Editorial Note

Lars Josephsen

Welcome to the first issue of Civil Society and New Forms of Governance in Europe, the Newsletter for CINEFOGO Network of Excellence, supported by EU's 6th Framework Programme. The Newsletter offers surveys of CINEFOGO's activities. It will be published 4 times annually and shall serve as a platform for dialogue and debate with the Network's stakeholders and the general public, as well as being a communication instrument for the Network itself.

The Newsletter will also provide an open-eye function concerning work of other institutions and networks, and public debates in the EU with regard to CINEFOGO related issues, including European citizenship and citizenships in Europe, and about European civil societies. Thus in this issue we bring material on 'Civil Society and European Democracy'.

CINEFOGO partners, scholars and other interested institutions, networks and individuals are invited to visit CINEFOGO's digital highway at www.cinefogo.org. Here you will find more detailed and regularly updated reports on the progress and results of Network's Joint Programme of Activities, and other relevant information.

The Network participants as well as external stakeholders are urged to contribute to the European debate through the two channels: CINEFOGO Newsletter and CINEFOGO digital highway. 

1. About CINEFOGO

Thomas P. Boje

What is CINEFOGO?

The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence "Civil Society and New Forms of Governance in Europe - the Making of European Citizenship" started by 1st of September 2005 and is part of the Sixth EU Framework Programme priority 7: New forms of citizenship and cultural identities.

CINEFOGO is a consortium consisting of 39 universities and research institutions, and a number of public service institutions in 15 European countries. The Network includes about 150 individual researchers. Almost half of these are women.

The Network seeks to provide knowledge about civil society, citizenship and social protection, to nourish a public debate on governance, and to strengthen intellectual co-operation

In terms of core issues, the CINEFOGO Network places focus on

• Active citizenship: to promote citizens' involvement in policy-making
  Organized civil society: to understand the impact of different forms of citizenship and civic participation
  Multiple identities: to identify factors that help co-existence among multiple identities in Europe

During the first 18 months the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence will in its activities for integrating research address three themes. These themes are:

• Identities, Values and Civic Cultures in Europe- Integration and Diversity
•  Citizenship and Civic Participation in Relation to Social Protection
•  Multi-level Governance and Organized Civil Society

Each research theme is addressed through various work packages that contribute to the generation of knowledge and research co-operation within the CINEFOGO Network.

Goals for the potential impact of the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence

The Network's potential impact must be evaluated against our ambition of fulfilling the following four goals:

1. Minimizing barriers for joint European integrated and coordinated research. With participation of outstanding scholars and institutions from several of Europe's oldest, best and internationally most well known universities and research institutions, the CINEFOGO Network has the capacity to become a longstanding arena for a joint scientific input to the making of European citizenship under the influence of cultural diversity.

2. Building up research capacities between the 'old' and 'new' EU Member States. Scientific institutions and scholars involved in the CINEFOGO Network represent several major research institutions in the 'old' EU Member States. They will be joined by colleagues from the 'new' Member States and candidate countries in common collaborative efforts strengthening the research on Civil Society, Citizenship and Governance. Besides the goal of minimizing barriers for joint European research, the CINEFOGO Network will engage in building new research capacity in what formerly was considered to be the periphery of Europe. The conferences and training activities organized in the CINEFOGO Network are open for scholars outside the Network. Here special efforts will be done to involve scholars from the 'new' Member States and the candidate countries in these activities. So far a significant number of scholars outside the CINEFOGO have attended our activities and several institutions have shown interest in becoming members.

3. Involvement of previous EU-research under the heading 'Governance and Citizenship'. The CINEFOGO Network would like to establish a dialogue between on-going and previously financed TSER-EU projects in the research area of 'Civil Society, Citizenship and Governance'. A first step in this dialogue / cooperation will be involvement of previous EU-project under the FP5 - research programme in the activities taking place in the scientific activities of the CINEFOGO. In order to intensify the communication between the EU-project financed under the 6th Framework Programme a special project for dissemination has been launched and approved by the EU - IconnectEU (see a more detailed description in section 8 in this issue of the Newsletter).

