Gateshead, United Kingdom: Modernisation Conference 2010. Different times… Different Challenges – Be Prepared
4 March 2010, London, United Kingdom: Transformational Change and the Future of Turkey
4 March 2010, London, United Kingdom: After the Crisis
4-7 March 2010, Barcelona, Spain: Anna Lindh Forum 2010
6-7 March 2010, Rome, Italy: Crisis of politics: what are our responsibilities? (Crisi della politica: quali sono le nostre responsabilità?)
8 March 2010, Europe-Wide: Gender Pay Gap
9 March 2010, London, United Kingdom: The Politics of Climate Change
10 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium: Seminar on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion – the regional perspective
10-12 March 2010, Geneva, Switzerland: Essentials of Fundraising
12-14 March 2010, Milan, Italy: Fair: Do the right thing! (Fa’ la cosa giusta!)
16 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium: 3rd Forum for the Future of Agriculture. Meeting the food & environmental security challenge
16-17 March 2010, London, United Kingdom: Strengthening Collaboration between Wildlife, Livestock and Human Health Sectors
20 March 2010 – 1 April 2010, the nine countries along the Danube river: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine: Danube Music Festival
22-24 March 2010, Geneva, Switzerland: Improving the Effectiveness of Your Board
24 – 26 March 2010,?Montpellier, France: Taking stock of smallholder and community forestry: Where do we go from here???
25 March 2010, London, United Kingdom: Acevo Spring Conference. A Joined Up Future for Community Health and Social Care?
1-2 March 2010, London, United Kingdom
Powering the Low Carbon Economy
Electricity’s role in decarbonizing energy use
This conference is organized by Chatham House, which brings together people and organizations with an interest in international affairs. It provides an independent forum in which academics, business people, diplomats, the media, NGOs, politicians, policy-makers and researchers can interact in an open and impartial environment.
Its mission is to be a world-leading source of independent analysis, informed debate and influential ideas on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all.
The conference wants to answer the following questions: what steps can be taken to decarbonise electricity within a dramatically short timescale? How will governments and business respond to continued policy uncertainty, post-Copenhagen??
In order to achieve significant emissions cuts, a rapid transformation in the way that power is used, generated and managed is required. This conference will take a clear look at the future of energy use, and the changing role that electricity will have in creating a low carbon future, focusing on:
– The prospects for energy sector investments in an uncertain policy environment
– How power systems – generation, networks, and user-technologies – will need to change in order to become less carbon intensive
– What new technologies are emerging and how quickly they can be developed to scale
– What constraints exist at a global level
– What political and policy challenges need to be addressed
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/power2010/
1-5 March 2010, Geneva, Switzerland
Essentials of Human Resource Management
This intensive five-day course for practitioners, organized by NGO Management School Switzerland, provides a comprehensive and solid foundation in human resource management. The NGO Management School Switzerland was set up in 2007 by a group of people in Switzerland and the Philippines in response to a growing demand by NGOs and individuals for training in NGO management and organisational development. The School is a non profit institution. Its mission is to assist NGOs in the North and the South in developing sustainable management capacity to take effective action for the benefit of the communities or cause they serve.
During the first two days of the course, participants will learn how to carry out hiring processes and how to develop adequate compensation with the development of a salary policy, social benefits and contracts. During days three to five, participants will learn and practice how to develop a HR strategy and guidelines, how to develop procedures for job evaluations, promotions and training programmes for the workforce. Particular emphasis is placed on managing intercultural and gender issues. Participants will learn how to develop a plan for HR development, how to communicate HR strategies with employees effectively and how to manage stress and conflict.
1-21 March 2010, Italy: Nation-Wide
Anti-racist spring
Some organisations are launching this campaign, open to all the entities that, respecting their own autonomy, want to set up initiatives, moments of struggle, sensitization, and intercultural dialogue in Italy. The first day of March is first of all a day of abstention from consumptions, enhancing nevertheless varied initiatives, meetings, demonstrations, concerts, school meetings, places of gathering, aiming at launching a strong sign to Italy on the immigration issue and on migrants’ and minorities’ conditions.
