News, Events & Media

Emma Foster, Community Newswire 

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has welcomed a report that calls for a major shift of power to citizens and civil society to avert the triple crises of finance, climate change and political trust.

The Making Good Society report, by the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, said that it was impossible to imagine plausible responses to the greatest challenges of our time, such as political distrust, economic crisis and climate change, without significant input from civil society.

According to the report, civil society in the UK is made up of 870,000 formal organisations, including charities, trades unions and faith groups; a million informal organisations, including campaigns and networks; 62,000 social enterprises; and 11.3 million members of co-operatives.

Geoff Mulgan, Guardian Online

During the recent financial, political and environmental crises social enterprises and civil society organisations have come up trumps time and time again.

During this election year there has been more talk about civil society than I can ever remember. The main parties have competed with each other to prove their enthusiasm for social enterprises and cooperatives, citizen empowerment and community activism. Yet it's less than a year since Jeremy Paxman, on national television, expressed astonishment at the idea that an enterprise could be social. And within the public sector, there is often a weary cynicism that the rhetoric rarely adds up to much.

The final report of the Commission of the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society will be launched today. The report, Making good society, articulates the importance of civil society in all spheres of life, and identifies four critical areas in which civil society activity is necessary to make good society: growing a more civil economy; enabling a rapid and just transition to a low carbon economy; democratising media ownership and content; and growing participatory and deliberative democracy.

The report will be launced at an event being held at the St Etehlburga's Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, in London. The event will be hosted by Geoff Mulgan, Chair of the Inquiry, and civil society leaders from key sectors will be responding to the Commission's findings. Guest respondents include:

Commission of inquiry calls for levies to promote new media, warning that too few interests control too many outlets

Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor
The Guardian
Saturday 13 March 2010

Google and other websites that carry news they do not produce should be taxed and the money generated used to prop up local newspapers, says a report which warns control of the media is concentrated in too few hands.

The Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, headed by Tony Blair's former head of policy, Geoff Mulgan, will warn next week that news is becoming "recycled 'churnalism' and aggregated content". In a report, Making Good Society, the commission says a future government must preserve freedom on the internet, ensure the media is not controlled by powerful interests, and promote accuracy.

The Guardian has today published an article on the Commission of Inquiry's work around democratising media. The feature picks up on the Commission's call for a more pluralist media landscape and highlights the potential for alternative media ownership models to develop through new funding streams.

To read the article click here. 

Commissioners Geoff Mulgan and Anna Nicholl will be leading the event hosted at WCVA on Monday 22 March.

Guest speakers at the event will include:

• Graham Benfield, WCVA
• Paul O'Shea, Unison

For more information about this event and to book your place contact: Morven Masterton

There are now limited places available for the Edinburgh launch event for the final report of the Commission of the Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society. If you would like to attend this event please contact info@carnegieuk.org by Monday 15 March.

Commissioners, Joyce McMIllan, Philomena de Lima, Richard Atkinson and Anna Nicholl will be attending the event hosted at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on Thursday 18 March.

Guest speakers at the event will include:

• Martin Johnstone, Faith in Community Scotland
• Martin Sime, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
• Antonia Swinson, Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition

For more information about this event contact: Morven Masterton

The London launch event for the final report of the Commission of the Inquiry is now FULLY BOOKED.

The Chair of the Commission, Geoff Mulgan, will be hosting the event at St Ethelburga's Centre on Monday 15 March. The Commission will present its findings and calls to action and civil society leaders will respond to the calls to action.

Guest speakers at the event will include:

• Brendan Barber, TUC
• Mary Marsh, Clore Social Leadership Programme
• Ed Mayo, Co-operatives UK
• Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International

For more information about this event contact: Morven Masterton

The launch of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, Making good society, will take place at events in March, April and May 2010. To book a place at launch events (London - 15 March, Edinburgh - 18 March, Cardiff - 22 March) or to order a free copy of the Commission report e-mail catherine@carnegieuk.org

The Carnegie Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society is pleased to share a write up of a public event it hosted as part of Edinburgh's annual Festival of Politics.

More than 100 civil society representatives gathered at the event, held at the Scottish Parliament in August 2009, to debate how they could use their ‘moral muscle’ to help build a fairer, more sustainable economy.

George Reid, Inquiry Commission Vice-Chair, chaired the event. Speakers included:

• Karl Dayson, Community Finance Solutions
• Craig Campbell, Social Investment Scotland
• Elizabeth Leighton, World Wildlife Fund Scotland
• Ian Fraser, journalist, editor and blogger

The paper summarises the presentations and discussion from this event.