April 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):
 
1 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium, For a Europe with regions and cities: the view of young people
1 April 2014, Barcelona, Spain, ESADE's annual conference: Organisations with Social Impact
2 April 2014, London, UK, Good Incubation: The Craft of Supporting New Social Ventures
2 April 2014, London, UK, Social Futures-Future of Youth Employment 
2 April 2014, London, UK, Digital Edge 2014
7-8 April 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Social Now Europe 2014
 8 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium, High-level conference 'Youth Guarantee: Making It Happen'
8 April 2014, London, UK, How to get ahead in crowdfunding
9-11 April 2014, Oxford, UK, OxfordJam 
9-11 April 2014, Oxford, UK, Skoll Wolrd Forum on Social Entrepreneurship
9-11 April 2014, Groningen, The Netherlands, COHEHRE Conference 2014
10 April 2014, London, UK, Wayra UnLtd Demoday 
11 April 2014, Manchester, UK, Work-Life Balance, Fairness and Social Justice during Recession and austerity
14 April 2014, London, UK, Hub Youth Academy Spring 2014
15-16 April 2014, London, UK, Measuring Social Impact 
28 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium, Conference on working conditions
29 April 2014, Athens, Greece, COFACE Greek Presidency conference “Families in the crisis” 
 29 April 2014, Thessaloniki,  Greece, Digital Innovation for Regional Growth 
 30 April 2014, London, UK, People Power
 
 
1 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium
For a Europe with regions and cities: the view of young people
As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the Committee of the Regions (CoR) will be inviting some 150 young people from a variety of youth organisations and European political parties, including students and interns from the EU institutions, the regional representation offices and Brussels-based think-tanks. They will discuss the future of a multi-level Europe and of the CoR itself, the only EU institution that truly represents the views of Europe's cities and regions. In tandem with the CoR's internal reflection process, the event aims to elicit some feedback from the younger generation about what form they expect the CoR to take in the next 20 years. The young people involved will be asked to present the results of their discussions during the 20th anniversary ceremony to be held in the European Parliament during the CoR Plenary on 2 April. This will be followed by an exchange of views with CoR members.
 
1 April 2014, Barcelona, Spain
ESADE's annual conference: Organisations with Social Impact
At its 7th Annual Conference, with the theme “Organisations with Social Impact”, ESADE’s Institute for Social Innovation will host a lecture promoting entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship for social purposes.
The event will bring together prominent figures from academia, the business world, the third sector and the public sector, primarily from European countries
Promoting social entrepreneurship and social intrapreneurship is one of the main objectives of the 7th Annual Conference of ESADE’s Institute for Social Innovation, which will be held on 1st April in Barcelona. The event will feature a talk by Pamela Hartigan, Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School, on the current role played by social entrepreneurship. It will also highlight tips and resources that can enable organisations of all sorts to effectively implement intrapreneurship.
 
2 April 2014, London, UK
Good Incubation: The Craft of Supporting New Social Ventures
Join Nesta  as they bring together some of the leading social impact accelerators, co-working spaces and impact investment networks to share experiences and discuss the best ways to support and incubate social ventures.
The full day event marks the launch of Nesta’s new report, Good Incubation: The Craft of Supporting New Social Ventures, which analyses global trends in social impact incubation. 
The day will be split into talks about incubation best practices and future trends, and practical sessions on topics like selection, mentoring and evaluation. 
The event is supported by the Cabinet Office and will also be attended by Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society. 
This is a great opportunity for UK impact investors, policy makers and incubator managers to interact with founders and managers of other global programmes, reflect on practice development and consider future experimentation.
 
2 April 2014, London, UK
Social Futures-Future of Youth Employment 
This event will provide the chance for young people and supporters of to inform and shape policy recommendations for the Social Economy Alliance ahead of the 2015 General Election, to ensure social entrepreneurship features as a significant part of the solution for the future of youth employment.
UnLtd leads the alliance work-stream on work and believes that enterprise, social entrepreneurship, training and education, self-employment and job creation can help address the problems of social immobility, unemployment, and stagnating wages and living standards, inequality, disadvantage and reduced access to opportunity.
Social Futures is UnLtd’s policy space for collaboratively exploring key themes affecting social entrepreneurs part of the Living It campaign celebrating and showcasing young social entrepreneurs.
 
2 April 2014, London, UK   
Digital Edge 2014
Digital and social channels are vital when raising money, engaging people and attracting new audiences. 
The stats speak for themselves:
30% of donations to charities are now made through digital channels
Mobile giving is predicted to rocket nearly 800% in 5 years
Charities’ online audience is now greater than its offline audience (49% offline vs. 51% online)
Whether you work in digital, fundraising, marketing or communications, this one-day event, offers you the opportunity to dig deep into the different digital and social channels available to ensure you are focusing your resources in the right places.
Where this event differs from the other Third Sector events, is that not only will it deliver insight it is also aone-stop shop training day featuring charity-led case studies (small and large) each with their own interactive workshops.
 
