European Conference “Building social capital for more inclusive societies / Partnerships for innovative approaches in Europe”

Organised in the framework of a partnership between the College of Europe and Cera, the objective of this conference was to analyse how civil society and the private sector can cooperate with public administrations in order to reach the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy in the field of social inclusion.

The conference, which took place in Bruges on 14 March 2008, encouraged initiatives creating social capital for more inclusive European societies. It confirmed that creative efforts on the part of public administrations, at different levels, may be completed and indeed improved by partnerships with the private and voluntary sectors. Social capital (under certain conditions), social cohesion and democracy are values whose common aspect is to focus on the importance of participation and inclusion in political, economic and social life.

The conference counted the participation of high-level speakers, a combination of academics from the Catholic University of Louvain and the College of Europe, and representatives from various institutions, specialised bodies and public administrations, such as the European Commission, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND), the Council of Europe and France’s Conseil national de l’insertion par l’activité économique. Examples from the private and voluntary sectors were presented as well, such as the EMES research network on social entrepreneurship in Europe, the ‘Living Stone Centre for Intercultural Entrepreneurship’ (Belgium) and the CEPAC network (Czech Republic).

With regard to the topic of discussion, the first part of the conference analysed the social inclusion strategy of the EU and how states, on the one hand, and enterprises and civil society on the other may contribute to it. The second part was devoted to a discussion on the effectiveness and results of some innovative experiences. The conference concluded with a discussion on visions of more inclusive societies with social and civil partners (European Anti-Poverty Network, European Trade Union Confederation, CSR Europe) and PhD students from the School for Development Studies of the French-speaking community of Belgium.

The conference website may be visited here, and the main discussions and conclusions of this conference have been compiled and published in a special issue of the Collegium.