4. Providing institutional capacity for a continued dialogue between researchers, policy makers, public service institutions and organized civil society on the political future of the European Union, especially with respect to the promotion of citizens' involvement and participation in policy making. The institutional framework offered by CINEFOGO will contribute to the process of European integration with respect for the impact of various national civic cultures. The arena for public discourse on the future of European citizenship provided by CINEFOGO must be seen as an input to tackle the alienation many citizens feel from the work undertaken by the European Union.

The four goals are closely related to our two network programmes. Our Programme for Integrating Research Activities (PIRA) and our Programme for Spread of Excellence (SoE) are considered of equal importance when it comes to an estimation of the Network's potential impact.

The Network will achieve goals 1, 2 and partly 3 through the Programme for Integrating Research Activities and for each of the themes the CINEFOGO Network has appointed responsible coordinators for the scientific activities:

•  Identities, Values and Civic Cultures - Integration and Diversity - Sikya Kovacheva (skovacheva@mbox.contact.bg), Lars Hulgård (hulg@ruc.dk) and Thomas P. Boje (boje@ruc.dk). 
•  Citizenship and Civic Participation in Relation to Social Protection - Adalbert Evers, Justus Liebig University, Giessen ( adalbert.evers@uni-giessen.de) and Thomas P. Boje (boje@ruc.dk). 
•  Multi-level Governance and Organized Civil Society - Carlo Ruzza, University of Trento (carlo.ruzza@soc.unitn.it) and Lars Hulgård, Roskilde University (hulg@ruc.dk).

When it concerns goal 4 and partly goal 3 the implementation will take place through the Programme for Spread of Excellence. This programme is described more in detail in other sections of the Newsletter. The Spread of Excellence programme is chaired by professor Martin Potucek (potucek@fsv.cuni.cz) and Marta Nachtmannova (nacht@fsv.cuni.cz), Center for Social and Economic Strategies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague.

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2. CINEFOGO Kick-Off Conference, October 2005 

Thomas P. Boje/Lars Josephsen

CINEFOGO had its Kick-Off Conference on 15-19 October 2005 at Roskilde University. All universities represented in the CINEFOGO were present at the Conference. Through four days of enthusiastic debate the scientific programme of the CINEFOGO was outlined in detail and firm commitments were made between the institutions in planning the programme for the first 18 months.

The conference included a series of opening and plenary lectures on issues related to 'Civil Society and New Forms of Governance' and the aim and scope of the CINEFOGO Network. Please find below a brief mention of these lectures.

A European Social Model?

Dr. Bent Greve, Professor at Roskilde University, outlined his reflections on 'A European Social Model?', and asked whether there is a European model for welfare, and whether there is a move towards a European social model. On the basis of a comparative welfare perspective, Bent Greve had identified and analyzed six European models of welfare, using the triangulation between state, market and civil society as the welfare state actors. One of the six, i.e. the socalled 'Nordic or social democratic model' was characterized by a strong civil society. Bent Greve stated that there a few signs of a development towards a European welfare state model, where universalism seems to pre-vail in some areas and where convergence can be found at a macro-level, and he argued that institutional and organizational differences call for different roads to welfare.
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Civil Society and Governance

In his speech on 'Civil Society and Governance', Dr. Lars Hulgård, Associate Professor at Roskilde University, addressed CINEFOGO's concern about improving citizens' participation in governance, and he welcomed the emerging interest in building the civil society - governance relation into the overall strategy for the development of the EU. Lars Hulgård outlined the complex relationship be-tween civil society and governance with a short historical journey, with four illustrating snapshots of periods in time, with Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan as starting point, and then a controversy in the mid 1990s between the two Czech statesmen Václav Havel and Václav Klaus about the role of civil society in a modern democracy. Next snapshot included Robert Putnam and his book 'Bowling Alone', and the last referred to reflections of Romano Prodi on the role of the third sector organizations as "schools for democratic participation and active citizenship". Lars Hulgård concluded "or-ganized civil society is today fully aware of its legitimate role as a cornerstone in the making of European citizenship".
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Aims and Scope of the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence

