Future Perspectives of Science-related NGOs in Bulgaria: ´Think Tanks´ - Competitors of Academic Organisations?
Working Language: English
Date 23 June 2006
Venue
Music Center “Boris Hristov”, Main Hall,
Sofia, “Tsar Samuil” Str. No. 43
Organiser
Austrian Science and Research Liaison Office Sofia
For registration and more information, please contact Zlatka Pandeva, aso-sofia@zsi.at
tel. (+359 2) 9872069, not later than 20 June 2006
Goals of the workshop
The workshop is planned as a contribution to the discussion on the development of Think Tanks from the NGO Sector in Bulgaria and their relation to “traditional” academic organisations like universities and the Academy of Sciences. The status of the Bulgarian NGO´s has been continuously changing in the last decade. The forthcoming Bulgarian EU membership will have considerable impact on EC member states and US donor´s priorities. Scientific expertise e.g. in the Social Sciences provided by NGO´s is a vital element of a functioning civil society. On the other hand scientifically active Think Tanks are also competitors to the “classical” academic institutions, while personal intersection of both is a fact.
The idea of the workshop is to discuss the opportunities for further advancement and development of proactive scientific organisations in the field. Important issues are the organisational obstacles to enhance and optimize research potential and quality, applicability of gained knowledge, their contribution to civil society in specific fields.
The potential of social innovation - the ability to apply critical knowledge, the development of tools and instruments for practical application might be also found in the traditional research organisations. What are the benefits of expertise delivered by NGO Think Tanks? Where are the patterns of competition and cooperation with the traditional research institutions to be identified, can they learn from each other? How do such organisations deal with project based funding?
The one-day workshop will present different points of view and successful models, best practices. The selected papers from a call for proposals will be presented to stimulate a vital discussion to point out possible perspectives of the sector´s future development. Two Austrian Think Tanks will present their approaches and perspectives.
[sursa balkans]
