Non profit
September 2010
A Vita Europe selection of civil society events around Europe.
Listed events (for further descriptions of events and links scroll down):
1 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, The Parliament Magazine’s Belgian Presidency Reception
1-4 September 2010, Rome, Italy, XIII European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour
2 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, Future of Independent Clinical Research in Europe
2-3 September 2010, Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium, Child Poverty: Conference
5-11 September 2010, Stockholm, Sweden,
World Water Week
8 September 2010, International Literacy Day
8-10 September 2010, Ghent, Belgium, Biodiversity after 2010 – biodiversity in a changed world
10 September 2010, World Suicide Prevention Day
13 September 2010, Oslo, Norway, The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion – Joint ILO-IMF Conference in Cooperation with the Office of the Prime Minister of Norway
13-14 September 2010, Bologna, Italy, Towards Financially Sustainable Universities II: Diversifying Income
13-14 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, Quality & Efficiency in the Asylum Process: Conference
13-15 September 2010, Cordoba, Spain, International Seminar on the Role of Agrobiodiversity in Addressing Hunger and Climate Change
14 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, Euclid Network’s Annual General Meeting
14 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, More Urban, More Cohesion: The Added-Value Of The Urban Dimension Of Cohesion Policy
15 September 2010, International Day of Democracy 2010
16-17 September 2010, Riva del Garda (Trento), Italy, Workshop on Social Enterprise: “Innovation in cooperation”
19-22 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, Move it! – The EESC’s urban mobility days
24 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, Laying the Foundations for a Fairer Europe – Ensuring an Adequate Minimum Income for All
24-25 September 2010, Milan, Italy, Strenghtening the strategic relationship European Union – Latin America: European – Latin American Forum of Women
27 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium, Partnership Africa: New Horizons for EU and Inter-African Cooperation
29 September – 1 October 2010, Trieste, Italy, Cities and Urban Spaces: Chances for Cultural and Citizenship Education
29 September-2 October 2010, Pescasseroli, Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, Italy, Europarc Conference 2010
1 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
The Parliament Magazine’s Belgian Presidency Reception
The Parliament Magazine will welcome MEPs back to work in September with a reception to celebrate the Belgian Presidency.
In attendance will be MEPs, Belgian ministers and host, The Parliament Magazine’s MEP editor, Catherine Stihler. The reception will be opened by the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Steven Vanackere.
www.theparliament.com/awards-and-events/forthcoming-events/Belgian-Presidency-Reception
1-4 September 2010, Rome, Italy
XIII European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour
Basic components of studies on suicide (research, prevention, treatment) have undergone consistent progress, but given the peculiar nature of each one, their mutual dialogue and definitive exchange has proved to be scarce.
Inspiration of the 13th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour (ESSSB13) is then to investigate possible modalities and paths of communication of these instances, favoring aggregation and interplay not only of single minds, but also at a more complex level of structurization of suicidology, with the ultimate scope of harmonizing its articulate development.
ESSSB13 is jointly organized by the Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Molise, and the D’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy. ESSSB13 is dedicated to the memory of Professor Andrej Marušic (1965-2008), Slovenian Suicidologist and President of the 11th ESSSB.
2 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Future of Independent Clinical Research in Europe
This international conference, organised by ERRIN, will address the importance, but also the threats, of independent academic clinical research in Europe and will highlight problems related to the implementation of the European Directive on experimentation of medicinal products. Another objective is to discuss potential ethical problems of conducting clinical research and the barriers to conduct translational research requiring the collection and the use of human biological material and personal data. The conference will also address the need to consider appropriate funding for independent academic clinical research in Europe.
www.errin.eu/en/calendar.php?y=2010&m=09&d=02&id=101126
2-3 September 2010, Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium
Child Poverty: Conference
This Conference on Child Poverty organised by the Belgian Presidency of the Concil of the European Union will commit Member States to addressing and finding solutions to the problems of children living in poverty, thus preparing the ground for the adoption of a Recommendation by the European Commission.
There will be around 300 participants, who will take into consideration all the studies and initiatives that have been carried out to date, with the intention of reaching a consensus on the objectives and criteria to adopt in combating child poverty.
