Shaping the future of
local services in Europe
Keynote speakers 2008
An exciting programme of confirmed keynote
speakers includes (list will be completed shortly):
Vladimír ŠPIDLA
became European Commissioner for Employment, Social
Affairs and Equal Opportunities in November 2004, having
previously been elected Prime Minister of the Czech
Republic in July 2002. A founding member of the Czech
Social Democratic Party, he subsequently served in the
Chamber of Deputies as Chairman of the Parliamentary
Social Policy and Health Care Committee and was later
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Commissioner
Špidla will be announcing the new Social Agenda and
outlining how it will support local services in order
to enhance opportunities, access and solidarity.
Valérie LETARD est Secrétaire
d’Etat chargée de la Solidarité depuis juin 2007. Assistante
sociale de formation, elle a été sénatrice, Vice-présidente
de la Commission des Affaires sociales du Sénat ainsi
que Vice-présidente du parti politique UDF (MoDem).
Elle assure également, entre autres, les fonctions de
Présidente de Valenciennes Métropole et de Conseillère
Régionale du Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Petr NECAS
Petr Necas has been Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of
Labour and Social Affairs since 2006, previously having
been
appointed First Deputy Minister of Defence in 1995 and
before
that vice-chairman of the Joint Committee of the European
Parliament.
Jan ANDERSSON
is a Swedish politician, MEP and Chair of the European
Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.
He started his career as a teacher in Helsingborg, serving
as a councillor and as Chair of the city's Social Welfare
Board before being elected to the Swedish Parliament
in 1988. He has been an MEP since 1995.
Agnieszka CHLOŃ-DOMIŃCZAK
is Vice-Minister at the Polish Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy and Vice-president of the EC's Social
Protection Committee. An economist, she was previously
Head of the Ministry's Economic Analysis and Forecasting
Department and was closely involved in the preparation
and implementation of pension reforms.
Andor ÜRMÖS
has been Head of the Department for Roma Integration
at the Hungarian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour
since 2002 and is a leading European expert
on Roma affairs. He originally attended medical school
and completed post-doctoral research on inequalities
in healthcare before working in the pharmaceuticals
industry from 1998-2002.
Robert ANDERSON is Head of Unit at the European
Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions, an EU agency charged with the provision
of information for policy-making at EU level. At this
conference Robert presents new results from the Foundation's
major survey on Quality of Life across European countries.
Maria Teresa FERRANDO
GARCÍA
is Senior Researcher at the Poliwelfare Research Institute
of the University of Valencia and leader of the EC project,
'Free movement and equal opportunities for all', aimed
at increasing the free movement and equal opportunities
of people with disabilities.
Joseph GERADA has been Chief Executive Officer
of the Foundation for Social Welfare Servces in Malta
since 2004, having held a number of management posts
in the public social and private sectors. In 2005 he
was elected President of the Social Cohesion Committee
of the Council of Europe. Here he discusses Malta's
experience of building 'one stop service centres', factors
in their success and potential obstacles to cooperation
at a local level.
Giovanni DE GIROLAMO is Head of the Mental
Health Research Unit in Bologna. He previously coordinated
Italy's National Mental Health Project at the National
Health Institute in Rome and from 1988-94 worked at
the World Health Organisation in Geneva. He discusses
the development of community mental health policy and
the integration of service users within the community.
Thomas HARTMANN is a senior advisor in the
German Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Affairs,
responsible since 1999 for the urban development support
programme 'Social City'. He discusses how investment
in urban development can be specifically integrated
with projects that promote social inclusion.
Alain VERRET is Director of Social Services
at CCAS, Grenoble, France. A graduate of medical school,
he was formerly a hospital director. Here he discusses
the crisis in homelessness across Europe, describing
how Grenoble has developed its responses to the challenge
of providing a range of housing to meet the needs of
vulnerable members of society.
Chief Constable Ken JONES
QPM is one of the key senior police officers of the
police service in the United Kingdom and an accomplished
Chief Officer with a broad range of local, national
and international experience. Since April 2006 he has
been President of the Association of Chief Police Officers
of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Panellists
We are delighted also to welcome the following
chairs and contributors to our plenary panel debates:
Niall DICKSON
Chief Executive of the King's Fund, an independent
think tank, training and development organisation in
London
(Chair, round table, 4 July)
Jerôme VIGNON
Director for Social Protection and Integration,
European Commission
(Contributor, round table, 4 July)
Montserrat
BALLARIN
President of the Social Welfare Area of
Diputació de Barcelona and Vice-president
of the Catalonian Municipal Federation, Spain
(Contributor, round
table, 4 July)
Pascal GOULFIER
President of the Association of Directors
of Social Services of the Départements of France
(Contributor, round table, 4 July)
Martin HIRSCH
High Commissioner for Action against Poverty, France
(Contributor, round table, 4 July)
Darja KORVA
Secretary General, Association of Centres of Social
Work,
Slovenia (to be confirmed)
(Contributor, round table, 4 July)
Patrick KANNER
President of the French National Union of Communal
Centres for Social Action (UNCCAS), France
(Chair, plenary session, 3 July)
Jean-Jacques TREGOAT
Director-General of the Department of
Social Welfare at the French Ministry of
Health and Social Cohesion
(Chair, plenary session, 2 July)
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