When, if not now, to talk about the future of civil society? Like the refugee crisis in 2015, the Corona crisis in 2020 has now shown the role of civil society engagement in our pluralistic, open and solidarity-based society. Once again it became clear how directly, effectively and innovatively those initiatives, associations, NGOs, NPOs and individuals – in short, all those who are usually regarded as the “civil society” – are able to act. But now that the first shock of the crisis is behind us, we have to start to shape the world according to – or rather with – Corona in mind. The many new, creative forms of civil society involvement that have emerged in the acute phase of the crisis must be used to form instruments and strategies that promote sustainable social innovation. This symposium with experts, activists and decision-makers will focus on what these approaches might be, who and what it takes to establish them and, last but not least, what we all actually expect from the “civil society of the future”.
www.ulf-ooe.at/zivilgesellschaft-der-zukunft
Credit: Florian Voggeneder vog.photo
