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1st Graduate International Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research, Sept 06
Sylvia Corona, has recently chaired the panel "Britishness, Englishness and Multi-layered citizenship" in the First Graduate Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research. The international event was held at the University of Essex on 7-9 September 06.
Ms Corona also presented a paper in the same event.
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Conference "Order and Disorder in a Changing World", June 06
The American Graduate School (AGS) of International relations and Diplomacy based in Paris, France, organised an International Conference on June this year. UK New Citizen presented a paper and contributed to the lively debate.
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30th International Conference of the American Sociological Association (PEWS Section), April 06
The 30th Conference of the Political Economy of the World System "Islam and the modern orientalist world-system” was held at the Macalester College in Minnesota, USA, between April 27 – 30, 2006. UK New Citizen was invited to participate and contribute with a paper to the prestigious event.
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"Between Extremes: Citizenship and Censorship in a free society", debate organised by the Transatlantic Institute on 30th November 2005
This event explored the role of the citizens in a free society and what, if any, controls should be place on freedom of speech and association. The panellists were: Dr Abdul Wahid, Exec. Com. Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain; Richard Weight, author of "Patriots: National Identity in Britain"; Prof Catherine Audard, Forum for European Philosophy; Sylvia Corona-Palacios.
The debate was organised by The Transatlantic Institute.
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Reggio Calabria 25-26 November 2005
Conference-Workshop "Inclusion of the 'New Citizens' through local policies"
On
the last weekend of November UK New Citizen has been invited to chair
this conference-workshop on integration and citizenship policies. The
event has been organised by the Comune di Reggio Calabria with the participation
of representatives of Employment, Education, Development and European
Resources Sectors.
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Berlin 7-9 November 2005
International Conference on Citizenship and Multiculturalism organised by the Heinrich Boll Foundation and the Canadian Embassy in Berlin
UK New Citizen was invited to participate in this international event. We presented a paper and had the oportunity to exchange opinions and experiences with especialists of America and Europe.
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On
12th April 2005 the BBC2 screened the micro-programme "New Citizens"...
Because of the proximity of the General Election, the BBC made a special report on the NEW CITIZENS and their political participation in British democracy, by interviewing our Chair Sylvia Corona.
Screened twice in the slot of "London News", we received excellent feedback by many viewers.
More important yet, UK New Citizen had the possibility to promote the defence of democratic institutions in Britain and the exercise of the right to vote among "old" and "new" citizens.
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Debate on "Culture and Politics" organised by The British Council and Counterpoint, November 2004
Between the 2nd to the 4th November the first Global Video-Conference on "The Future of Cultural Relations" took place in London. Distinguished personalities debated about "Culture and Politics", "Multiculturalism", "Secularism and Faith" and other seminal themes on modern cultural relations. UK New Citizen's Chair, Sylvia Corona, participated in the panel "Culture and Politics" on Wednesday 3rd November.
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CAPITA Conference-debate on Citizenship, June 2004
UK New Citizen was invited to chair a new conference-debate on citizenship. Organised by CAPITA, the event took place on Thursday 23rd June from 10 am to 4pm in Central London.
Ms Helen Clark MP, Mr Timothy Boswell MP, Professor Sir Bernard Crick were among the distinguished panellists.
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SERIES
OF CONFERENCE-DEBATES
"NEW CITIZENS, NEW CHALLENGES"
ORGANISED BY UK NEW CITIZEN
"From
immigrants to new citizens… Becoming a citizen in 21st century Britain",
November 2003
Third
conference-debate in the series "New Citizens, New Challenges", organised
by UK New Citizen and sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister,
Special Grants Programme and Ufi/Learndirect
Date:
Tuesday 18th November 03
Time:
9: 30 AM to 4:30 PM
Venue: Church
House Conference Centre, Westminster, London
For years, a large number of immigrants and refugees settled in the UK have embraced the British nationality. Their new status did not change their image as "the newcomers" though, their communities grew apart and their descendants were "refugee children" even if born here. Like the "French of papers" in France, the "British passport holders" were a new group of citizens that either for own decision or social exclusion, did not properly belong nor had contact with the wider society.
The Final Report of the "Life in the United Kingdom" Advisory Group, chaired by Prof. Sir Bernard Crick, aims to encourage settled immigrants to seek citizenship, based rather on differences but what binds us together. For newcomers and "old" generations of citizens in general, the key question remains: what does it mean to be a citizen in 21st century Britain?
As
the culmination of a successful first year of full activities, UK New
Citizen is organising the last event in 2003, a new conference-debate
to address these important issues.
Prof.
Sir Bernard Crick Home Office Advisor
in Citizenship and Chair of the "Life in the United Kingdom Advisory
Group"
will be the
Keynote speaker of the event. Ms Helen Clark MP
for Peterborough; Mr
Dominic Grieve MP for Beaconsfield, Chairman of
the Community Cohesion Executive of the Conservative Party; Ms
Sue Densley, Ufi/ Learndirect;
Mr
Patrick Wintour, Director of the Employability Forum; Ms
Illa Pattni, Working Links; Ms
Debra Allcok Tyler, Chief Executive of the Directory of
Social Change; Mr Nadeem Ahmad,
Regional Manager of the North East Consortium for Asylum Support Services
(NECASS); Cllr
Fiyaz Mughal, Chair of Ethnic Minorities
Liberal Democrat Party; Mr
Jeff Toms, Director of Clients
Services, Farnham Castle;
Mr
Jonathan Baldrey, At Work!;
Mr Satish Sachdeva, Chief Executive
of the Sheffield Positive Action Training
Consortium (SPAT-C); will
be among the distinguished panellists contributing in the debate.
