Fondazione Roma Supports Socio-economic Research

The financial crisis has clearly emphasised the inadequacy of the traditional Welfare State, which needs to be thoroughly updated, remodelled and rationalised by eliminating misspending, radically streamlining bureaucracy and politics and, above all, introducing courageous reform policies.

In order to pursue a concrete and sustainable programmatic approach to address this issue and acting as a think tank, on the wave of the Chairman’s constant undertakings and theoretical reflections conducted in his book entitled Il terzo pilastro. Il non profit motore del nuovo welfare (The third pillar. Non-profit organizations drive the new welfare system), Fondazione Roma has demonstrated that Italy has a unique wealth that could regenerate the welfare system, the variegated world of the Third Sector. This sector embodies the best side of the country and intends to directly attend to the needs of the community without waiting for intervention from above. The Foundation also held two international conferences in 2010 and 2011 that highlighted the ambitious British Big Society project.

In order to propose a sustainable welfare model, based on the significant contribution of the ‘Third Pillar’, the Foundation has accomplished a project called Wel.Com.E. Welfare for Community Empowerment. Beside theory and research, the project included experimental civic engagement activities that aim to enhance and protect the common good in Castel di Guido, a rural area in the suburbs of Rome which, albeit rich in natural resources and landscapes, has been abandoned by the local institutions and exposed to degradation for many years.

Fondazione Roma concurrently supported a research project performed by Fondazione Rosselli that aimed to analyse the financial sustainability of the civil welfare model, which implies that the ‘Third Pillar’ shall play a major role, considering the budget constraints imposed on Italy as a member of the European Union and consequent reduction of public funds. The study mainly focused on the welfare policies and services for children in the Lazio Region.

For the purpose of gathering the proceedings of the conferences organised by Fondazione Roma’s Think Tank which, over the years, have contributed to the analysis of topical themes, a library of TTR (Think Tank Reports) has been created and is available in the Publications section of the website.