The Observatory
Percorsi di secondo welfare is a research project started in April 2011 thanks to a partnership between the University of Milan, the research centre Centro di ricerca e documentazione Luigi Einaudi and the newspaper Corriere della Sera. Today it is an independent Observatory of research actively supported by important institutional partners: Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cariparma, Fondazione Cariparo, Fondazione CRC, Fondazione Bracco, Fondazione Unipolis, Cisl Lombardia, Edenred, Welfare Insieme, Ambito Valle Seriana, Gruppo CGM. The Laboratory is led by Prof. Franca Maino as director and Prof. Maurizio Ferrera as scientific supervisor, both academics at University of Milan.
The concept of second welfare
Percorsi di secondo welfare is committed to enhancing the common understanding of what has recently come to be known as “second welfare”. The term, initially coined by Dario di Vico and Maurizio Ferrera by means of their contributions on the Corriere della Sera, refers to “a mix of social protection and social investment programs which are not funded by the State, but provided instead by a wide range of economic and social actors, linked to territories and local communities, but open to trans-local partnerships and collaborations (including the EU)” (Ferrera and Maino, 2011).
Targets
Website
The website www.secondowelfare.it collects the most significant “second welfare” experiences at mostly national but to some extent international levels, and attempts to spread them for purposes of analysis, evaluation and, hopefully, emulation. Our research also seeks to build a comprehensive database of what already exists in terms of “second welfare” practices, and to elaborate a strong conceptual framework for future reference.
Research Reports
In its early life the Observatory has produced hundreds of interviews, working papers and scientific articles, as well as contributing to numerous events and conferences around the themes of the second welfare. Much of the research carried out in the first years of the project was collected in the Reports on the second welfare in Italy that, in addition to a review of the most interesting second welfare experiences in our country, offer interpretations and evaluations of the dynamics developed around this phenomenon.
English Section
Percorsi di secondo welfare has a English section in order to provide articles translated and original international contributions as well as to promote the debate on second welfare and the exchange of best practices.