The Atlantic Geopolitical Space: common opportunities and challenges
Synthesis Report of a conference jointly organised by DG Research and Innovation and BEPA, European Commission, and held on 1 July 2011
Rapporteur: Mark Aspinwall, 2011 - 34 pp. - ISBN 978-92-79-21628-2 ( 923KB)

The relations between the "four pillars" of the Atlantic – Europe, Africa, North America, South America – need further and systematic analysis. Paradoxically, the academic and policy interest on the "rise of the Pacific" has not been paralleled yet with an "Atlantic space" perspective which is key for Europe and its partners in the region. The Atlantic region, both North and South, displays strong cultural, political and economic convergence.
The great majority of the countries have embraced multiparty democracies and market economies. The level of economic interdependence in the region, seen by the rise of the volume in trade, has considerably grown during the last decade. At the same time there are important cleavages and diversities to be considered and managed at the multilateral as well as sub-regional levels. Issues discussed at the workshop, by experts from all regions of the Atlantic, included: partnerships between major players; regional integration and Atlantic cooperation; good governance and development; trade, finance and investment; energy and environment; peace building and security challenges.

The Future of Banking – PEGGED book
2011 , Edited by Thorsten Beck, ISBN (eBook):978-1-907142-46-8, 91 pages ()

Sovereign risk and banking risk are in reality so dangerously intertwined that no big European bank is now safe from the potential impact of holding bad government debt. This PEGGED book presents a collection of essays that offer solutions to the crisis and proposals for medium- to long-term reforms to the regulatory framework in which financial institutions operate. Amongst them, the authors present the case for a forceful resolution of the Eurozone crisis through the introduction of ‘European Safe Bonds’ (ESBies).

The authors stress the need for a stronger, European-wide regulatory framework as well as for a European-level resolution authority for systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs), but they also recall that it is also extremely important to ensure that we do not forget the essential role of banks in terms of their vital contribution to the ‘real economy’ and the pivotal role they play as lenders to small- and medium-size enterprises in support of economic growth at local and regional levels.

• More information on the PEGGED project

Life in the Eurozone with or without Sovereign Default? – PEGGED book
2011 , Editors: Franklin Allen, Elena Carletti, Giancarlo Corsetti,
181 pages ( 2.31MB)

This timely e-book contains the proceeding of the conference "Life in the Eurozone With or Without Sovereign Default?" organized by the PEGGED project, funded by the SSH Theme of FP7. This e- book addresses thoroughly the issue of Sovereing default, notably the case of Greece, and its political consequences for the Euro-zone, for the banking systems and for tax-payers. The books present very different perspectives and possible actions, and most suggest that debt restructuring is inevitable. As highlighted by Josep Borrell Fontelles - former president of the European Parliament - the main contribution of this e-book is that it discusses what such a restructuring could look like. It should be kept in mind, as indicated by Mitu Gulati, that "Greece is almost in a better position than any other country in recent memory to do a restructuring."

• More information on the PEGGED project

Transnational Communities and Conflicts - Challenges and how to address them - The INFOCON Mousebook
2011 , Editors: Elise Féron and Anna Orrnert,
190 pages ( 2.20MB)

The idea of this "Mousebook" a handbook mainly disseminated online grew out of Infocon, a research project funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework programme for Research and Development. While research on diasporas and transnational communities has been relatively extensive, little is known about the civil society organizations that grow out these communities. Despite their often small size, these organizations contribute significantly to building links between countries of origin and countries of settlement. They have a key role to play in peace building initiatives in these two locations and in the development process of their home countries.

Nevertheless, transnational community organizations face great challenges in their everyday activities, related to their transnational nature and sometimes limited size, their relations with the local and national authorities in the country of settlement and the high internal diversity of members of the transnational communities they wish to represent.

This Mousebook describes and analyses some of these challenges to their peace building and development activities. It also presents the ways in which the civil society organizations involved in the Infocon project have been trying to deal with them. Instead of prescribing one-size- ts-all formulas, it is hoped that discussing specific examples and celebrating successes will foster a better understanding of the work of transnational community organizations. The book helps them to imagine and set their own path through the various traps and quagmires as well as opportunities that lie ahead.

