For many years, the Altiero Spinelli Institute for Federalist Studies has organised a yearly international seminar on the island of Ventotene. This island off the Italian coast, was the place where Altiero Spinelli, author of the Federalist Ventotene Manifesto, was imprisoned during the Second World War. Each year, young Federalists gather here to discuss with leading experts from the European and World Federalist Movement federalist ideas and their application to the European and global context.

Topics & Structure of the seminar

Possible topics for this year's conferences may include but are not limited to: - Federalism as a Political Theory - Federalism as an Institutional Model - The Values Pursued by Federalism - Federalism as an Answer to the Challenges of Globalisation - The EU as the Most Advanced Federalist Experiment - The Potential for a Greater Global Role of the EU - The Federal Citizenship: A New Model - Past, Present and Future Role of the Federalist Movements in the European Integration - Proposals for Overcoming the Present Stalemate of the EU - Guidelines for Strategy and Action of the Federalist Movements in the Near Future

Starting with this year, the traditional structure of the seminar will be changed, following the suggestions of previous participants. Each morning will host three talks of 30 minutes each (09.30-11.00), on a general topic. These presentations will be followed by working groups (11.30-13.00). The afternoon session will be devoted to the presentation of the groups' feedback (17.30-18.00) followed by an interactive discussion between the participants and the speakers (18.00-19.30). This way, we want to encourage a more active involvement of all participants into the seminar's works.

Call for Papers

You are invited again to be a part of this discussion. After the success of last year's experiment, a certain number of speakers will be selected on the basis of a Call for Papers, open to everyone interested. The deadline for the submission of an abstract of your paper is June 10.

Your abstracts will be reviewed by an Altiero Spinelli Institute Commission and notices of acceptance will be sent out on approximately June 30. The Altiero Spinelli Institute will provide to the selected speakers full reimbursement of their travel expenses and accommodation and full board for two nights - three days. Speakers who want to attend the whole seminar will receive full travel reimbursement and will have to pay a fee of 90 €.

All abstracts must contain: - Author's name and affiliation - Title of the paper - Author's email (check carefully that it is the correct one) - Author's full postal address (street, zip, city and country) - Author's mobile (preferred) or landline (not preferred) phone

If you wish to submit an abstract, please send it to applications at istitutospinelli.org. before June 10. Abstracts sent after the deadline will not be examined by the commission.

PARTICIPATING CONDITIONS

Applications The online application form must be submitted by June 10 at the very latest. The form is accessible through the Institute's website on http://www.istitutospinelli.org/index.php?option=com_facileforms&Itemid=11

If you should encounter any problems with the web-based form, send an email to applications at istitutospinelli.org. Make sure that it contains all the same data requested by the web-form.

Admission By June 30, an Altiero Spinelli Institute Commission will select the participants and will provide the admitted ones with detailed information concerning the procedure for confirmation, the final programme and how to reach Ventotene.

Participation fee and travel reimbursement Considering that, in the past years, the participation fee was often higher than the travel expenses, starting with 2005, the Altiero Spinelli Institute decided to abolish both the participation fee and the travel reimbursement. The selected participants will receive without any cost accommodation and all the meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) from the lunch of Sunday Sept. 2 to the lunch of Friday Sept. 7 included. No travel reimbursement is provided. Booking in large advance, it will be possible to fly to Rome or Naples at very low costs from many places in Europe.

Special conditions for Italian participants The conditions for Italians applying for the international seminar are instead the same as those of the national seminar (150 € participation fee and 80% travel reimbursement up to a maximum of 70 €).

Caution money A caution of 100 € shall be paid in advance by those who have been accepted in the seminar, so that the Institute can book the hotel, without risking own funds in case of last-minute withdrawals. The full amount of 100 € will be given back, cash, to each participant at the end of the seminar, provided that s/he will have attended all sections.

Scholarships In order to facilitate those who come from the farthest countries, the Altiero Spinelli Institute will provide a certain number of scholarships of 150 € each, covering part of the travel expenses, upon request. The attribution of the scholarship will be communicated together with the confirmation letter. Please note that the acceptance to the seminar does not automatically imply the attribution of a scholarship unless explicitly stated.

If you want to apply for a scholarship, please send a full CV and a motivation letter (not longer than one page) to scholarships at istitutospinelli.org.

Working language English will be the working language for the international seminar. An Italian seminar will be run in parallel, with Italian participants.