News from Third Sector Impact
ABOUT TSI – PROJECT NEWS – STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT – CONSULTATIONS – CALENDAR – PARTNER PROFILE – STAKEHOLDER PROFILE – PARTNER & STAKEHOLDER NEWS – STATISTICS
ABOUT Third Sector Impact
The third sector, consisting of civil society associations and foundations, volunteers, and other citizen organisations and activities, offers unique renewable and sustainable resources for social and economic problem-solving, democracy, and civic engagement in Europe. In times of social and economic distress and enormous pressures on governmental budgets this sector is an important partner in the effort to promote economic development and social cohesion in Europe.
To take full advantage of this resource we need a clearer understanding of the third sector – its scope and scale, existing and potential impacts, and barriers to full third sector contribution to the continent’s common welfare. Third Secor Impact (TSI) brings together researchers from 8 European countries in a comparative project, determined to address questions of third sector definition, measurement, impact assessment and ways to support its development. It includes a distinctive stakeholder engagement process to capture the insights of practitioners and include them in conceptualisation, methodology and project outputs.
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MEET the TSI France team
Francesca Petrella and Nadine Richez-Battesti are researchers on economics at the Institute of Labour Economics and Industrial Sociology (LEST- CNRS) in Aix-en-Provence. Francesca’s work focuses on the evolution, quality of work and governance of social economy organisations, their interactions with public policies, and social innovation. Nadine’s main research fields include governance and democracy of social economy, organizational studies, and cooperative banks. She is also the chairwoman of the scientific committee of the Social Economy Observatory of the Provence-Alpes, Côte d’Azur Region. Read more
«We are pleased to be part of the TSI project because the discussion about the frontiers of the third sector is at the heart of policy debates at international and national levels. In France this discussion focusses very much on the social economy, reflected in the recently adopted Law on Social Economy. Reaching a consensual and operational definition of the third sector between all TSI partners has been very challenging both at conceptual and policy levels. We hope that our result will help to clarify the debate at the conceptual level and help both practitioners and policymakers in their decisions. We are now looking forward to contribute to the stimulating task of making third sector impact measurable.»
NEWS from the project
TSI Working Paper on Third Sector Definition and Policy Brief
Third Sector Impact has reached an important goal: the first formulation of a consensus definition of the third sector that embraces associations, foundations, volunteer work and significant parts of the social economy. It provides a foundation for documenting the third sector’s collective contributions and for designing policies that take greater advantage of unique strengths of the third sector.
First TSI Stakeholder Engagement Report
This report builds on the first round of TSI consultations with national stakeholders conducted in 6 target countries between April and October 2014. Stakeholders across Europe pretty much agree what the most important impact domains of third sector activity are.
TSI Consortium Meeting, Aix-en Provence
TSI partners from eight countries assembled in Aix-en-Provence at LEST-CNRS from 18-20 January. Getting first hand input from colleagues working on different research areas in the form of presentations, critical review and scientific recommendations was immensely useful for all partners involved.
STAKEHOLDER Engagement – Meetings
TSI follows a specific stakeholder approach to to capture the insights of practitioners on all working areas of the project – impact, concept, measurement, and barriers.
First TSI meeting with national stakeholders in Spain, 25 November
TSI researchers Rafael Chaves and José Luis Monzon held the first meeting with third sector stakeholders in Spain together with the National Platform for the Third Sector, an advocacy platform bringing together several important national umbrella organizations They discussed the concept of the third sector in Spain and identified the challenges, barriers and opportunities it faces at European, national and regional levels.
STAKEHOLDER Consultations – WE NEED YOU
On the TSI Consultations blog practitioners contribute their observations and thinking and help TSI researchers understand the various impacts of third sector activities at societal, local, and individual levels.
CONCEPT: Towards a common conceptualization of the third sector in Europe
A key objective of the TSI project is to address the lack of clarity about the types of entities that form the third sector, who belongs and who doesn’t. With our conceptualization we hope to contribute to a coherent overview of the third sector’s scope and impact and to strengthen the sector’s overall policy voice.
Please share your thoughts on this definition that represents a ‘common core’, taking into account different regional realities and the enormous diversity of the sector!
• Does it make sense to you?
• Does it reflect the third sector in your country?
• Any doubts if your organization is in or out?
PARTICIPATE NOW!
CALENDAR
TSI at Volonteurope Meeting, 11 March, London, UK
Bernard Enjolras and Renzo Razzano will represent TSI at a Volonteurope meeting to form a European Working Group to develop stronger standards of measuring the impact of volunteering in terms of social value and capital. More
TSI at U.S. Peace Corps and UN Volunteers Workshop, 30 March – 1 April, Washington D.C., US
Ksenija Fonovic will promote TSI at the workshop “Volunteerism: Measuring Global Impact,” and the following global conference “Leveraging Volunteerism for Global Impact” with high-level public officials, institutional leaders, and policy experts. More
TSI Consortium Meeting, 28-29 May, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Partners are meeting to report on progress of the different work packages, to plan events and further research. More
PARTNER Profile
The Institute for Social Policy (ISP) at the University of Zagreb
provides interdisciplinary approach in teaching, research and consultancy. ISP has a long experience of cooperation with relevant international, national and local stakeholders. Through education, action oriented research and publications, ISP influences public policies and provides usable knowledge for public policy making related to the role of civil society and third sector.
From 1990 onwards, ISP has developed social policy as an academic discipline in Croatia, making civil society a new research topic and teaching programme. ISP organised the first post-graduate and PhD programmes on social policy in Croatia.
ISP is organising the TSI Consortium Meeting in Dubrovnik later this year.
STAKEHOLDER Profile
Stichting Present Nederland is a Dutch foundation that builds bridges between people who have something to offer and people who are looking for help. As a broker in volunteering, the organisation offers the opportunity to become a volunteer and help other people who are facing problems such as poverty, poor health or social isolation.
PARTNER and Stakeholder News
Civil Society Europe – fostering the values of citizen participation
Several of TSI’s EU stakeholders were involved in the launch of Civil Society Europe – the European Coordination of Civil Society Organisations. This initiative aims to create an enabling environment for horizonal exchanges between civil society organisations and movements across Europe and to be influential in shaping the agenda on transversal issues of common interest for organised civil society in Europe.
TSI Partner SPES organising Good Deeds Day in Rome
SPES is organizing the international initiative Good Deeds Day on 14-15 March in Rome with the call to action “Together for the common good”. One hundred community projects across the city will offer the opportunity to volunteer and contribute, another hundred activities will be proposed during the day on the central Fori Imperiali.
Would you like your news and events relevant to third sector impact featured here? Email us at info@thirdsectorimpact.eu.