The Education Support Program of the Open Society Foundations (OSF) has published a book which was co-edited by CMCS Research Fellow Roxana Radu. The volume, Wellbeing Reconsidered: Empowering Grassroots Organizations, is the outcome of an Education Support Program initiative seeking to involve European community-based educational grassroots organizations in EU policy debates. The initiative aims to enable those local voices not typically heard to become a part of EU policy discussions around educational issues.
Abstract
The interconnectedness between social development, well-being, and social justice has so far fallen short of systematic policy prioritizing. In part, this has been due to the lack of a unified approach on how the role of community-based organizations can be strengthened in bottom-up processes. Scrutinizing this line of thought, the core question we address here is: How can the contribution of grassroots organizations be integrated structurally in efforts to fight against disparities in the European Union?
This inquiry has grown out of a 10-month project entitled Grassroots Europe for Local Wellbeing, which has brought together not only representatives of civil society from different EU member states, but also local and national authorities, as well as policy-makers engaged at different levels.
The publication is divided into three parts, each addressing a different set of concerns: firstly, rethinking a unified approach to the role of grassroots organizations in enhancing local well-being; secondly, reconceptualizing practice from the standpoint of the grassroots organizations, and thirdly, addressing the challenges which lie ahead in policy prioritizing at both the national and the EU level.