We are interested in papers exploring new forms of governance in rural and urban areas in different European countries, with a specific focus on the role of civil society actors. More specifically we are interested in identifying local dynamics between civil society, private sector and public sector within some relevant policy sectors such as welfare services, social exclusion, minority representation and local development policy. Recent literature on local governance highlights that deep transformations in how policies are delivered are taking place across Europe.

The meaning of the term governance can be divided in two categories. In the first category (the old governance) questions are asked about how and with what conceivable outcomes the state steers society and the economy through political brokerage and by defining goals and making priorities.

The other theoretical view on governance looks at various forms of formal and informal publicprivate interactions, and focuses on the role of policy networks and on the benefits of bottom-up and participatory approaches to policy-making. We focus on this second understanding of governance in order to compare forms of civil society participation and engagement in local policy
processes.

The WP aims at collecting case studies on new participatory forms of governance in rural and urban areas. A number of research questions will be addressed using a comparative approach:

• How do civil society, public and private sectors interact in different localities?
• What is the role played by civil society organisations in participatory policy-making?
• What are the links between participatory devices and representative institutions?
• How to characterize the institutional settings in which public and civil society actors interact?
• What are the expectations linked to the adoption of participatory approach?
• Under which conditions are participatory devices able to deliver consensual decisions?
• To which extent the forms taken by local governance contributes to or undermines local democracy?

Deadlines for abstracts and accepted papers

An abstract can be sent by April 15st, 2008 to cinefogo@soc.unitn.it.

Candidates will be informed of acceptance by April 25th, 2008.

The papers will be circulated by June 10th, 2008.

Please note that we are planning to collect contributions and publish an edited book in the Cinefogo series.

Venue

The workshop will take place at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento, Piazza Venezia 41.

Accomodation

Hotel Accademia, Vicolo Colico 4. Please see: http://www.accademiahotel.it

Please note that you are expected to arrive in Trento on Thursday 19 June.

Costs

We can offer accommodation and meals while travelling costs should be covered by each participants.

Further information

For any additional information, please make contact with Emanuela Bozzini emanuela.bozzini@soc.unitn.it  and Bernard Enjolras bernard.enjolras@samfunnsforskning.no

For more information click here.