THE WORLDWIDE CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON ITALY.
THE NEED FOR A BIG SOCIETY IN ITALY
ROME, 25th NOVEMBER 2010
The conference The Worldwide Crisis and its Impact on Italy. The need for a Big Society in Italy was held in Rome on the 25th November. This meeting, organised by Fondazione Roma, addressed the theme of a necessary reform of our welfare system, which is currently in crisis because the State is unable to meet the increasing needs of civil society.
Allowing citizens a new form of involvement in public life, based on the principle of subsidiarity, through independent initiatives that aim to reach goals of general interest, constitutes a new frontier of democracy and community wellbeing, which today is the only solution possible.
In England this frontier is known as the ‘Big Society’ which is tantamount in Italy to what the Chairman, Professor Emanuel, has called the ‘Third Pillar’: more civil society and less State. The Third Pillar plays a fundamental in building a modern sustainable Welfare system with opportunities, responsibilities and talent, capable of assuring growth and progress for the new generations.