Dr. Thomas Boje, Professor at Roskilde University, presented 'Scope and Aim of the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence'. The aim is to provide knowledge about the relationship between civil soci-ety, citizenship and social protection in an increasingly diversified and multicultural Europe, which also seeks greater integration of those living in Europe. The objectives of the Network are: (1) To promote citizens' involvement and participation in European policymaking - how to enlarge and activate democracy and participation. (2) To understand the impact of the different forms of citizen-ship and civic participation - how to ensure social cohesion in an economic, socially and culturally diversified Europe, and (3) To identify factors facilitating the co-existence of multiple identities - how to combine recognition of social and cultural differences with universal citizenship rights and social justice.
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Social Capital across Europe

'Social Capital across Europe' is the title of a speech given by Dr. Claire Wallace, Professor at Aberdeen University. Claire Wallace outlined the comparative study 'Social Capital across Europe, patterns of participation, trust and social cohesion'. The aim of the study was to examine whether formal and informal social capital reinforce or substitute one another. The main indicators for social capital chosen were: generalized trust, social contacts, networks of mutual help outside the family, and involvement in voluntary organizations. The research is based on data from 27 EU countries, Turkey and Croatia, and resulted in a clustering of countries around five groups. Claire Wallace stated that the social capital study indicates that a simple welfare regime typology does not give a sufficient picture of differences among the European countries. Thus it is not possible to measure social capital by the same yardstick, and that new EU countries cannot be clustered together by so-cial capital, as they vary too much.
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Still a Trustworthy Ally?

Dr. Erik Amnå, Professor at Gothenburg University gave a lecture titled 'Still a Trustworthy Ally? Civil Society and the Transformation of Scandinavian Democracy'. Erik Amnå focused on the transformation democracy and of the role of civil society in Scandinavian countries The develop-ment of democracy and the welfare state Norway, Sweden and Denmark were characterized by an expansion of the welfare into the sphere of civil society, leaving it to an instrumental role of strengthening and legitimizing the representative democracy, through political socialisation. Erik Amnå described the role of civil society by a series of statements, e.g. "Civil society returns due to run-away political parties", and "As civil society returns, it speaks a new language: the language of human rights", and he concluded "civil society operated more as an engine in the transformation of Scandinavian democracies than as brakes, yet it is more like lubricated shock absorbers than a real engine".
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Community Participation in the Real World

Dr. Marilyn Taylor, Professor at University of the West of England, titled her presentation 'Community Participation in the Real World. Opportunities and Pitfalls in New Governance Spaces'. Marilyn Taylor identified policy communities and issues network as two kinds of groupings that have a role to play in the policy process. Of the two, policy communities are far more central to governing. She argued that although the new governance spaces that have emerged over recent years are suffused with state power, there are still opportunities for communities to become active subjects in the governance spaces and thus to shape and influence the exercise of government. Also issue networks have opportunities to become active subjects. Marilyn Taylor stressed that the main pitfall in governance is to completely overlook issue networks as possible contributors to the revi-talisation of the democratic process. This may happen if the institutionalised 'rules of the game' and technologies continue to be largely framed by government actors.
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Civil Society and Volunteering

Dr. Paul Dekker, Professor at Tilburg University, gave a lecture on 'Civil Society and Volunteering: Comparison and Questions for Further Research'. He addressed the concepts of civil society and volunteering, and highlighted that the concepts have various definitions due to cultural and societal differences. After comparing volunteering in Western Europe in the perspective of civil society (active membership) and the non-profit sector (unpaid work), he summarized why volunteering can be considered to be both appositive and negative factor for society. Positive as it is supposed to make people more social, trusting and interested in politics (cf. 'social capital' and 'political democracy'), and negative because it replaces mutuality by service and spreads a questionable work ethics (may imply 'avoiding politics'). Paul Dekker concluded that voluntary workers seem to grow in numbers at the expense of active members, which is a development that several scholars find negative.
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3. CINEFOGO achievements and upcoming activities

Thomas P. Boje

Conferences and meetings

The first major conference within the scientific programme was held at London School of Economics and Political Science the 23rd to 24th of March 2006 with more than 50 participants representing both members of the CINEFOGO Network and researchers from other institutions. The theme of the conference was 'Gender, Citizenship and Participation'. The Conference was hosted by Centre of Civil Society at LSE and chaired by professor Jane Lewis, national coordinator of the UK together with professor Jude Howell, Director of Centre for Civil Society, LSE.