7-8 April 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands  
Social Now Europe 2014
Social Now Europe is an  international event where companies find the right enterprise social tool for bottom line results. The event features: 6 inspiring  speakers; 12 enterprise social tools
Experienced panel; Innovative format; Great networking
To read more: http://socialnow.org/
 
8 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium
High-level conference 'Youth Guarantee: Making It Happen'
László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is hosting a one-day high-level conference on the Youth Guarantee on 8 April in Brussels.
The event will bring together key practitioners involved in the implementation of the Council Recommendation on establishing a Youth Guarantee adopted in April 2013.
It will discuss progress achieved by Member States in putting in place Youth Guarantee schemes and making use of the € 6 billion Youth Employment Initiative made available to support the Youth Guarantee's delivery, in addition to support from the European Social Fund available over 2014-20.
The conference will be opened by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso. Confirmed high level speakers include Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Organisation; Yves Leterme, Deputy Secretary General of the OECD and Pervenche Berès MEP, Chair of the Employment and Social affairs Committee of the European Parliament.
 
8 April 2014, London, UK
How to get ahead in crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has grown into a $5 billion dollar industry in just four years. That’s double the amount raised from the 1 million campaigns that ran in 2012.
NESTA estimates that within three to five years, crowdfunding could provide around £15 billion of finance a year in the UK, of which £4.7 billion could be the charity sector's share.
For charities and NGO’s there are myriad opportunities to develop this vital new source of income from supporters and beyond.
But where do you start? And what are the best ways to ensure engagement with your audience?
This workshop will navigate through the myriad platforms available, look at the most successful campaigns to date, demonstrate  best practices available to ensure the success of your campaign and offer video production ideas to make the best pitch for your project.
 
9-11 April 2014, Oxford, UK 
OxfordJam 
Running in parallel to The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford, OxfordJam is a three-day fringe event that creates a space for the nurturing of social economy and social finance projects the world over.
For its 5th birthday, OxfordJam promises to uphold its reputation for providing an innovative, inclusive and truly participatory environment whilst stretching ever further into the most exciting new corners of the social economy!.
If you want to connect with the brightest and most innovative minds in the social economy, learn about exciting work being done at grass roots level, have fun, start new projects, evolve current passions and celebrate five years of the OxfordJam fringe festival – then come along and take part in the conversation.
 
9-11 April 2014, Oxford, UK
Skoll Wolrd Forum on Social Entrepreneurship
Each year, nearly 1,000 of the world’s most influential social entrepreneurs, key thought leaders and strategic partners gather at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School to exchange ideas, solutions and information.
The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship is the premier international platform for advancing entrepreneurial approaches and solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Its mission is to accelerate the impact of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs by uniting them with essential partners in a collaborative pursuit of learning, leverage and large-scale social change. Co-produced by the Skoll Foundation and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School, the Forum shines a spotlight on best practices, new innovations and connecting leaders to one another to further global social progress. Forum delegates represent nearly 65 countries and participate in a range of interactive events in inspiring Oxford locations. 
 
9-11 April 2014, Groningen, The Netherlands  
COHEHRE Conference 2014
It is linked to the European theme of 2014; ' The European Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life'. 
In order to encourage meditation of the theme, the COHEHRE Conference, which theme is: 'Reconciling work and family in health and social care education'  will focus on four subtheme areas: . Families under pressure; Self-management in work and family life; Health and welfare professions in transition; (Use of) Quantified self in different health professions     
 
10 April 2014, London, UK
Wayra UnLtd Demoday 
This will be the first demoDay of the Wayra UnLtd programme, so Wayra are particularly excited to share the progress made by their incredible social enterprises since joining their acceleration programme in September 2013.  
Participants will have the opportunity to meet these exciting new digital start-ups, the Wayra London Management Team, members of Telefónica UK's and UnLtd's Board. They will also have individuals from the UK Cabinet Office, alongside investors, entrepreneurs and like-minded individuals from London's thriving start-up ecosystem.
 