This conference will be organised in accordance with a concept of active participation, known as « Town Hall ». The participants will be divided into groups of ten people around tables managed by professional facilitators. Each participant will be invited to speak and this will considerably enrich the debate held. The general conclusions of the event will reflect genuine shared work. This formula has the advantage of providing real added value compared with a traditional conference.
The three principal themes that will be dealt with refer to the guarantee of adequate resources in order for the essential requirements of all children to be met; access to quality services to ensure the current and future well-being of children and the fostering of the participation of children in decision-making processes which concern them.
The conclusions, recommendations and definitions of the quantified objectives and criteria with regard to combating child poverty, which will result from this conference, will contribute to the political process in preparation for the adoption of a Recommendation on the issue by the Commission.
2010 has been selected by the EU as the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, with the aim of raising public awareness about these issues and renewing the political commitment of the EU and its Member States to combating them.
www.europa.eu/eucalendar/eventpopup.shtml?eventId=1284130
www.eutrio.be/conference-child-poverty
5-11 September 2010, Stockholm, Sweden
World Water Week
The World Water Week, hosted and organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development. As an open platform for over 2,000 participants including key decision-makers and more than 200 collaborating organisations, the conference promotes the exchange of views and experiences between the scientific, business, policy and civil society communities, thereby advancing the water, environment, health, livelihood and poverty reduction agendas.
The 2010 edition, that will mark the 20th anniversary of the event, will feature the theme:
“The Water Quality Challenge – Prevention, Wise Use and Abatement”.
8 September 2010
International Literacy Day
On International Literacy Day each year, UNESCO reminds the international community of the status of literacy and adult learning globally.
Despite many and varied efforts, literacy remains an elusive target: some 759 million adults lack minimum literacy skills which means that one in five adults is still not literate; 72 million children are out-of-school and many more attend irregularly or drop out.
This year’s theme is “The power of women’s literacy”.
www.unesco.org/en/literacy/advocacy/international-literacy-day
8-10 September 2010, Ghent, Belgium
Biodiversity after 2010 – biodiversity in a changed world
This conference under Belgian EU presidency is a milestone in the development of an EU biodiversity policy for the post-2010 era. It offers an opportunity for exchanging ideas about the challenges connected with the preservation of biodiversity. The anticipated result is a policy message for the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October 2010.
The UN has nominated 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. This year is also a crucial time for the evaluation and renewal of the European and global aims for biodiversity. These will be established during the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at Nagoya (Japan) in October 2010.
The Belgian EU presidency will organise an EU ministerial conference in order to:
– Discuss the present status of biodiversity and eco-system services;
– Exchange ideas on the challenges connected with the preservation of biodiversity in an urbanising and changing world;
– Reflect on the options put forward for the post-2010 vision and aims and highlight a number of implementation options.
The aim is to arrive at a policy message for the COP10.
This conference will focus on three specific topics:
– Biodiversity in an urbanising Europe
– Valuation of natural goods and services
– Possibilities for the implementation of the vision and aims for biodiversity after 2010.
www.eutrio.be/biodiversity-after-2010-biodiversity-changed-world
10 September 2010
World Suicide Prevention Day
World Suicide Prevention Day promotes worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides. On average, almost 3000 people commit suicide daily. For every person who completes a suicide, 20 or more may attempt to end their lives.
The sponsoring International Association for Suicide Prevention, the co-sponsor WHO and other partners advocate for the prevention of suicidal behaviour, provision of adequate treatment and follow-up care for people who attempted suicide, as well as responsible reporting of suicides in the media.
At the global level, awareness needs to be raised that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death. Governments need to develop policy frameworks for national suicide prevention strategies. At the local level, policy statements and research outcomes need to be translated into prevention programmes and activities in communities.
www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_suicide_prevention_day/en/index.html
13 September 2010, Oslo, Norway
The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion – Joint ILO-IMF Conference in Cooperation with the Office of the Prime Minister of Norway
The global financial crisis and the ensuing recession have had devastating consequences for employment and poverty reduction. The ILO estimates that 34 million more people worldwide are unemployed now as a result of the crisis. Combating unemployment and striving to attain decent work for all must be a key priority as the global economy emerges from the downturn.