During the winter/spring 2006 several preparing meetings have taken place within other parts of the scientific programme of the CINEFOGO. Already now two other major conferences are planned for the fall of 2006. One in Madrid on 28-29 October 2006 on 'Social Capital and Civil Society' chaired by professor Victor Perez-Diaz, Analistas Socio-Politicos, Madrid (asp@ctv.es) and Dr. Lars Hulgård, Roskilde University (hulg@ruc.dk) and another in Roskilde/Copenhagen on 'The Role and Organisation of the Non-profit Sector in Europe - its relation to the welfare state and its importance for social cohesion' on 15-17 November 2006 chaired by professor Thomas P. Boje, Roskilde University (boje@ruc.dk).
The 6th meeting of the Ph.D.-Network on third sector and civil society studies will take place in Vienna on 25-28 May 2006. This meeting is jointly organised by the Research Institute for Nonprofit Organisations at the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration) and the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence. For more information about this meeting: phd-meeting06@wu-wien.ac.at .
The main goals of the network-meetings are:

• To create a forum for PhD students working on the voluntary or third sector and civil society issues 
• To present their own work to a group of peers and allow them to benefit from the feedback of fellow students and the advise of a group of  faculty 
• To introduce students to theories and approaches in the field 
• To discuss current or future research topics 
• To allow the students create a network with other students from other European countries and other faculties and disciplines.

The PhD-network was founded in 2000 by the Center of Civil Society Studies of the London School of Economics. Since then the best PhD students in the field of third sector and civil society studies around Europe were invited to annual network-meetings in London, Dublin, Stockholm and Tilburg.

Dissemination of results and discussions

The CINEFOGO Network is concerned with the importance of improving citizens' participation in governance. In order to do so, the network seeks to strengthen the connection between theoretical analysis and the dissemination of research results to the public beyond academia initiating a public debate on governance and the evolution of a public and democratic sphere in Europe.

In our efforts to disseminate results and discussions coming out of the CINEFOGO Network to the public beyond academia we have developed a web-site for the Network. This web-site was launched in January 2006 and can be reached at following address - www.cinefogo.org. The web-site includes both information about the CINEFOGO Network at large and details concerning up-coming events in the Network. - The site consists of two parts: A general site for the broad public, and an internal site, accessible only for members of the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence. The general site provides public information related to the CINEFOGO Network and its activities, whereas the internal site serves as a platform for internal communication between the CINEFOGO members.

This spring we expect that members of the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence and others among the Network's stakeholders will take advantage of the information provided via www.cinefogo.org. Not the least we expect members of the Network to increasingly use the e-fora to discuss activities and to document the progress of work. - It is our hope that the CINEFOGO site will be seen as a useful tool for the Network's common endeavour of *providing knowledge about civil society, citizenship and social protection, *nourishing a public debate on governance and *strengthening intellectual co-operation.

If you have questions, proposal for activities and want to contact members of the CINEFOGO network please write to the secretariat of the Network, Annali Kristiansen at secretariat@cinefogo.org

In addition to the web-site we will also publish a Newsletter four times a year informing about events taking place in the CINEFOGO Network. (You are reading Issue no. 1 right now). More important the Newsletter aims at being a place for discussions and debates concerning the scientific themes of the CINEFOGO and a place where the European debate on civil society, civic participation, citizenship and social cohesion can be promoted and facilitated. The responsible editor of the Newsletter is Senior Advisor Lars Josephsen (larsjo@ruc.dk and/or lars.josephsen@mail.dk).

In the scientific programme for the first 18 months the CINEFOGO Network will also in coopera-tion with the Danish Broadcasting Cooperation produce a series of TV-programmes debate civic participation, democracy and national identity in Europe to be used for educational purpose. This cooperation starts with a thematic series of programmes on 'Grass Roots in Europe' and will be followed up with programme on active citizenship and democracy. Responsible for these activities are Christian Holtet, Danish Broadcasting Cooperation (chx@dr.dk).

4. Theme: Civil Society and European Democracy

Lars Josephsen

The Newsletter will in each issue select a broader theme with relevance for the work in the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence. Thus we intend to invite CINEFOGO partners and/or external individuals to make a presentation related to the selected theme. For this first issue we have chosen to address 'Civil Society and European Democracy'. The Newsletter has asked Mrs. Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission, with special responsibility for Internal Relations and Communication Strategy, to make a contribution related to this issue's theme.