The first day of March is also important because it is connected to analogous initiatives in other nations (France, which has been the first to launch it, Spain, Greece etc….). March 20 and March 21, the latter proclaimed by the UN: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, will be “days with immigrants” and similarly to the first day of March there will be many initiatives: Sunday 21 March in particular aims at making immigrants’ symbols and values live in various sporting events: in stadiums and in the Rome marathon.
http://www.unimondo.org/Notizie/Eventi/Primavera-Antirazzista
2 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Conflict Prevention and Resolution: A New Role for Cultural Relations?
This conference is organized by the Security & Defence Agenda (SDA), the only Brussels-based security and defence think-tank. Its activities span monthly roundtables, reports and discussion papers, international conferences and special press briefings and debates. It regularly brings together senior representatives from the EU institutions and NATO, with national government officials, industry, the international and specialised media, think-tanks, academia and NGOs.
With defence and security now critical issues in Brussels, the SDA raises awareness by anticipating the political agenda and focusing attention on European and transatlantic security and defence policies and challenges.
Clashes of culture, related to religious beliefs, ethnicity or different values often lie at the root of security problems. This conference is trying to demonstrate if a better understanding of these fundamental issues holds the key to conflict prevention, as well as peacemaking and peacekeeping. The conference is also trying to verify how best Western forces and political leaders can develop more sensitive cultural antennae in security hotspots.
Successful uses of cultural relations in conflict zones over the last 10 years have not received much media attention. This lessons-learned session features actors in the field and tries to identify best practice in inter-cultural dialogue and understanding in conflict areas.
The conference is also trying to explore what concrete steps need to be taken to ensure military training includes greater cultural awareness now that NATO has a more comprehensive approach to the planning and conduct of its operations and is reviewing its Strategic Concept. Finally the conference aims at answering the following questions: Can improved civilian-military dialogue and a better understanding of the role of cultural relations improve security policy? What new approaches should be developed to help both civilian and military personnel in the field to bring a greater cultural dimension to their missions?
4 March 2010, Gateshead, United Kingdom
Modernisation Conference 2010
Different times… Different Challenges – Be Prepared
This conference is organized by Acevo, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations which is the leading voice for chief executives in the third sector. With over 2,000 members nationwide, it supports, develops, connects and represents third sector leaders.
2010 is set to be a year of political, economic and social change. Coming through a recession with inevitable public sector spending cuts and a General Election in sight, third sector leaders must be ready to adapt to a new reality. The conference will discuss questions as: what are the challenges we will face as third sector leaders? How should we respond and who should we influence? Inspiring third sector leaders and key decision makers will talk about how they are already preparing to deal with change, and positioning themselves to thrive in a new external environment. ??The conference will examine the role of the Chair and Chief Executive in leading your organisation through these changes.
Learning outcomes:
• Delegates will hear from Government and leading opposition politicians on plans for future working with the third sector. Delegates will understand priorities for the future Government and how this aligns with their mission.
?• Delegates will hear from fellow third sector leaders on the state of the sector, their experience of leading change and the importance of a strong relationship between Chair and Chief Executive. Delegates will benefit from cutting edge research and thinking on how to lead an effective third sector organisation.
• Delegates will receive practical information about the strategic and legal issues facing their organisation and where to receive future professional development to support them through these challenges.?
http://test.acevo.org.uk/Page.aspx?pid=1411
To find out about Acevo’s conferences, workshops and training sessions visit:
http://www.acevo.org.uk/Page.aspx?pid=227
http://www.acevo.org.uk/Page.aspx?pid=1043
4 March 2010, London, United Kingdom
Transformational Change and the Future of Turkey
This event is organised by Chatham House.
Fadi Hakura, Associate Fellow, Europe, Chatham House, will put into context the major political, economic, social and foreign policy changes that are taking place in a geo-politically strategic country at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. A combination of inter-locking issues will be discussed: political tensions, socio-economic challenges, difficulties over Cyprus and Turkey-Armenia reconciliation, the slow-down in the European Union accession process and Turkey’s rapidly evolving ties in the Middle East.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/1402/
4 March 2010, London, United Kingdom
After the Crisis
This event is organised by Chatham House.
Richard Lambert, Director-General, CBI is the speaker of this event. He will address the key challenges facing the UK after the financial crisis. As Director-General of the CBI, a former of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee and former Editor of the Financial Times, the speaker is in a unique position to reflect on the effects of the financial crisis through both a regulatory and a business lens.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/1456/
4-7 March 2010, Barcelona, Spain
Anna Lindh Forum 2010
The Anna Lindh Forum 2010 is a major civil society gathering for the promotion of intercultural action across the Mediterranean region organised by the Anna Lindh Foundation in partnership with the European Institute of the Mediterranean, Head of the ALF Spanish Network.
