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      • Cernobbio
        • 5 November 2010
         
         

        Culture, leadership, social responsibility

          The discussion in this session focused on the role of culture in the wake of the global crisis. In this regard, the participants highlighted the increasing search for a more harmonious, sustainable and forward-looking social model, yet one that is anchored in the roots of national identity. With the global crisis, this quest for a new kind of paradigm of development has, even in Italy, once again focused what perhaps was otherwise languishing interest on the crucial importance of “culture”.

        • Milano
          • 25 October 2010
           
           

          Kick-starting professional training

            The participants launched proceedings at this National Conference with the observation that the role of technical and professional training institutes, once the powerhouse of the postwar economic boom in Italy, has been steadily declining since the early 1970s, with enrollment numbers falling inexorably. The result is that, today, these key components of Italy’s education system are no longer capable of supporting the country’s economic development, nor of keeping pace with technological advances.

          • Milan
            • 18 October 2010
             
             

            Leading in Europe, Leading Europe

              The challenges, opportunities and constraints facing future generations is the recurring theme of the Aspen Junior Fellow Breakfasts, examined from an international perspective. In this breakfast debate, it was acknowledged that Europe, despite the level of prosperity, social cohesion and intellectual output it has achieved, is progressively offering fewer opportunities than other geographical areas.

            • Rome
              • 13 October 2010
               
               

              Western democracies under pressure

                The members of the first panel analyzed the multiple repercussions of the crisis that began in 2008 on the Western economies, as well as on their political systems and societies. The impact has been profound, putting in question the growth model and the sustainability of the welfare state in its current forms. Major tensions have also emerged between short term needs – such as the bailouts – and longer term goals. The very close link between modern states and capitalism, which in the Western world is captured by the expression “market democracy”, has become more evident than in the past.

              • Rome
                • 6 October 2010
                 
                 

                Reforming Italy’s government and parliament: slight change or complete overhaul?

                  This discussion over the extent of governmental and parliamentary reform required in Italy today commenced with the observation that the currently prevailing approach to institutional reform seems to be rooted in an awareness of the need for cultural change. Thus the debate between whether to carry out the minimum change required or to enact sweeping reforms appears to have been superseded by an approach that leaves behind attempts to pay mere lip service to reform and firmly seeks to address actual needs.

                • Milan
                  • 27 September 2010
                   
                   

                  SMEs: growth and collaboration in a new global scenario

                    More than three years after the outbreak of the crisis which engulfed the world economy, Italian businesses have shown that they have, on the whole, withstood the impact of the economic and financial tsunami. The country remains the fifth-ranking global manufacturing power and the second in Europe after Germany, running counter to the trend that has seen a progressive reduction in the market shares of traditional industrial economies – the US and Japan in particular.

                  • Milan
                    • 20 September 2010
                     
                     

                    Italy’s savings: how to make it work for the country’s development

                      The Conference got underway with an acknowledgement that savings have played a key role in maintaining Italy’s stability during the more acute phases of the recent financial crisis, and may play an even more important role now as a driver of the country’s economic recovery and growth.

                    • Rome
                      • 17 September 2010
                       
                       

                      Challenges for the Alliance ahead of the NATO Summit and beyond

                        The Secretary General laid out the most urgent priorities for the Alliance, in the run up to the new Strategic Concept which will be adopted at the November Summit in Lisbon. Besides the ongoing commitments – first and foremost the Afghanistan mission, which is almost certainly going through a decisive phase – there are great medium and long-term challenges in the effort to adapt NATO to a rapidly shifting global context.

                      • Milan
                        • 26 July 2010
                         
                         

                        New international strategies to support Italian business

                          The financial crisis has considerably modified the environment in which Italian firms operate. It has introduced new problems in the export sector that are related not only to structural changes in the capital markets but also to difficulties in accessing credit.

                        • Rome
                          • 15 July 2010
                           
                           

                          Federalism and the challenges presented by Italy’s South

                            Federalism is now at the center of the Italian political debate, despite having been considered a heterodox if not inflammatory idea not even a decade ago. Reassigning roles and responsibilities among the different levels and bodies of government is a necessity shared by all advanced democracies given the increased complexity of our economies and of the relationship between citizens and the state.

                          • Madrid
                            • 8 July 2010
                             
                             

                            After the crisis: Europe and Latin America

                              Given the current uncertainty over the global economy’s recovery, interest in the prospects of the South American continent, which seems finally able to express its true potential, has increased. All too often the expectations over the EU / Latin American accords have been set too high. Today, the increase in commercial and financial exchange are guided by a bottom-up logic; promising forms of interdependence are emerging in a pragmatic way and are producing concrete benefits.

                            • Milan
                              • 5 July 2010
                               
                               

                              Artists and artisans: resources for Italian workers

                                The roundtable session got underway with an acknowledgement by the participants of the crucial importance of reviving Italy’s artisan culture – a tradition synonymous with the production of high-quality goods through the accumulation, pooling and dissemination of know-how.

                              • Bergamo
                                • 13 June 2010
                                 
                                 

                                White noise: quality of life in the age of information overload

                                  The Friends of Aspen group met in Bergamo at the G. Donizetti Theater for the 15th edition of their annual conference. Besides taking stock of the association’s recent year since Beatrice Trussardi’s nomination as president, the meeting also served to address the issue of how to reconcile a better quality of life with the need to manage the information and communication overload inherent in today’s society.

                                • Rome
                                  • 9 June 2010
                                   
                                   

                                  The frontiers of identity

                                    Identity is a word that has multiple connotations. Paradoxically, there is not just one but many kinds of identities, whose characteristics, origins and development processes are quite different from one another. Individual identity, for example, is often brought into question at the very moment it is affirmed: Saint Augustine explains that sense of doubt in fact characterizes the fundamental moments in one’s life. The ego becomes aware of itself by a process of elimination: I am all, minus that which I am not.

                                  • Rome
                                    • 7 June 2010
                                     
                                     

                                    Looking to tomorrow: for a youthful future

                                      The event was introduced by the reflection on presentism, or the lack of collective attention in a country overly concerned with the present and which is losing its strategic vision. Presentism is the product of “real time” which has been brought on by technological advancement. Faced with weighing benefits in terms of quality of information and the growth of opportunities, the present has expanded and it has taken over our past and future. In this way, in economic terms, the world financial crisis came about due to an excessive focus on the short term.

                                    • Milan
                                      • 24 May 2010
                                       
                                       

                                      The China challenge

                                        At the same time as the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a seminar was held in Milan with Edward Tse, Booz & Company’s Chairman for Greater China and one of the major experts on the Chinese market. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the economic context businesses find in China, as well as the Chinese government’s main choices in this phase of serious international gravity.

                                      • Naples
                                        • 14 May 2010
                                         
                                         

                                        Pulling through the financial crisis and supporting the real economy

                                          The last minute lifeline thrown to Greece to keep it from possible default opened a series of urgent questions on the future of the single currency, Europe as a political entity and, more in general, the relationship between finance and the real economy. The crisis concerned not only the precarious economic and social situation of Greece – which will inevitably have to pass through a period of deep-seated and predictably painful restructuring. It also shed light on the series of actions that should be taken to prevent possible contagion with other European countries.