Ideas concerning the ties between civil society and democratization processes in Europe are involved - directly or indirectly - in the public debates on European topics like: The Constitution for Europe (treaty signed October 2004), the Commission's 'Plan-D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate' (issued October 2005), and the European Communication Policy (a White Paper on this issue was published by the Commission 1 February this year).

Vice-President Wallström has been very active in these debates, and it is our pleasure to bring her speech from a conference on the 1 February 2006, where the above-mentioned White Paper was presented. The conference was arranged by ECAS, together with other private groups.

In her speech Vice-President Wallström underlines that "communication is first and foremost a matter of democracy", and she offers a frank and precise diagnosis of what has been called the 'communication gap' between the European Union and its citizens. Points of critics include the lack of a common vision and agreed principles, and that communicating Europe largely has remained a 'Brussels Affair' and not a matter of common concern for all stakeholders involved in the European Project. Against this background, the Commission's White Paper outlines a number of areas where initiatives should be taken.

Here we pass on the scene to Vice-President Wallström:

 
"Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be here and I am delighted to see this crowded room. And it gives me great pleasure to announce that the Commission has adopted its White Paper on a European Communication Policy. 
Communication is first and foremost a matter of democracy. People have a right to know what the EU does and what it stands for. And, as citizens, they have a right to fully participate in the European project.  This is the key message of the White Paper.
Closing the communication gap between the EU and its citizens has become more urgent than ever. The White Paper is the Commission's proposal to respond to this challenge and to lay the foundation of a European Union Communication Policy".
The 'communication gap' between the European Union and its citizens is not new. It has been a subject of discussion in EU circles at least since the referenda that pre-ceded the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. And recent referenda have been a harsh wake up call.
So, why is there a communication gap between the people and the policy-makers? And why have previous efforts failed to close that gap?
Our White Paper starts with a frank analysis of what has not worked.

1.  First, previous communication strategies have lacked a common vision and agreed principles to guide them;
2. Second, communicating Europe has remained largely a "Brussels' affair" and not a matter of common concern: for Brussels, for Member States and national institutions, for civil society at large.
3.  Third, the focus has been on a one-way supply of information, more centered on the institutions than on the needs and wishes of    citizens.
4. Fourth, previous efforts have not taken account of the highly competitive and rapidly changing media landscape;
5. Finally, previous strategies have not been tailored to the complexity and di-versity of European public opinion.

That's why a new approach is needed.

The European project can succeed only if the citizens see it as their project. Something they have agreed to do together. They must be closely involved in 'writing the script'.
So EU communication cannot be about "selling Europe" or producing propaganda. It is about enhancing our democracy.
The White Paper argues for developing a working "European public sphere", where the European debate can unfold and citizens can participate.  This is an ambitious project, which will take time. It will only succeed if all actors are ready to commit and take responsibility.
A European political culture, with pan-European political parties and foundations, is still to emerge; the media remain largely national, with very little coverage of Euro-pean issues; there are no obvious fora where citizens can meet and discuss issues of common interest.

Today's White Paper is a call to action

•  by all EU institutions,
•  by all EU governments and political parties,
•  by civil society and the media in all EU countries.

The White Paper proposes that we start work in five main areas. 

First, defining common principles. 

A EU communication policy must be based on the fundamental recognition that all EU citizens have certain rights. For example,

•  The right to fair and full information about the EU.
•  The right to hear the full range of views about the EU.
•  And the right to have their voices heard by policy-makers.

The White Paper proposes that these principles be enshrined in a framework document -a 'charter' or perhaps a 'code of conduct' to which all the key players would commit themselves on a voluntary basis.
We need those common principles to guide our common action and to give credibility and legitimacy to our communication activities. And, most importantly, to give citizens a tool to assess whether or not their rights are respected.
The second work area the White Paper proposes is empowering citizens. How can a EU communication policy contribute to that?

The White paper identifies three ways forward:

• (i) to work more together on civic education;
  (ii) to connect citizens with one another;
  (iii) to connect the citizens with the institutions.