The Anna Lindh Foundation is an organisation shared and resourced by over forty Euro-Mediterranean countries, to bring people together as a way to promote dialogue between cultures and respect for diversity.
To fulfill this objective, the Foundation leads regional initiatives in the Euromed space and supports local activities carried out by organisations based across civil society which advocate for a better understanding among people, religions and beliefs, and champion human rights and democracy.
The Forum aims to give new momentum to the cooperation among civil society organizations committed to intercultural dialogue in the Union for the Mediterranean region and to enrich the activities of the forty-three National Networks of the Anna Lindh Foundation.
The gathering of around 500 representatives of civil society organisations as well as high-profile speakers from the political, cultural and economic field from the entire Union for the Mediterranean region will also serve as inspiration for the development of regional cooperation and as a tool to influence policy-making in the field of intercultural dialogue.
http://www.euclidnetwork.eu/events.php/en/244/anna-lindh-forum-2010
http://www.euromedalex.org/forum2010
6-7 March 2010, Rome, Italy
Crisis of politics: what are our responsibilities?
(Crisi della politica: quali sono le nostre responsabilità?)
A goodly number of members of civil society promotes and invites to participate to this meeting.
“We are very worried about what is happening in Italy. Inside the society and inside the institutions. We are aware of the great responsibilities of the political and media worlds” write the promoters.
“We recognize the role of political parties. But we are worried about a debate and a political conflict which remain far away from people’s and populations’ real lives, far away from their difficulties, from their expectations, from their fundamental rights”.
“We want to promote the debate on the contribution that responsible civil society can give to the construction of good policies. We want to talk about it in an honest, free, open and constructive way”.
http://www.unimondo.org/Notizie/Eventi/Crisi-della-politica-incontriamoci-e-parliamone
8 March 2010, Europe-Wide
Gender Pay Gap
This press conference is organized by the European Commission – Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG.
Equal pay for women and men is still not a reality.
The gender pay gap is a major barrier to gender equality.
Closing the pay gap:
• makes good business sense
• has benefits for European economy and society
• is a key priority for the EU
Challenging the gender pay gap will contribute to fight gender stereotypes and thus will help to improve the situation of women in society and their opportunities on the labour market.
The Commission Communication COM (2007) 424 ‘Tackling the pay gap between women and men’ underlined the need to step up efforts to provide information and raise awareness about the pay gap.
The Commission had launched a communication campaign on the pay gap in 2009 and will go on for the second phase in 2010. In order to maximize the relevance, the credibility and the impact of the information campaign, implementation will take place to a large extent at the national level.
9 March 2010, London, United Kingdom
The Politics of Climate Change
This event is organized by Chatham House.
Climate change is an issue quite unlike any other we have to cope with on a global level, since it is about future risk and filtered through the findings of science, which are largely inaccessible to the layperson. The speaker, Lord Giddens, Professor Emeritus, LSE Global Governance will ask how the international community can create an effective approach to containing the dangers facing us, in a world which lacks effective institutions of global governance, and where the public in many countries in unconvinced of the urgency of the situation.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/1460/
10 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Seminar on Gender Equality and Social Inclusion – the regional perspective
The full title of the seminar is: “Gender Equality and Social Inclusion – the regional perspective: The path to economic independence – Inclusion of women in the labour market”.
The event is part of a series of seminars organised by the 2010 Social Inclusion Regional Group established in response to the European Union´s initiative to name 2010 the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
Women’s empowerment in economic participation, work, and education is vital to ensure gender equality and eliminate poverty and social exclusion. The keyword is women as economic independent subjects.
The Seminar will contribute to the debate on reliving women of poverty, their full participation as economic subjects and to the issue of burden sharing in the family sphere and the organisation of working life in order for society to achieve a good work-life balance. The partner regions will present best practise on a variety of different regional projects relating to the inclusion of women in the labour market. The regional representatives will continue to discuss the topic in the panel debate.
10-12 March 2010, Geneva, Switzerland
Essentials of Fundraising
This three-day course is organised by NGO Management School Switzerland.