High unemployment and underemployment have high economic and social costs that—unless addressed—have the potential to drain the vitality out of any recovery. The great risk is that short-term job losses become long-term unemployment, producing a progressive loss of workers’ skills and exclusion from the productive economy. In such circumstances, demand can languish and the economy can become trapped in a cycle of stagnant growth and high unemployment. Increasing economic dislocation and marginalization can undermine social cohesion—carrying with it dangers to peace and stability.
The conference will focus on both short and long-term policy measures. The short-term measures consider the human cost of the financial crisis and how to ease the burden of joblessness. The second roundtable, in the afternoon, will focus on the longer-term policy measures, and address new strategies to kick-start vibrant employment growth and make markets work more for people. It will discuss wage policies, education and training, support to smaller enterprises and 21st century social protection. By bringing together a diverse group of speakers and participants, the conference will seek to define global solutions relevant to all regions.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and ILO Director General Juan Somavia will chair the conference.
www.osloconference2010.org/conference
13-14 September 2010, Bologna, Italy
Towards Financially Sustainable Universities II: Diversifying Income
In an increasingly competitive environment, Europe’s universities must find a way to become financially sustainable, and cannot afford to wait for the general economic recovery.
Following the success of the European University Association (EUA)’s first Experts Conference “Towards Financially Sustainable European Higher Education Institutions” which focused on full costing and accounting practices, this event aims at going further by exploring another crucial element of financial sustainability: income diversification.
This high level conference draws together experts from across Europe to identify the key elements necessary for financial survival in the future. University leaders, policy makers, researchers and partners from the private sector will discuss the results of the EUDIS project and further explore the key features and conditions for implementing successful income diversification strategies.
The EUDIS project consortium is composed of EUA, HUMANE, the University of Bologna and the Bavarian State Institute for Higher Education Research and Planning.
www.eua.be/events/eudis-experts-conference/home
13-15 September 2010, Cordoba, Spain
International Seminar on the Role of Agrobiodiversity in Addressing Hunger and Climate Change
This International Seminar is convened in the International Year of Biodiversity and as a contribution to the celebrations of the World Food Day. It will focus on the role of agricultural biodiversity for food security, to fight hunger and to buffer the effects of climate changes. During the event, prestigious international experts will discuss the work being undertaken in these fields in diverse institutions. The Seminar will promote awareness raising and dialogue among public institutions, universities, scientists, civil society and the private sector. It is expected to catalyze action and projects, as well as to contribute to defining priorities and developing policies at international, national and local levels. An expert committee, which willl include representatives of the participant institutions, will draft a document or declaration with specific recommendations for action. This will be presented at international forums such as the High Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Biodiversity to be held in September 22 in New York.
The Seminar is organized by:
– Municipality of Córdoba
– Biodiversity International
– Chair of Studies on Hunger and Poverty (CEHAP) at the University of Cordoba
– Convention on Biological Diversity
– County Council of Córdoba
– Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
– International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
– Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM)
– Ministry of Science and Innovation, National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (INIA)
www.uco.es/catedrasyaulas/cehap
13-14 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Quality & Efficiency in the Asylum Process: Conference
The Belgian Presidency will invite the EU Member States, EU institutions , the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and civil society representatives to take part in a conference on quality and efficiency in the asylum process.
The conference will note good practices that can contribute to a more efficient asylum policy in the Member States, in compliance with defined quality standards. It will be structured around 3 key themes: ‘Asylum seekers with special needs’, ‘Decision Process’ and ‘Solidarity’.
The first day of the asylum conference will be dedicated to presentations in a plenary session and parallel workshops about each of the three subjects. The outcome of these workshops will then be presented to the plenary session of ministers on the second day.
Parallel to the ministerial meeting on the second day, the Belgian Presidency wants to organise a ‘market place’ for good practice, where Member States as well as community-based organisations can present, exchange and discuss interesting examples of quality and efficiency in the asylum process.
www.europa.eu/eucalendar/event.shtml?eventId=1285125
14 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Euclid Network’s Annual General Meeting
Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission, is confirmed to give the keynote speech of the Euclid Network AGM at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
Ms Ashton will be presenting her ideas on how civil society can be a player in European foreign policy.