Civic education is a national or regional responsibility. But, the EU can help to ensure exchange of best practice and facilitate the development of common educational 'tools' so that the European dimension is better addressed.

New forums for public discussion of European issues are essential for building mu-tual trust, respect and willingness to work together towards common objectives.

Also, good two-way communication between the citizens and public institutions is essential in a healthy democracy. The present drive to make the EU institutions more responsive, open and accessible needs to continue to strengthen.

The third area in which the White Paper proposes working concerns the media and new technologies.
The media are key players in communication policy and it is vital that public institu-tions at all levels of governance find innovative ways of working with the national, regional and local media.
We also need to discuss together how to ensure that all views are fairly represented in these debates, and how we can provide citizens with full, fair and factual informa-tion through a wide range of channels - not only the press, radio and TV but also the Internet.

The fourth working area is understanding public opinion.

This is a challenge for policy-makers. They need to stay in tune with European pub-lic opinion: but citizens' views on any issue can vary quite dramatically from one country or region to another.

The European Commission has been a front runner in developing modern tools - such as the Eurobarometer surveys - for analyzing European public opinion, and our White Paper invites a debate on how we could improve our use of these tools.

Finally, the fifth area for joint discussion is how to make the partnership work.  How to do the job together.

•  How can EU governments cooperate more closely with one another and with 'Brussels' on informing and consulting citizens?
•  How can the EU institutions work together more effectively and do more to decentralize their efforts?
•  Local and regional authorities are well placed to engage in real dialogue with citizens: how best can they channel the views of local communities to the Brussels policy-makers?
•  What more can political parties and NGOs do to raise public awareness of European issues and stimulate public debate?

The Commission does not have ready-made answers to these questions - and we would not presume to lecture the other players on what they should do.

The White Paper invites all players to think hard about these questions and come forward with their own ideas.

All players - indeed all interested parties, including all EU citizens and civil society organisations - are invited to post their comments on the consultation website, or to write to the Commission.

The consultation period will last six months - until the end of July 2006.  At the end of that period we will draw up and publish a summary of the results, and we will work with the 'stakeholders' - i.e. the key players - to draw up specific plans of action.

Will it work?  That is the question ECAS is asking today.
My answer is, emphatically, YES:

•  if all the players agree on the agenda
•  and commit themselves to action

Let me leave you with the words of the philosopher John Dewey:

"There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and com-munication... Try the experiment of communicating, with fullness and accuracy, some experience to another, especially if it be somewhat complicated, and you will find your own attitude toward your experience changing".

Communication helps understanding, builds common values, creates communities.

That is what the EU needs more than anything.

Thank you."

End of 4. Theme: Civil Society and European Democracy

5. Taking Stock of EU Research Activities

Thomas P. Boje

The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence will on a regular basis review other EU supported research networks and activities. Under the heading 'Taking stock of EU research activities' the Newsletter will give brief mentions of such work. In this issue we address the projects INTUNE and IConnectEU.

INTUNE "Integrated and United? A Quest for Citizenship in an Ever Closer Europe"

The major aim of the research to be done in INTUNE is to study the changes in the scope, nature and characteristics of citizenship as an effect of the processes of deepening and enlargement of the European Union. The project will focus on how integration and decentralization processes, at both the national and European level, are affecting three major dimensions of citizenship: identity, representation, and practice of good governance. These dimensions of citizenship are in the project analysed at four different levels: among elites, experts, mass media and citizens

 The INTUNE is an integrated project within the same theme as the CINEFOGO network of Excellence meaning that it includes both research activities and dissemination and training. The research process will be organised in three stages: (1) a conceptual and theoretical analysis, which is followed by (2) empirical research aimed at testing the main hypothesis and finally (3) dissemination activities.

 An important part of the INTUNE project is attitudinal analyses of the elites and the citizens clarifying the perception of European citizenship in these two groups of constituencies. The INTUNE project is at the moment focused on preparation of the first wave of attitudinal surveys of elites and citizens, which will take place in the beginning of year 2. In addition to this the project group is collecting documentary data from official documents and government reports concerning selected policy areas.

 The INTUNE project is based at Universita Degli Studi di Siena, Italy and chaired by Professor, Dr. Maurizio Cotta with Dr. Nicolò Conti as project manager. The INTUNE includes 32 institutions and research centres in Europe.