Competition among NGOs in the acquisition of donor funding is very strong. In order to face the donors’ expectations, the fundraisers have to improve and professionalize their work. This course is designed to give practical and appropriate tools to raise funds successfully in favour of one’s organisation’s activities. The participant will familiarize with marketing and strategic elements. He will then learn how to elaborate a grant proposal and a corporate partnership, as well as how to approach individuals and major donors.
http://www.ngoms.org/fundraisingE.htm
12-14 March 2010, Milan, Italy
Fair: Do the right thing! (Fa’ la cosa giusta!)
In the last few years there has been a growing interest for the “Fair Trade Economy”, an economic and social relationships system which puts man and environment in a central position, trying to combine development with fairness, employment with solidarity and savings with quality.
More and more enterprises in fact, apply the principles of environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. At the same time the number of citizens who are aware of the importance and of the strength which lie in their ability to participate directly and in their purchase choices grows.
For these reasons Terre di Mezzo (a street magazine informing on immigration and multietnicity and telling about new life styles and fair trade economy) has launched “Do the right thing!”, an event which wants to spread consumption and production good practices in Italy, creating events which can communicate Fair trade Economy’s values and enhance territory’s peculiarities.
http://www.unimondo.org/Notizie/Eventi/Fiera-Fa-la-cosa-giusta!
16 March 2010, Brussels, Belgium
3rd Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Meeting the food & environmental security challenge
This Forum is organized by the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO), which is committed to promoting a sustainable and prosperous countryside and to increasing awareness relating to environmental and agricultural issues. Engaging various stakeholders, ELO develops policy recommendations and programmes of action. ELO organises interdisciplinary meetings gathering together key actors from the rural sector and policy makers at the local, regional, national and European level. Its ability to do all of this assures ELO its unique position among the think tanks in the agricultural, environmental and rural activities’ sectors.
The Forum for the Future of Agriculture addresses the politics and economics of world food supply and the interplay with climate change.
The programme includes activities focused on food and environmental security agenda, in Brussels and across the European region.
http://www.forumforagriculture.com/
16-17 March 2010, London, United Kingdom
Strengthening Collaboration between Wildlife, Livestock and Human Health Sectors
This meeting is organised by Chatham House.
Infectious disease-causing agents are transported around the world in humans, insects, animals and animal products, and food. With growing economic integration, labour, migration and trade expansion, the detection and prevention of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) is of increasing global concern.
It is not sufficient for national governments to focus only on infectious diseases within their borders if they are to protect and promote their economic and public health security. International cooperation is needed for global alert and response, at times including trade and agricultural measures to minimise risks. Technical solutions to these challenges are being developed under the International Health Regulations (2005) as part of the global response.
This meeting will bring together policy makers, international organisations, academics and civil society to discuss the economic and political issues that cause tensions between human health and wildlife and livestock sectors and which can impede a collaborative action.
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/1425/
20 March 2010 – 1 April 2010, the nine countries along the Danube river: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine.
Danube Music Festival
In 2007 more than 50 musicians met on board a ship to sail through the nine countries along the Danube river for the first edition of the Danube Music Festival “Against the stream”. Through the language of music they managed to overcome the barriers, be they real or imaginary, which still exist in the minds of people.
From March 20 to April 1 2010, once again, the Danube river will be the host of this nomad festival. Virtuoso musicians, who take their inspiration from going against the stream, will gather on the ship.
Musicians from the countries along the Danube river will play together and explore their cultural traditions. Many special guests from Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Russia, Albania and other countries will join them.
The main organizer of the festival is Good and bad news.
The company was founded in 1996 in Brussels by filmmakers, journalists and cultural events experts.
Good and bad news had produced several documentaries and TV reports in Europe, in Africa and in Asia but it is mostly focused on Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
Its second working field focuses on organizing cultural events as theatre, cinema and music shows, like the Danube Music Festival.
The theme of the Festival’s competition is: Music and Memory – Music as the living memory of Europe and reflection of the relationships of its people. The idea is to explain through practical examples 😕
?• How the history, the migrations, the conflicts, the conquests and the fusion between people has left its mark on music.?
• How different people (including non-European ones) have influenced and registered the evolution of European music.
?• How different ethnicities and minorities have preserved their identity in their music.??
22-24 March 2010, Geneva, Switzerland
Improving the Effectiveness of Your Board
This course is organized by NGO Management School Switzerland.