The global recession has taught both business and governments the need for multi-stakeholder partnerships and innovation as we emerge from the crisis and in to the recovery.
Civil Society has clearly grown to respond to this challenge and yet still remains an untapped resource, not just domestically but on a European level, as a driving force for Europe and European principles.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
– Engage with fellow Euclid members, civil society organisation leaders, from across Europe
– Speak to and influence high-profile decision makers
– Have their say in the network’s activities for the coming year
14 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
More Urban, More Cohesion: The Added-Value Of The Urban Dimension Of Cohesion Policy
This conference is organised by EUROCITIES.
As the debate develops about the future of EU cohesion policy this conference will demonstrate the strengths of the urban dimension and how the integrated approach adopted by cities brings added value to cohesion policy. Integrated local development combines social, economic and environmental measures, forging partnerships both horizontally (across different local stakeholders) and vertically (across different levels of government). The geographical scale of intervention can range from the neighbourhood level to the city as a whole or the wider functional area depending on the issues at stake. The integrated approach fosters innovation in policy development, delivery and governance and leads to more enduring impacts.
The conference will showcase examples of actions and projects already supported by EU structural funds in three different sessions focusing on integrating people and place-based policies, on partnership working and on variable geography. It will involve the ‘key players’ of cohesion policy: representatives from Member States, from the European Parliament, from the European Commission, and from regional and local governments.
15 September 2010
International Day of Democracy 2010
On 15 September 2010, the IPU and parliaments around the world will be celebrating the third International Day of Democracy, declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007.
The choice by the United Nations of 15 September for the International Day of Democracy corresponds to the adoption in September 1997 by the IPU of a Universal Declaration on Democracy. That Declaration affirms the principles of democracy, the elements and exercise of democratic government, and the global scope of democracy.
The International Day of Democracy is meant both to celebrate democracy and to serve as a reminder that the need to promote and protect democracy is as urgent now as ever.
This year’s theme is: Political accountability: Strengthening links between parliaments and citizens. The accountability of office-holders is nowadays seen as a basic requirement for all public life in a democracy. Parliament’s standing depends on the trust of the people and being accountable to them. To be effective, parliament needs to be accessible and well understood, so that the public are regularly and actively involved in its work.
www.ipu.org/dem-e/idd/overview.htm
16-17 September 2010, Riva del Garda (Trento), Italy
Workshop on Social Enterprise
“Innovation in cooperation”
This workshop, promoted by Iris Network – the national network of research institutes on social enterprise – is the first national event created to favour an exchange of experiences between social entrepreneurs and to put them into contact with the most relevant researches of the sector.
Thirty best practices will be presented to let participants get to know and confront many experiences of social entrepreneurship, which have started to cooperate with for profit enterprises, public administrations, foundations and associations.
19-22 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Move it! – The EESC’s urban mobility days
The European Economic and Social Committee, in conjunction with the Ixelles Municipality and architect Luc Schuiten, is organising a major public event on urban mobility, as part of the Belgian presidency of the EU.
The EESC will enable everyone to:
-find out about a wide range of transport options, some very original;
-take part in various activities focusing on areas such as safety, health, the environment and accessibility, etc.
– have a chat with local and European policy makers in order to hear their views and put your ideas forward;
-dream about the cities and transport of the future with architect Luc Schuiten.
The four-day event will centre on a temporary exhibition of the work of Luc Schuiten, Belgian architect and visionare, part of whose work involves designing futuristic cities. Mr Schuiten champions ecological lifestyles and is concerned about the future of the planet; he spends part of his time working on practical ideas for potential urban transport developments. He will use the Move it! event to put forward new ideas on the urban mobility systems of the future, as well as displaying his innovative vehicles.
www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.events-and-activities-move-it
24 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Laying the Foundations for a Fairer Europe – Ensuring an Adequate Minimum Income for All
The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) and the Belgian Anti-Poverty Network (BAPN), with the support of the Belgian Presidency, will hold a major conference aiming at building consensus towards the need for progress on the guarantee of an adequate minimum income for a dignified life, as a basis for a fairer EU.
This conference will contribute to the 2010 European Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion.
It will also debate on a key document, the proposal for an EU Framewok Directive on Minimum Income made by Anne Van Lancker, Consultant for EAPN.