Politicians, policy-makers, social scientists, immigrants and refugees
as "new citizens" themselves, are invited to participate in this lively
interactive event: on the day of the conference, three discussion panels
will feed the debate, together with the result of consultations and
surveys ran prior the event.
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"English
provision and access to public services”,
Sept 2003
Half a day interactive event
Second
conference-debate in the series "New Citizens, New Challenges", organised
by UK New Citizen and sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister,
Special Grants Programme and Ufi/Learndirect
Held on Thursday 25th September 2003 at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD
Ms
Helen Clark MP, Member of Parliament (Labour) for Peterborough;
Mr
Chris Hedges, Assistant Director in the Immigration and Nationality
Directorate's Social Policy, Home Office;
Mr
Jonathan Portes, Deputy Director of the Department for Work and
Pensions, Work and Welfare Strategy;
Mr
Barry Brooks Deputy Director responsible for Standards and Achievement
within the Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit;
Cllr
Fiyaz Mughal, Chair of Ethnic Minorities Liberal Democrat Party;
Ms
Sue Densley, Learndirect, Skills for Life Manager (ESOL);
Ms
Val Potter, WPF Director and Chair of the British Association
for Psychotherapy and Counselling;
Mr
Chris Wood, Team Leader on the Ethnic Minorities and Refugee
Team of the Jobseekers Division of Jobcentre Plus Head Office in Sheffield;
Dr
Gillian Braunold, General Practitioners Committee, British Medical
Association;
Mr Nick Tittle, Kensington and Chelsea Community
Safety Team;
The new polices presented by the government stress the importance of English learning for immigrant and refugees. Employment opportunities are indeed related to language skills but nevertheless, everyday challenges for “new citizens” go beyond the workplace itself. Research shows that Ethnic Minorities have more difficulties than the white community to access public services. We want to investigate at what point the lack of language skills is contributing to this inequality.
UK New Citizen
would like to support the renewed emphasis on English learning by highlighting
the real difficulties that people face when trying to access public services,
especially when English is not their first language. In this new conference-debate
we will have the opportunity to know more about the practical experience
of service users –newcomers, refugees and “new citizens”- and the challenges
faced by service providers in Health, Education, Safety, Employment and
other public services. Panellists will also debate how the English provision
system will face the enhanced challenge of promoting wider English learning
among newcomers.
Immigrants and refugees groups, service providers, politicians and decision-makers
will participate in an interactive event that will consider opinions,
proposals and surveys ran in Workshops held prior the event.
This half a day conference-debate is part of UKNC’s campaign for “English as a common language”, stressing the importance of English as a key element for community cohesion, equality, dialogue and understanding across communities.
“English
provision and access to public services” is part of
the three-year programme of “Workshops and Conference-debates in Citizenship”
that UK New
Citizen is organising with the support of the ODPM, Special Grants Programme.
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"Multiculturalism
or Integration? Finding a new path for a plural and harmonic
British society", March 2003
First
conference-debate in the series "New Citizens, New Challenges", organised
by UK New Citizen and sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister,
Special Grants Programme and Trust for London
Held Thursday 20th March 2003-Church House Conference Centre, Dean's Yard, Westminster
After the 11th of September Western societies have felt the need for a thorough review of their immigration policies. Some of the outcomes are already noticeable; calls for "integration" of the newcomers are a strident challenge to established multicultural policies.
This movement of change has also reached the UK. Racial riots in northern towns in England seemed to confirm that the motto "separated, but equal" actually means division. Even so, criticism to multicultural policies still poses problems. It seems that in the fight against racial prejudice, Multiculturalism has generated new taboos especially regarding the objective evaluation of its practical results.
But prejudices and taboos are never conducive to a truly democratic society. Pressing questions demand an answer: Is Multiculturalism the only option for a plural and diverse society? Is modern Integration a return to assimilation policies? Should the consideration of the opinion of the white-native population (which actually counts for more than 90% of the total inhabitants in the UK) being considered as a plain endorsement to a far-right point of view? When do immigrants and their descendants -the so-called "second, third and even fourth generation of immigrants"- become citizens not only in name but also in reality?
Even more important: can a socially-inclusive approach hold the clues that 21st century Britain needs?
Multiculturalism or Integration? was a one-day conference debate organised by UK New Citizen with the support of The Trust for London. Among the distinguished panellists:
Mr Simon Hughes MP (lib-Dem pre-candidate to Mayor of London); Mr Dominic Grieve MP for Beaconsfield and Chairman of the Community Cohesion Executive; Ms Jean Lambert, Green MEP; Prof. Adam Kuper, Brunel University; Mr Patrick Wintour, Director of the Employability Forum; Prof. Oonagh Reitman, Gender Institute London School of Economics; Dr Raj Chandran, former Commissioner of the CRE (Commission for Racial Equality); Ms Tiffany Jenkins, Director of Arts and Society in the Institute of Ideas; Mr Tony Breslin, Chief Executive of the Citizenship Foundation; Prof. Jill Rutter, London Metropolitan University; Mr Theo Blackwell, Chief Policy Specialist in The Work Foundation; Mr Graham Downes, Director of Kensington and Chelsea Social Council; Ms Nora Mckenna, Children's Education Advisor for the Refugee Council; Mr Simon Blanchflower, Labour Cllr RBK&C, were the personalities participating in different discussion panels.
For more information about our Conference-Debates please contact us.
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