Effective governance is essential to the long-term success of an organisation. In the NGO sector stakeholders are becoming more demanding in terms of what they expect. Donors want to be sure that their money is going to a well-governed and accountable organisation. Board members want to be satisfied that the time they are contributing to the affairs of the organisation is well spent. And leaders, managers and staff want to feel that their relationship with the Board is constructive and mutually supportive.
It is widely recognised in the NGO sector that there is much scope for improving governance. This three-day course is designed to equip Board Members, Executive Directors and other staff with the knowledge, skills and tools to identify that scope and devise and implement measures to exploit it.
The course will enable participants to:
• Understand why good governance is important
• Review the merits of different governance structures and models
• Understand why the composition of a Board is important
• Become familiar with good governance standards and codes
• Understand the roles and functions of Board Members, the Chairperson and Sub-Committees
• Assess the performance of a Board and implement strategies to enhance its effectiveness
• Create and maintain a constructive relationship between the Board and management
http://www.ngoms.org/boardeffectiveness.htm
24 – 26 March 2010,?Montpellier, France??
Taking stock of smallholder and community forestry: Where do we go from here?
This conference is organised by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the French research institute for development (IRD) and the French international research center for agricultural development (CIRAD) Community forestry was initially defined, by FAO, as “any situation which intimately involves local people in a forestry activity. It embraces a spectrum of situations ranging from woodlots in areas which are short of wood and other forest products for local needs, through the growing of trees at the farm level to provide cash crops and the processing of forest products at the household, artisan or small industry level to generate income, to the activities of forest dwelling communities” (FAO 1978).
As a daily practice, small-scale forest activities have been carried out by rural population for generations, either on collective lands or on individual plots. Their forest use practices have developed as adaptive management systems influenced by a complex set of factors including local socio-ecological conditions and agendas as well as broader regional, national and international trends and policies. The current success and dynamics of these systems varies widely. Some have thrived for decades showing signs of great dynamism and innovation while others are close to collapse.
Community forestry, as a project or policy intervention, has existed for almost half a century, spreading from its beginnings in Asia in the 1970s to Africa and Latin America more recently. The idea has spawned hundreds of development projects, research projects, reports and publications. Assessments of smallholder and community management systems by scientists, forestry officials and practitioners vary widely. Some claim that community forestry has been a great success; others call it a massive failure. Some national governments, donors and development NGOs have dropped the concept, but others continue to promote community forestry under a variety of new models and methods. Smallholders have been recognised for successfully managing forest resources and granted new tenure rights, particularly in Latin America but also in Asia and Africa. However, local forest systems in some parts of the world are threatened with destruction, or smallholders themselves are abandoning these systems for forest conversion. ??New global trends are affecting local forest dynamics. Climate change, increasing social vulnerability, incentives for deforestation and land use change are the negative effects. Potentially positive effects include payments for carbon capture and storage as well as mechanisms for biodiversity valuation. In light of these trends, it is an appropriate moment to take stock.
http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/Events/Smallholder+and+community+forestry/
25 March 2010, London, United Kingdom
Acevo Spring Conference
A Joined Up Future for Community Health and Social Care?
Government policy has increasingly focused on joining up health and social care (HSC) services, and recently policy development combined with pressures on public spending are likely to accelerate that development.
The creation of a National Care Service poses significant questions as to how the provision of HSC will be coordinated in future. The Government’s plans to transform community health services, and to achieve a shift from acute to community care, presents further opportunities for more joined up provision. The new Care Quality Commission, the result of a merger of previously separate health and social care regulators, is gearing up for the challenge of regulating a more joined up health and social care system. The Department of Health is asking how the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment of HSC needs can take greater account of the expertise of third sector organisations.
On the ground, a series of emerging pilots (Total Place, Personal Health Budgets and the Right to Control) present significant opportunities for more joined up services, and for third sector involvement. And it is not just the HSC organisations that are looking to join up more; the public and third sectors are too, with the potential for cross-sector leadership development increasingly coming to the fore. Running alongside this pressure for more joined up working is the strain on public spending resulting from long-term investment shortages and the more recent fiscal deficit. The Government will need to get more bang for the public buck by ensuring that health and social care services are more innovative, more preventative and more joined up.
This conference is an excellent opportunity to hear about the latest news and policy which will affect HSC providers in the long term, discuss innovative new ideas for delivering high quality tailored services, consider the potential effect of public spending cuts, and meet with other HSC providers to talk about the challenges of leading a HSC organisation.
