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| Number 7 | December 2000 | ||
Contents |
Visit to Mallorca & Catalunya Nova is a non-profit Catalan association whose goal it is to promote social innovation by reviving, collecting, generating and spreading socially innovative proposals that offer alternatives solutions in all aspects of society that need to be re-thought. Nova collaborates with entities and institutions interested in getting new promotional schemes and projects "off the ground" in the field of social innovation. It offers participative tools and services that allow citizens to get actively involved in social innovation processes. Whenever possible, it also includes intercultural contrasting within the social innovation process, as it participates in projects on an international level which help to encourage dialogue between cultures. The Centre for Social Innovation was born in 1996, within the framework of EcoConcern, in order to start the project Re-thinking Society. This project was an organizational process carried out by the Catalan geo-cultural workshop of the Alliance. The CSI organized Catalan Forum for Re-thinking Society which culminated in the General Meeting of the Forum in 1999. Starting in January 2000, the Centre for Social Innovation became independent from EcoConcern, beginning its new era as Nova, Centre for Social Innovation. Our project, Rethinking Society, continued, and the year 2000 has seen the gathering of the best of the Forum's proposals into six thematic workbooks: politics; jobs, unemployment and income; quality of life; models for social organization; conflict resolution, as well as a summary of the best proposals on different themes, published under the title "120 pieces of good news" for 2001 to 2010, in press-clipping format. These proposals will be sent to different workshops and Alliance member groups in order to enhance their proposal workbooks as well as the 2001 Assembly. Also, Nova has been the driving force behind linking simultaneous Alliance meetings that will be taking place in June 2001 on different continents (see Drums for Peace), as it supports the African Caravan for Peace and Solidarity, in collaboration with the Universal Forum of Cultures - Barcelona 2004 (http://caravana.barcelona2004.org). It also nurtures a platform for "Sustainable Growth and Development" within the framework of the axis Socio-Economy in solidarity. Together with other organizations, it empowers the proposal for reconverting the castle of Sant Ferran of Figueres, Catalunya, (the largest military fort in Europe) in a Castle for Peace, Inter-Cultural Centre for the Peace Culture, to prevent and to resolve conflicts. In addition, Nova is in the process of writing a series of project files for the Barcelona City Council, each one representing a sustainability project currently underway in the city of Barcelona. Contact person: Martí Olivella, Nova CIS | ||
