The goal of the conference is to present and disseminate results of scientific research focused on partnership understood as a form of co-operation involving stakeholders representing different sectors, which is established in the public sphere in order to reach public objectives. The organizers’ intention is to open the conference for presentation of the broadest possible spectrum of circumstances in which such partnerships are established and operated. To this end, we invite participants representing a variety of academic disciplines – political science, sociology, economy, law, cultural studies etc. – whose findings may contribute to an interdisciplinary discussion concerning the issue in question. Our call is also addressed at practitioners who – representing public administration, social organizations or economy – are familiar with the daily reality of partnerships across the public domains.
Without limiting the scope of possible presentations, we see the following issues as worth focusing upon during the June conference:
- partnerships as instruments to carry out policies of development both in rural and urban areas;
- two- and three-sector partnerships as tools to deliver public tasks;
- partnerships as a form of social and civic dialogue;
- partnerships as means to counteract social exclusion;
- legal frameworks for partnerships, including limitations created by law and recommendations concerning legal solutions that circumscribe the establishing and functioning of partnerships;
- political and administrative cultures in the framework of which partnerships function and the possibilities to change such cultures via partnerships;
- social capital and its role in establishing and functioning of partnerships and vice versa, i.e. – the role of partnerships in generating social capital;
- partnerships in multi-cultural societies/communities;
- opportunities to further develop the partnership approach in the coming EU financial perspective 2014-2020.