Measuring the enabling environment of civil society : a global capability index

During the last two decades, there have been various attempts at measuring and assessing the health of civil society. Some have focused almost exclusively on „counting‟ the nonprofit while others have assessed the strength of nongovernmental organizations. Yet, these sectors are just a small part of a much larger environment. Moreover, they are the result of Western conceptualizations of civil society, thus not very helpful to understand civic participation in non-Western settings. Taking stock of these fundamental issues, this article presents the conceptual framework and methodology of a new global index to measure the „enabling environment‟ of civil society, rather than its forms and institutional contours. Given the inherent diversity of civil societies worldwide, which defies any attempt at developing predetermined definitions, understanding the conditions that support civic participation becomes the most important objective for those interested in promoting a strong civil society arena. The index was launched by CIVICUS in late 2013 with the name of Enabling Environment Index and covers 200 countries and territories, making it the most ambitious attempt ever made at measuring civil society worldwide.http://link.springer.com/journal/112662016-04-30hb201

Mehr Teilhabe in der digitalen Transformation

MEHR TEILHABE IN DER DIGITALEN TRANSFORMATION Mehr Teilhabe in der digitalen Transformation / Christov, Diana (Rights reserved) ( -

The cultural value project cultural relations in ‘societies in transition’

The Cultural Value Project (CVP) is a joint research project commissioned by the British Council and the Goethe-Institut (January 2017-June 2018). It aims to build a better understanding of the value of cultural relations (CR) in societies facing difficult challenges–in particular, in Egypt and Ukraine. The project seeks to identify the difference cultural relations activities make to important international challenges, including supporting stability and prosperity in societies going through substantial change. It aims to contribute to current political, policy and academic debates about the role of culture in conflict, diplomacy and development. The British Council and Goethe-Institut wish to collaborate on this research in order to gain a better understanding of how different forms of cultural relations work in different contexts, and explore wider possibilities for partnerships in the field of cultural relations. This initiative occurs at a time when challenging transnational issues of conflict, security, migration, poverty and environmental degradation, beyond the control of any nation-state, make cooperation in international relations more difficult but more important than ever

Measuring the Enabling Environment of Civil Society: A Global Capability Index

During the last two decades, there have been various attempts at measuring and assessing the health of civil society. Some have focused almost exclusively on „counting‟ the nonprofit while others have assessed the strength of nongovernmental organizations. Yet, these sectors are just a small part of a much larger environment. Moreover, they are the result of Western conceptualizations of civil society, thus not very helpful to understand civic participation in non-Western settings. Taking stock of these fundamental issues, this article presents the conceptual framework and methodology of a new global index to measure the „enabling environment‟ of civil society, rather than its forms and institutional contours. Given the inherent diversity of civil societies worldwide, which defies any attempt at developing predetermined definitions, understanding the conditions that support civic participation becomes the most important objective for those interested in promoting a strong civil society arena. The index was launched by CIVICUS in late 2013 with the name of Enabling Environment Index and covers 200 countries and territories, making it the most ambitious attempt ever made at measuring civil society worldwide.http://link.springer.com/journal/112662016-04-30hb201