"The Third Sector and Sustainable Social Change: New Frontiers for Research"
Universitat de Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
July 9-12, 2008
ISTR Eighth International Conference and
2nd
EMES-ISTR European
Conference in partnership with CINEFOGO
Information and Registration
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Universitat de Barcelona, School of Business Studies
10:00 am to 12:30 p.m.
Ten workshops are planned for Wednesday morning with no additional cost to conference participants. Space is limited and will be on a first come basis. Registration will be accepted by e-mail to: istrbarcelona@jhu.edu
PhD Perspectives:
Social Entrepreneurship Research
Social Entrepreneurship is still a nascent area of study in the broader academic community, but is garnering increasing levels of interest from faculty spanning many academic disciplines. This workshop is designed to create a space for dialogue amongst select professors (as facilitators) and doctoral students with current research interest in Social Entrepreneurship, or related areas. It will allow discussion to cover the particular challenges that doctoral students face in less established research domains and can allow sharing of current research initiatives, and a look to trends for future research.
Convener: The University Network for Social Entrepreneurship
The State of Philanthropy in Africa
This workshop seeks to explore the theoretical, conceptual, empirical, policy and research issues related to philanthropy and its role(s) in Africa. It is convened by Trust Africa, a foundation based in Dakar, Senegal.
The professional development workshop is also conceived as part of the process of establishing a “State of Philanthropy in Africa” – a series of publications slated to debut in 2008 – that will re.ect on the theoretical, philosophical, historical, and cultural underpinning of philanthropy, and explore its relation to civil society, the state, regional organizations, and Africans in the Disapora. The series seeks to build an infrastructure for philanthropy in Africa through research, intellectual re.ection, and policy debates. The publication will address and .ll gaps in the .eld of philanthropy as it is practiced in the African context. It aims, in particular, to address existing myths and misconceptions related to the study of philanthropy in Africa. Ultimately the aim is to introduce a new narrative on African Philanthropy by interpreting philanthropy in Africa in ways that use African prisms and takes into account African context.
Consequently, in addition to exploring the theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of philanthropy in Africa, the workshop will also be used to discuss the .rst drafts of chapters for the inaugural issue of the “State of Philanthropy in Africa” publication.
Co-conveners: Paul Opoku-Mensah (Denmark/Ghana) and Bhekinkosi Moyo (Senegal)
Civic Engagement in the Mediterranean
Individual and collective actions designed to identify and
address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual volunteerism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. In can include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem ...” Pew Charitable Trusts
This workshop will focus on how civil society works in the Mediterranean region. Presenters will assess civic engagement and both traditional and innovative models in Turkey, Israel, Italy, Egypt, and Spain.
Convenor: Filiz Bikmen, Sabanci Foundation, Turkey
Harnessing Social Enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
Drawing on the study on “Promoting the Role of Social Enterprises in CEE and the CIS” promoted within the Poverty Reduction and Economic Development Group of the United Nations Development Program - Bratislava Regional Center - this workshops aims at presenting and discussing the final publication that was delivered under the supervision of the EMES European Research Network. The project commenced implementation in December 2005. It focused on measures to promote an environment conducive to the development of Social Enterprises, with a view to their capacity of mitigating social exclusion, as well as generating new employment in CEE and the CIS.
Following a brief description of the rationale that inspired this project and the work that nurtured the partnership, a conceptual introduction will help positioning the social enterprise phenomenon from a theoretical point of view, while touching also upon its main historical determinants in EU-15. A discussion will follow about the main outcomes achieved by the preliminary study focused on 11 CEE and CIS countries, with a view to the main potentials and barriers that hamper social enterprise development in the region. Attention will be paid next to the three country studies included in the publication focused on social enterprise potential in Poland, Serbia, and Ukraine. Future steps and desired outcomes will be presented with workshop participants so as to locate this initial project into a larger initiative aiming to support the development of social enterprises as poverty reduction tools in target countries.
Finally, participants will be invited to interact and share their experiences and ideas around the project and the publication. The workshop will end with the official launching of the publication that culminates this 3-year project among academics, researchers, practitioners and international development professionals.