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Internet Connected EU research 'IConnectEU'

The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence is part of a new EU project financed under the Framework Programme Six (FP6) called 'IConnectEU'. This project is financed by the Specific Support Scheme (SSA) and includes 8 of the major projects supported by EU under the objectives of Priority 7 which is named 'Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge Based Society'. Included are both Integrated Projects and Network of Excellence. The projects included in this programme are among others CIVICACTIVE "Active Civic Participation" (University College Dublin), CONNEX "Efficient and democratic Governance in a multilevel Europe" (University of Mannheim), DEMOS "Democracy in Europe and mobilization of society" (European University Institute, Florence) and INTUNE "Integrated and United?" (University of Siena).

The aim of the 'IConnectEU' is to develop and test a model for integrated dissemination of outcomes from the above-mentioned EU projects. An important assumption behind the project is to increase the visibility and impact of research and scientific activities taking place in social science in Europe both within these projects and more broadly. All the projects cooperating in 'IConnectEU' are dealing with the broad topic of Citizenship and Governance in the EU.  

The first step in the project will be creation of a pilot portal, which will integrate the dissemination activities of the 8 projects. In a second step the portal will be used as a Best-Practice example for other research projects funded under the heading of the FP6. A demonstration workshop will bring together other interested projects and stakeholders to discuss the needs of a developed dissemination portal for social science in Europe and to check the adaptability of the portal.

 The dissemination portal will hopefully be able to serve as a basis for assessing the needs of other thematic priorities and research areas in future EU Framework Programmes and to transfer the results from one project to the others and to other applicants in the FP6 and future Framework programmes as an example of Best-Practice.

 The "IconnectEU" started the 1st of March 2006 and is based at the Social Science Information Centre (IZ), Bonn Germany with Dr. Maximilian Stempfhuber as coordinator. The CINEFOGO Network of Excellence is represented in the Steering Committee of the project by
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6. Brief News

Marta Nachtmannová

1. The role of civil society in communicating Europe in the Czech Republic

Shortly after the European Council in June 2005, the Government of the Czech Republic approved the 'Communication Strategy for Informing the Public about European Affairs', a task to be carried out by the Department of Information on European Affairs of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic (OGCR).

The main objectives of the Strategy are to provide information to the public for the national debate in the "period of reflection", and to organize and stimulate national discourse. In light of the current need to raise general public awareness of the EU, four priorities were selected for 2005: Future of Europe, Czech EU membership, European programmes and funds - a signpost for European money, and the EU into Schools project. The Czech Republic has taken the lead within the European Union in responding to the call for greater public debate enhanced by the European Commission´s Plan D presented on 13 October 2005 and deepened by the White Paper on a European Communication Policy released on 2 February 2006.

Special attention has been paid to the creation of a functioning information infrastructure on EU affairs based on regional information centres called "Eurocentres", a free phone line on EU matters called "Eurofon" - 800 200 200, a bimonthly newsletter titled "Eurokurýr" publishing the news on EU affairs from the Czech Administration, the "Euroskop.cz" internet portal, and a grant scheme.

The Strategy counts on a strong cooperation with the non-state actors. Non-governmental groups have become partners in stimulating the national debate on European affairs. Dozens of lectures, conferences, seminars, anthologies and other projects were funded by the government grants. The projects are chosen by independent boards of experts representing media, non-profit organizations, or churches. In 2005 the boards chose 41 projects, which were supported by approximately CZK 20 million. In 2006 the grant scheme provides the same budget as last year, and uses the same system of independent selection boards. Nevertheless, there are new communication priorities set up for 2006 on which the grant applicants have to focus their projects: Future of Europe (covering topics such as benefits of the 2007-2013 financial perspective, strategic vision of Europe's future, EU enlargement, Lisbon agenda, and ratification process of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe); Safe Europe (internal EU security regulations with an emphasis on the preparation for joining the Schengen system, implementation of the Hague programme, fight against terrorism, police and justice co-operation within the EU, pilot projects such as "community policing" in the CR, and issues of the Common Foreign and Security Policy etc.); and EU into Schools (aiming at the preparation of methodologies for EU education at basic and secondary schools and further education of teachers relating to EU affairs).

