News and Events

The Institute of Welsh Affairs supported by Carnegie UK Trust are holding four early evening seminars in Cardiff Bay’s Pierhead Building during October and November to discuss how much Wales’s Civil Society has grown in the first decade of devolution.

The seminars will follow the main themes in Making Good Society, the final report of the independent Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland.

Growing a more civil economy - 14 October
Chair: Professor Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University
Simon Harris, Wales Co-operative Centre
Molly Scott Cato, Cardiff Institute for Co-operative Studies, UWIC
Ian Courtney, Director Wales, Charity Bank
Katija Dew, National Financial Inclusion Champion for Wales
 
Transition to a low carbon economy - 21 October
Chair: Peter Davies, Sustainable Development Commissioner for Wales
Helen Northmore, Energy Saving Trust
Lee Waters, Sustrans Cymru
Helen Nelson, Cynnal Cymru : Sustain Wales
Anne Meikle, WWF Cymru

The Carnegie UK Trust is supporting two events at party conferences this year. The focus of the events will be:

Growing a more civil economy through civil society

Amongst all the political energy that is focused on reducing the national deficit and rebuilding the public finances, what kind of economy do we want to emerge? This urgent and important seminar will look at the challenges facing politicians, economists and crucially all of those people and organisations who commit time and energy to creating a better society. Focusing on the roles civil society associations can play, including voluntary and community organisations, trade unions, faith-based organisations, cooperatives and mutuals, this event will explore how a civil economy can be grown that is more aligned with values that emphasise responsibility, good governance, human well-being and environmental sustainability.

Following the publication of Making Good Society, the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK and Ireland, the Carnegie UK Trust is supporting a fringe event organised by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom at the TUC Conference to explore the crucial role of news media in empowering peoples’ participation in public debate at a time of cut backs in regional and local media. Drawing on the findings of Making Good Society, the event will explore how civil society organisations can contribute to a more democratic news media.

Speakers include Jeremy Dear, general secretary NUJ, Jude Gordon Manchester NUJ, Joyce McMillan (Chair and member of the Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society) and Granville Williams (CPBF).

The work of the Commission of Inquiry has been recently referred to in an article published on one of the leading online current affairs websites.

The Carnegie UK Trust is co-hosting two events this autumn with the Assocation of Charitable Foundations (ACF) in relation to the findings of the Carnegie funded Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society. The events will focus on two of the core themes the Inquiry Commission highlighted as being crucial to developing a healthy civil society for the future.

The role of trusts and foundations in democratising media, September, London

This event will explore the distinctive roles that trusts and foundations can play in supporting the development of a strong, pluralistic news media in the interest of enriching democracy and strengthening civil society.

Solutions to the Crisis in News Media and Representative Democracy; the Importance of Civil Society Activity

13.30 - 15.00, The Scottish Parliament (FREE)

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