Pre-registraion is encouraged via email to info@emes.net or michaela.lednova@undp.org
Click Here for the Launch Flyer
Conveners: Ben Slay, Director, United Nations Development Programme - Bratislava Regional Center and Jacques Defourny, President, EMES European Research Network
Organised Civil Society as Facilitator for Democracy, Social Justice and
Active Participation
The intensifed interest in organized civil society and its impact on active civic participation and cultural identity has appeared at a time when the traditional political classes and state institutions have been questioned collectively. The role of citizenship, organized civil society and active participation has been emphasized and enhanced in creating democratic rights and social justice. Active citizenship has thus become closely related to social participation in all spheres of everyday life: from the shaping of civic, public and private institutions; to increased social cohesion; and to the realization of democratic rights in contemporary societies. A weakly-articulated support for citizenship rights in civil institutions - at the workplace and in public institutions - creates a fragile democratic culture and, consequently, less comprehensive social protection. The possibility for different loci of democratic learning, political re.exivity and governance depends, on the one side, on the specifc institutional mechanisms, and, on the other, on the broader institutional configuration.
Some of the main issues to be discussed in the workshop will be:
- How strong state power is replaced by innovative forms of horizontal collaboration between state actors and civil society, and networks emerge as an increasingly signi.cant mode of coordination.
- How different types of institutions – public, for-pro.t and non-pro.t – can contribute practically in encouraging and facilitating the participation of citizens and thereby in promoting active democracy.
The conditions for social participation and citizenship are different in the various welfare systems and which types of policy measures to combat social inequality and promote civic participation are realistic and practical given the diversity of welfare models.
Convener: Professor Thomas P. Boje, Roskilde University, Denmark; International Coordinator for the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence
"Theoretical Dialogues: Third sector, solidarity economy, social economy and social enterprise".
The key concepts in the interdisciplinary knowledge about civil society are more and more enriched by contribution of various cultures and continents. This workshop is dedicated to an explanation of theoretical approaches largely used in this diverse contexts. The idea is to express their main characteristics and to clarify the bases of intercontinental dialogues, that is why the workshop is divided in four topics, each of them examining two contrasted expressions by two researchers with different disciplinary and geographical background:
- Third Sector / Solidarity based economy, will intervene respectively—Mario M. Roitter, cedes, Buenos Aires and Jordi Garcia, Barcelona, Catalogne
- Philanthropy / Solidarity,—Kathleen McCarthy, Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Jean-Louis Laville, Cnam, Paris
- Social Management / Social Governance,—Tania Fisher, Escola d’Administraçao, Universidade Federal de Bahia and Benito Juncal, University of Barcelona
- Social Enterprises / Solidarity Based Enterprises,—Marthe Nyssens, University of Louvain and Luiz Inacio Gaiger, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos – Unisinos, São Leopoldo
The first central objective is to provide elements for a cultural and institutional embeddedness of theoretical assumptions.
The second central objective is to encourage an open debate between research traditions (Latino American, Anglo-Saxon, Continental European, …) hoping to develop such a debate within ISTR structures including other research traditions.
Co-convenors: Tania Fisher (Brazil) and Jean-Louis Laville (France)
Bridging Research and Policy
This workshop focuses on practical strategies for bridging research and policy, taking into consideration the development of policies that focus on the very poor. It will present the latest theory (including recent research on complexity theory and Open Innovation) and practice of bridging research and policy; present some methods and tools for knowledge managment, communications and networking relevant for bridging knowledge and practice; allow participants to share their own experience in using research-based evidence to in.uence development policy; and introduce participants to the Evidence-based Policy in Development Network which provides additional resources, tools and spaces for debate and peer engagement on bridging research and policy.
Participants will receive copies of the latest Toolkits and relevant publications from RAPID
Co-convenors: Enrique Mendizabal, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and Cecilia Norlander, ODI
National Associations Impact on the Nonprofit Sector
The CIVICUS Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) is a network of 55 national umbrella bodies of NGOs and NPOs that serve the interests of the non-pro.t sector in their countries. AGNA was launched in 2004 in order convene national umbrella associations for the purpose of providing a forum to share knowledge and experiences on generic civil society issues and of encouraging civil society engagement and co-operation across national boundaries in the pursuit of mutual interests. AGNA provides a space for national associations to engage in peer-learning on issues of mutual concern such as the role of national associations as representatives of civil society in engaging with the state – a topic which the AGNA ISTR workshop will address. The workshop will focus on providing best-practice examples of national associations’ experiences in mitigating external constraints and improving their internal capacity to effectively increase their impact in in.uencing public policy and holding governments to account.
Convenor: Katsuji Imata, Deputy Secretary General of CIVICUS
The Third Sector in Spain
Convenor: Pau Vidal, Observatori del Tercer, Sector, Spain