EAPN campaignsfor Adequate Minimum Income for All.
International human rights instruments commit Governments to respect human dignity. The 2008 EU Commission Recommendation on Active Inclusion recognises “the individual’s basic right to resources and social assistance sufficient to lead a life that is compatible with human dignity”. Through this campaign, EAPN seeks to hold Governments accountable for these commitments.
You can read EAPN’s ID card by clicking on the following link: www.vita.it/news/view/100077
24-25 September 2010, Milan, Italy
Strenghtening the strategic relationship European Union – Latin America
European – Latin American Forum of Women
It’s been nearly fifty years since the founding members of the European Union established strategic economic relationships with Latin American countries.
However, up until now, women’s voices have never been heard. There has never been a meeting between women from both regions to evaluate the work that has been carried out to help them, improve their situation or to simply present their concept of development.
For this reason, this seminar, that will launch the Latin American-Euro Forum, will enable female representatives of these two regions to reflect on the condition of women.
The seminar also aims at stimulating women’s participation in the economy and at preparing a socio-economic agenda, thus contributing to enriching the next European Union-Latin America Summit, which will take place in Santiago, Chile, in 2012.
Italy has presented itself as a candidate to host the Summit in 2014.
The seminar is organized by: CEFIAL-UE, Inter-American Commission of Women-Organization of American States, Representation in Milan of the European Commission and European Women’s Lobby.
Carlo Corazza, Director of the Representation in Milan of the European Union, will speak during the event.
www.cefial.org/foro_eurolatinoamericano/home.htm
27 September 2010, Brussels, Belgium
Partnership Africa: New Horizons for EU and Inter-African Cooperation
The EU-Africa summit, held in December 2007, cemented a new Africa-EU strategic partnership, marking a qualitative leap in relations between the two continents. The Lisbon Treaty further defines the framework to jointly address common concerns and global challenges, such as governance, healthcare, and climate change.
Just two months ahead of the forthcoming EU-Africa Summit in November 2010 in Tripoli, European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, will open the Friends of Europe annual policy summit Partnership Africa: New Horizons for EU- and Inter-African Cooperation with a keynote speech, addressing a select audience of development and Africa experts from EU institutions, national governments and agencies of the member States, pan-African institutions and governments of African States, representatives of international organisations, business and industry, civil society, media and press.
29 September – 1 October 2010, Trieste, Italy
Cities and Urban Spaces: Chances for Cultural and Citizenship Education
This year’s NECE conference refers to radical changes in European cities: migration and mobility tend to undermine the cohesion in many urban societies. Many cities have become complicated entities in which ethnically, socially and culturally segregated communities have developed. Often, extended leeways for individual life designs and collective ways of living are often linked to growing disparity and conflicts of identity and self-assertion.
Developments within cities and in urban spaces provide a variety of starting points for new ways of cultural and citizenship education which are being discovered only slowly. Artistic and cultural ways of action and interventions may inform and activate the public, new participative ways of urban development may mobilise the citizens’ political and creative potential and support the voices of civil society. Which opportunities and tasks for cultural and citizenship education do result from these new forms and ways of action? May they lead to a reconsideration of previous assumptions and interventions in cultural and citizenship education?
The NECE conference in Trieste can be understood as a laboratory, think tank and project market for different disciplines, methodologies (“expert cultures”) and practitioners, bringing together the variety of ‘urban’ discourses and practices in the cities of Europe in order to look for new approaches to cooperation and projects.
29 September-2 October 2010, Pescasseroli, Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, Italy
Europarc Conference 2010
2010 has been proclaimed the International Year of Biodiversity. ?The EUROPARC conference will consider this important theme with workshops, excursions and speeches on the topic:
“Living together. Biodiversity and Human Activities: ?A Challenge for the Future of Protected Area”.
Keynote speakers from Europe and internationally will consider the response we all need to make locally, in the face of global biodiversity loss. Full day workshops will examine practical solutions more thoroughly and offer an opportunity for all concerned with the management of Europe’s protected areas to share experience and learn from each other.
www.parcoabruzzo.it/page.php?id=1
More events for this month to come…
If you would like your event to be included, please contact Cristina Barbetta
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