• More information on the INFOCON project

Opportunities for researchers from the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities – Analysis of SSH-relevant topics in areas other than theme 8 Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities – FP7 work programmes 2012 & other ERA initiatives
Authors: Smadar HIRSH (MATIMOP-ISERD), Orna BEN-DAVID (MATIMOP-ISERD), Michalis TZATZANIS (FFG), Christina BITTERBERG (DLR), Malgorzata KROTKI (IPPT-PAN), Firat GEDIKLI (TUBITAK), Anastasia GUROVA (CSRS), Nathalia CHUSOVA (CSRS), Irina KRUTIY (CSRS) 26/08/2011, 135 pages( 788KB)

The document “Opportunities for Researchers in the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities” has been compiled in the framework of the EU-financed project “NET4SOCIETY – Trans-national co-operation among National Contact Points for Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities”.

It aims at raising the awareness of researchers from the socio-economic sciences and humanities (SSH), who are familiar with the “Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities”-Theme of the 7th EU Research Framework Programme (FP7), to opportunities for SSH research in other areas of FP7 and ERA-initiatives (such as ERA-Nets, Joint Programming Initiatives and Article 185-Initiatives). The document includes the SSH-relevant calls published in July 2011.

• More information on the Net4Society project

Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe - State of the Art – Final report (2010)
Edited by Marjo Kuronen, Familcy Research Centre, University of Jyväskylä, 147 pp.

The State of the Art of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe is the concluding report of the first "Major Trends" phase of FAMILYPLATFORM. It summarises the results of eight Existential Field Reports (related to parenting, caring, working and living) and two additional Expert Reports (Transitions to Parenthood & The Development of Standards for Social Work and Social Care Services for Families).

• The partners involved have done extensive systematic literature reviews on European comparative research published since the mid-1990s in their specific field of expertise using existing scientific and statistical databases, reports from previous and ongoing EC funded research projects, and other relevant publications. This concluding report draws together the main results, conclusions and major trends (as well as research gaps) identified in these more extensive reports.

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Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe - Conference Report (2010)
Edited by Karin Wall, Mafalda Leitão and Vasco Ramos of the Institute of Social Sciences (University of Lisbon), 209 pp.

Critical Review on Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe is the concluding report of the Critical Review and stakeholder consultation phase, and summarises the input of the many stakeholders who attended the Lisbon Conference in May 2010.It sets out to provide information on this conference by providing a detailed description of the structure and main contributions, but also wishes to bear witness to some of the interactions and processes of the conference.

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Foresight Report: Facets and Preconditions of Wellbeing of Families (2010)
Edited by Olaf Kapella – (Austrian Institute for Family Studies, University of Vienna) and Anne-Claire de Liedekerke & Julie de Bergeyck (MMMEurope), 74 pp.

One of the key steps of the project has been to identify the situations and challenges that European families will face in the year 2035. Using a structured process of discussion based on the Foresight Approach and taking into account existing trends and possible ‘disruptive events’, “Foresight Report: Facets and Preconditions of Wellbeing of Families” elucidates four future scenarios and sixteen different family situations in the year 2035, with particular attention paid to the wellbeing of these different family forms.

Among topics that will have an impact on family wellbeing in 2035, the importance of intergenerational solidarity and communities features, as well as the influence of time on the wellbeing of families, the issue of unpaid work care arrangements, and questions about children's rights and best interests.

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SSH experiences with FP7 – A commentary - NET4SOCIETY survey report
Authors: Angela Schindler-Daniels (DLR, DE), Christina Bitterberg (DLR, DE), Ranjana Sarkar (DLR, DE), Malgorzata Krotki (IPPT-PAN, PL), Larissa Titarenko (BSU, BY) - 09/03/2011 ( 2.01MB)

Within the context of the EU-funded project NET4SOCIETY a survey-based report entitled: “SSH Experiences with FP7 – a Commentary” was launched in Summer 2010.
The overall learning objective of the SSH commentary is to capture a vivid picture of SSH researchers’ opinions and – if possible – experiences on the general structure of Theme 8 “SSH” and on the integration of SSH aspects in the other nine research Themes of the Cooperation programme.

The SSH commentary was conducted at the midterm stage of FP7 – reflecting four years of experience with FP7. The SSH Commentary is part of a work package in the NET4SOCIETY project, funded by the European Commission. Its objective is to improve the tools of SSH funding and to provide policy-relevant recommendations.

• More information on the Net4Society project

Mergers and acquisitions - The innovation impact. Edited by Bruno Cassiman & Massimon G. Colombo. Edward Elgar Publishing