News

Annual Conference - NCVO/VSSN Researching the Voluntary Sector

Date: 9-10 September 2008
Venue: University of Warwick

This conference runs over two-days providing academics, researchers and practitioners within voluntary and community organisations with a unique opportunity to share and discuss ideas. The conference will include thought-provoking plenary lectures and a wide-ranging set of parallel sessions to allow maximum opportunity for debate and learning.

This year’s conference will be exploring a wide range of topics such as:

Social capital and dimensions of equality

Social capital and dimensions of equality

Date: 31 July 2008 – 4.00 to 5.30 (registration at 3.45)

Venue: Carnegie UK Trust Offices, London

This seminar is the second of a series of seminars on 'bridging’ social capital, jointly organised by NCVO and the Carnegie UK Trust Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society in the UK & Ireland. The aim of the seminar series is to improve the understanding of the dynamics of social capital by exploring its operation in a number of different contexts. ...

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What might a Conservative government have in store for the VCS?

There has undoubtedly been a greater interest in the VCS from the Conservative party in recent years. This has been influenced by Cameron’s vision of Compassionate Conservatism and the work of the Social Justice Policy Group including their reports ‘Breakdown Britain’ and ‘Breakthrough Britain’. They have developed thinking on issues recently seen as the remit of the left such as social breakdown and justice, poverty and the environment; issues that are often a key concern for large...

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Links for 14 June 2008

Here are the links we found interesting today:

Preparing for the Worst - ippr

Outlining the need for preparation to ensure resilience against future threats.

‘One small step for man….’

I recently read an interesting article about individual responses to environmental change.  The main thrust of the piece centred on the fact that steps taken by one person can lead others to do the same.  The author termed it ‘viral social change’ and it seems to me that this is probably the biggest influencer of people’s behaviour in all manner of things.  It’s the modern version of ‘lead by example’ but this current change relies more on peer leadership than anything else.  This is...

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How do sector leaders feel about the future 3 months on?

Today NCVO has published the second round of its new Charity Forecast report which reveals the confidence levels and plans of sector leaders. As future change is partly based on present intentions, the report provides valuable information to inform strategic plans; revealing trends in collaboration and competition and how VCOs are feeling about the funding environment and the economy.

Headline findings

  • Charity leaders’ confidence has fallen 5% in the last quarter, but still shows a net...

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The impact of an economic slowdown on the VCS

Whether or not the UK enters a full blown recession, it is clear that we are entering a period of global economic slowdown. How will current turbulence in the economy impact on the sector and how can your organisation respond?

This will be the next topic in our popular series of seminars. Read on to book your free place at the seminar on 22nd July, from 2.30 to 5pm at NCVO's offices in London.

What's happening?

The thriving UK economy of high growth, low inflation and interest rates, and ...

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The world of work in 2018

A little while ago, I attended a futures symposium organised by the European Futures Observatory and a network of professional futurists. One of the presentations was based on the newly published report (PDF 991 KB) on what the world of work in 2018 would look like by the Chartered Management Institute. The world of work has changed dramatically in the last decade. The management and leadership skills needed to survive or succeed today are very different from those of a generation...

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Links for 5 June 2008

Here are the links we found interesting today:

Conservative Green Paper - Voluntary Action in the 21st Century

Sets out broad policy agenda for the VCS for the first time since Cameron has been in power