11 April 2014, Manchester, UK
Work-Life Balance, Fairness and Social Justice during Recession and austerity
The seminar series brings together researchers and practitioners to seek solutions to a ‘triple agenda’: how to enhance employees’ WLB, organizational effectiveness and social justice. It identifies changes in work arrangements and WLB policies and asks: Whether WLB is becoming more difficult for everyone, or is the impact uneven? Are economic pressures reducing employers’ willingness to implement WLB initiatives, or making it more difficult to do so? Which national and organizational WLB policies and services are resilient, which are adapting and which are being cut back? How do these developments impact on different groups of workers? In this second seminar these questions  are considered through a focus on occupational and contractual inequalities in working schedules and WLB, as well as  the gender inequalities which are woven throughout. The seminar opens with an analysis of the situation in UK and France, and then locates the discussion in the wider European policy perspective. The afternoon session continues the discussion of the equality, diversity and social justice issues involved, with a break out session to consider practical implications and possible solutions. The seminar aim is to contribute to evidence-based debates about WLB policies and practices. 
 
14 April 2014, London, UK 
Hub Youth Academy Spring 2014
Hub Youth Academy will connect ambitious, socially conscious young people to real careers in social enterprise. It will provide a two-week innovative social enterprise training focused on action and collaboration, followed by membership to Impact Hub Islington – a globally connected network of co-working spaces for value-driven entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small businesses.
 
15-16 April 2014, London, UK
Measuring Social Impact 
The School for Social Entrepreneurs London  and nef consulting have partnered to offer a two day course giving you the knowledge and tools that you need to measure your organisation's social impact.  As well as making your organisation more attractive to funders, being able to measure your social impact will enable you to measure the effectiveness of your organisation, to benchmark with your competition and allow you to see where improvements can be made.
 
28 April 2014, Brussels, Belgium
Conference on working conditions
The European Commission is organising a conference on working conditions on 28 April in Brussels to reflect on the results achieved and on the way forward.
Improving working conditions has been a  long-standing priority for the EU institutions and over the last years several key initiatives have been taken. The financial and economic crisis has led to an increased pressure on employment and working conditions. Therefore, protecting and improving the quality of work appears even more critical to achieve more inclusive growth.
It is against this background that the conference will take place. The event will give an opportunity to obtain feedback from stakeholders and engage with them in an open public debate about future priorities in different areas relating to working conditions.
 
29 April 2014, Athens, Greece 
COFACE Greek Presidency conference “Families in the crisis” 
The conference will be one of the highlight events of COFACE’s Year for Reconciling Work and Family Life in Europethematic work programme over the course of 2014. This event is jointly organised by COFACE and its Greek member organisation, KMOP, in close cooperation with the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In particular, the meeting is supported by Vasso Kollia, Secretary General for Gender Equality at the General Secretariat for Gender Equality.
Five years of low growth and social uncertainty have hit European families hard especially in countries like Greece. We believe that this event takes place during a transitional period for Greece, and also for the European Union, when decisions and discussions must urgently take place that support policies facing our days’ challenges.
The conference will focus on austerity measures and cuts to social services, women’s participation on the labour market, and how work and family life reconciliation can work under economic stress. Other topics addressed will be childcare, family solidarity in times of crisis and the outlook for the young people and their future families. It will be the opportunity for Greek social partners and civil society representatives to meet their colleagues, who work at the European level and exchange information, build up concrete actions.
 
29 April 2014, Thessaloniki,  Greece 
Digital Innovation for Regional Growth 
This high-level event offers an opportunity to hear first-hand from the European Commission, the S3 Platform as well as from regional and local stakeholders about the importance of innovation tools such asInnovation Procurement and ICT Innovation Vouchers in the framework ofSmart Specialization Strategies as means to boost digital innovation in order to achieve regional growth. Information will be shared around the process involved in drafting of the programmes, the use of Structural Fundsand Horizon 2020 or other financing support to implement innovation measures, lessons learned and outcomes achieved. 
The event is co-organised by the European Commission DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology, and IPTS, Smart Specialization (S3) Platform. It is hosted by the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece, as part of the Greek Presidency of the Council of European Union.
 
30 April 2014, London, UK
People Power
People Power is a one-day conference celebrating all that can be achieved through campaigning and activism. 
At  People Power participants will  mix with experienced, up-and-coming and grassroots campaigners. Attendees will also meet leading figures from government, media and business – all united to share knowledge, experience and insights.
Be  inspired by the people making their voices heard. Learn from the campaigners making change happen. Make a vital contribution to debate, discussion and the future of campaigning.

Cosa fa VITA?

Da 30 anni VITA è la testata di riferimento dell’innovazione sociale, dell’attivismo civico e del Terzo settore. Siamo un’impresa sociale senza scopo di lucro: raccontiamo storie, promuoviamo campagne, interpelliamo le imprese, la politica e le istituzioni per promuovere i valori dell’interesse generale e del bene comune. Se riusciamo a farlo è  grazie a chi decide di sostenerci.