Today, the Italian third sector seems to have lost the central role in
public debate concerning social change that it held a decade ago. What does
this mean for the sector? Alessandro Messina explores whether this situation
reveals a sector settled in its role or a third sector whose period of growth
is yet to come.
The number of non-profit organisations in Italy continues to grow, as does
the volume of public services they provide. The third sector is no longer a new
actor in the Italian welfare system and, in some ways, this could be considered
positive – a ‘normalisation’ of the sector’s role in society and, on a lower
level, its role in the economy.
However, the exponential growth of a broad range of non-profit organisations – their number has increased by 283% in the last ten years – along with the deep changes in public policies and the forms of local government, and the significant cut in public budgets, all lead us to believe that the current muted role of the third sector in public debate is far from symbolic of its maturity.
However, the exponential growth of a broad range of non-profit organisations – their number has increased by 283% in the last ten years – along with the deep changes in public policies and the forms of local government, and the significant cut in public budgets, all lead us to believe that the current muted role of the third sector in public debate is far from symbolic of its maturity.
[...] Read the full chapter here.
by Alessandro Messina
in Lessons from Abroad: the third sector’s role in public service transformation, edited by Filippo Addarii, Catherine Deakin and Seb Elsworth, ACEVO, ISBN 1-900685-51-5