On the occasion of Europe Day (May 9) OGCR will organize several public events. One of them is a multimedia exhibition with the title: "Communicating Europe: Campaigns on the Union within the Union", which will present various promotional materials - posters, campaign proposals, designs, special logos, graphics and concepts of topics linked with the EU in Member States. After the presentation in Prague, the exhibition will travel through the Member States of the EU later. Another event will be a mobile, regional exhibition accompanied by series of debates on "Czech Europeanism". The event will be held in co-operation with the Eurocentres of OGCR, regional authorities and city councils of statutory cities.

Last year, OGCR became a guarantor of the EU programme called "Citizens for Europe". The aim of this programme is to bring the EU closer to citizens and to encourage them to become more active in public life and decision making processes. Since the programme is still being negotiated at the Committee for Cultural Affairs of the Council of the EU, it is still possible to influence its structure. OGCR, by its own initiative, has decided to involve potential grant receivers in the debate. On the Euroskop.cz portal or through e-mail, it is possible to participate in the discussion regarding this programme.

Under the communication strategy, OGCR has also established a book series under the title "Thinking about Europe". Last year, the first book, a collection of essays and speeches on Europe bearing the title "Europe as a task" written by the former Czech President Vaclav Havel, was published and accompanied by a public debate on the future of Europe, which was attended by around 600 people. This year other works by prominent thinkers, politicians and other opinion makers will be published and accompanied by public debates to be held at the "Pražská křižovatka" meeting place in Prague.

Further information: www.euroskop.cz or in Czech language 

2. Co-operation between Charles University in Prague and Czech Radio

Few weeks after completion of an official Declaration on co-operation in December 2004, Czech Radio and Charles University in Prague have launched its first joint project. Every third Tuesday evening of a regular weekly "Men of pen" is devoted to a panel discussion with university scholars. Eight topics were already discussed:

•  Grounds of euroscepticism (2005-05-17),
•  Medical Ethics (2005-06-21),
•  Social cohesion (2005-07-19),
•  Media education I, II (2005-08-16 and 2005-08-23),
•  Eight sins of the state administration I, II (2005-10-18 and 2005-11-15),
•  Theatre and society I, II (2005-12-20 and 2005-12-27),
•  Gender (not broadcasted yet),
•  Multicultural society (not broadcasted yet).

CESES proposed two of these topics, Social cohesion and Eight sins of the state administration. Members of CESES took an active part as panelists in most of discussions. Discussions are accessible on-line as MP3 file in Czech language.

3. Agora Central Europe - Citizen Participation in decision-making processes

More than six years ago, Agora Central Europe has filled a blank space on the map of non-profit organizations in the Czech Republic. Its mission is to boost the process of strengthening democracy within the Czech society. In practice, this means above all a permanent effort to improve the dialogue between national government, local authorities and the broadest public.
Many town halls in the Czech Republic have to cope with a citizens' lack of interest in public affairs. The reality is similar from town to town: officials in charge of local development would like to know the people's opinion of newly-proposed changes of the zoning plan, but only those whose plot of land will be seized because of a new road  will take part in meeting; the municipal council has decided to invest big amounts in the regeneration of a housing estate or the reconstruction of a town square, but citizens watch the changes with no interest or even protest against them; the town hall faces a big investment and cannot decide whether people really want it or whether they will stand up against it.

Agora CE was founded by two Dutch organizations Agora Europe and Institute for Public and Politics. Dutch experience and financial support (program MATRA of the Dutch Ministry of foreign affairs) from the Netherlands initiated many projects of interactive decision-making process organized by Agora CE. Such projects deal with long-term goals and policies (such as strategic planning and development of the municipalities) as well as short-term goals (tackling everyday problems such as tidiness, traffic, free time of the youth, etc.).

Agora CE also conducts seminars and conferences on citizen participation and building partnership. Free and open discussion is essential for modern democracy. Agora CE tries to live up the traditional static debate format with its panel and silent audience by using new methods of moderating, recorded video interviews, presentations of various data and the like. We also organized unconventional debates for young people, presented, for example, by rappers rapping about the issues under discussion.

Further information

End of: 6. Brief News