The third edition of the Summer University, this time on "Societies in Transition, building inclusive communities from the local level", was held from 6 to 9 September in the municipality of Tavira (Algarve, Portugal).
This activity is a result of the three-way partnership between a civil society organisation, the Asociación In Loco; a research centre, the Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES), at the University of Coimbra; and the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights.
The course focused on analyzing the challenges posed by the paradigm shift that we are currently experiencing and presented some initiatives by groups and municipalities working to build a different future on a participatory basis. The discussions focused on four central proposals for change: Politics, Sustainability, Citizenship and Inclusion. In view of the recent social protests worldwide claiming for a real democracy, the course featured a wide range of speakers from various countries were these revolts have taken place: Iceland, United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain.
During the course, one of the key concepts was the construction of inclusive cities, an issue on which the Committee is working and which has led to the creation of the Social Inclusion Observatory. The initiative, which took place with the scientific support of the CES, is a virtual platform that contains case studies of successful local policies for social inclusion. Some of these policies were presented at the Tavira Summer University, such as those implemented in Jerez de la Frontera and Banco Palmas.
For more information: