Conference in Madrid on “Social Cohesion in Europe”

The Council of Europe defines Social Cohesion as “the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation”. The Revised Strategy for Social Cohesion, approved by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 31 March 2004 underlines the fact that European societies are characterized by a broad ethnic and cultural diversity and the question is how to manage this diversity so that it becomes “a source of mutual enrichment rather that a factor of division and conflict”. As migration flows in EU increase, the question of social cohesion becomes urgent for many countries that used to be considered reasonably cohesive and homogeneous and had developed welfare policies trying to balance economic growth and social justice.
This conference will explore four central themes related to Social Cohesion:
* Labour Market and the Quality of Life
* Mechanism to Combat Social Exclusion
* Gender equality policies
* Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion from Education
For this purpose the European research results on the topic of ‘Social Cohesion’ will be presented and the best ways to utilise these results in policy making at national and regional level in the European Union will be explored.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.thinkandact.eu(opens in new window)