The 18th edition of the CEI International Summer School “Beyond the Enlargement. The Wider Europe and the New Neighbourhood” has started in Cervia on 3 September and wil last until 14 September 2012.
The 2012 Summer School is articulated into two main courses on Diversity Management, Governance and the Role of Civil Society Networks and on Sustainable Development, Green Economy and the Role of Civil Society Networks. 70 hours of lectures, seminars and workshops will be supplemented by interdisciplinary events and meetings with special focus on political issues, the international dimension and the role of the European Institutions. Members of Civil Society Organisations will be pro-actively involved in the courses, by introducing the importance of Civil Society Networking during a session devoted to the role of civil societies in deeply divided countries, their main tasks and commitments. In this context, special attention will be paid to diversity management and sustainable development. On 12 September, students and civil society activists from the Central European Initiative region (CEI) and beyond will be welcomed by the CEI Secretary General, Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter who will participate in the Panel on Regional Strategies: the CEI, the EU and the Role of Civil Society Organisations. The CEI has always had strong cooperation relations with civil society organisations. Around 50% of CEI activities are implemented with NGO partners. By enhancing these links, the CEI could further contribute to the EU integration process and to familiarising citizens with the EU values and standards. The importance of further strengthening the activities of the civil society sector at regional level was already highlighted in 2010 when a request for establishing a Network of this kind was put forward by around 60 representatives of NGOs and citizens’ associations operating in the CEI region on the occasion of the 16th edition of the Summer School. Currently, activities regarding its establishment are under way. ***************************The CEI International Summer School boasts a solid experience in intercultural dialogue and intensive training classes of post- socialist transition countries. Thanks to a long and successful cooperation established over the past eight years between the Institute and CEI with regard to the development of training and research initiatives aimed at supporting the transition and integration process of CEI countries into the EU, the School has regularly drawn its attention to specific regional cooperation initiatives. Since 1995 the Institute for Central Eastern Europe and the Balkans (Istituto per l’Europa Centro–Orientale e Balcanica - IECOB) in cooperation with the “Europe and the Balkans International Network” and the University of Bologna, has been organising an annual successful Summer School for post-graduate students from Eastern Europe (mostly from CEI countries) and from the European Union. In 2006 and 2007 the School was co-financed through to the CEI University Network. In 2008 it was selected as a CEI Feature event, with co-financing provided through the CEI Cooperation Fund. See Programme