The turning points of EU cohesion policy, Working Paper Report to Barca Report

In more recent discussions on the future of Cohesion policy, however, both critics and supporters have tended to agree on the need for a “modernisation” of the policy, in recognition of existing weakness in the current approach and of the emerging challenges faced by the European economy, society and broader integration process. In this context of reform, this paper will take a step back in time to examine the origins and evolution of Cohesion policy, with a view to shedding some light on its core dynamics and revealing some of the lessons of history. In doing so, the main objectives of this paper are to identify the main historical turning points in Cohesion policy, the trends and nature of changes witnessed, and the key underlying factors facilitating or obstructing policy reform over time

Learning from the World: Good Practices in Navigating Cultural Diversity. Bertelsmann Stiftung Study 2018

The Reinhard Mohn Prize 2018 “Living Diversity – Shaping Society” focuses on diversity in German society, that is the plurality of cultural, religious and linguistic identities found among the people who live in the country. With this focus, the RMP 2018 highlights a variety of successful strategies for living peacefully in diversity. In historical terms, cultural diversity is nothing new or unique for Germany. In fact, though we are often unaware of it, cultural diversity has been a feature of our daily life for a long time. Indeed, religious differences have shaped German society since the Reformation. And Judaism has always been present in the area we now call Germany

Territorial cooperation in Europe: challenges and opportunities for the EU energy governance

ooperation between European territorial authorities is a developing phenomenon which has reached a certain degree of harmonization through the instruments provided by the Council of Europe and the European Union. The Third Additional Protocol to the European Outline Convention concerning Euroregional Cooperation Groupings (ECGs), together with Regulation (EU) n. 1302/2013 amending Regulation (EC) n. 1082/2006 on European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation (EGTCs), provided new means to improve and institutionalize the governance of key sectors, such as the environment and energy, which require a combination of different and contrasting concerns as well as the involvement of all levels of government. The paper will explore the trends that characterize territorial cooperation in Europe, with particular regard to the means provided by the EU, and will point out their potential contribution in dealing with the main issues affecting current EU energy policy, especially as regards the European Commission’s attempt to shape a resilient European Energy Unio

Space for inclusion? The Construction of Sport and Leisure Spaces as Places for Migrant Communities

The research on which this paper is based started from the proposition that sport and leisure spaces can support processes of social inclusion (Amara et al., 2005), yet may also serve to exclude certain groups. As such, these spaces may be seen as contested and racialised places that shape behaviour. We shall use this paper not just to explore how those spaces are perceived by new migrants, but how those interpretations may vary with time and processes of social change. That involves examining how sport and leisure spaces are encoded in different ways, thereby affecting people’s experience, while at the same time recognising that their sport and leisure practices shape those social constructions. We argue that such an understanding is necessary to inform policies and practices that could promote the development of mutual and shared spaces rather than disconnected multiple occupations of spaces. Our goal is not only to contribute to the development of theory, but also to the debate that has counterposed multiculturalism and integrationism. Our recent systematic review, conducted for Sporting Equals and the sports councils (Long et al., 2009), synthesised literature on participation in sport and physical recreation by people from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities (BME) in the UK. That review identified a growing body of research, but one focussing primarily on the experiences of Black and Asian groupings. That has led us to turn to a consideration of new migrant communities. In this paper we shall be reporting on empirical research conducted with ‘new migrants’ now living in Leeds

The Interfaith Council for Social Cohesion in the Western Balkans

With the demise of the communist governments in the Balkan region in the early 1990s, we have entered a phase in which serious religiously related issues challenging the social cohesion of our societies need serious analysis and action at different levels. Interfaith councils as a way of engaging the different religious communities in one society are not new and not the same. Nor are they unquestionably accepted or easily dismissed as ineffective in addressing challenges of peacebuilding and social cohesion in a religiously pluralistic society. There are political, cultural, ethnic and national considerations beside religious and educational ones which figure large in the role of an interfaith council and influence its character and effectiveness, but their contribution to peacebuilding and the social cohesion of our pluralistic societies cannot be ignored. As such this paper will explore, from different perspectives, the role of an interfaith council as a helpful instrument for the wellbeing of our societies. The virtues of an interfaith council discussed in this paper should give us hope for fruitfully addressing the challenge of different traditions in the same social space, but it remains to be seen if it can win the support of the majority culture’s stakeholders with their concerns in providing for a peaceful and harmonious society. The Albanian context with its similarities and differences from the religious pluralistic context of the other countries in the region provides a good case study to evaluate the merits of an interfaith council as an instrument to facilitate tolerance and social cohesion

Conforming and performing planning: an unbearable cohabitation

Territorial governance in Europe is managed by two models of planning: a more traditional and common one, aspiring to ‘conform' single projects to a collective strategy; a novel and less institutionalised one, promoting projects able to ‘perform' the collective strategy. The present contribution argues that current cohabitation of these two models is no longer bearable and that, particularly, conforming ambitions should be abandone