Created in 1976, the Forum International de l'Innovation Sociale (the Forum) is an international non-profit association whose aim is to promote social innovation in private and public institutions.  "Social innovation" means the ability to innovate in terms of social behaviors, whether  personal or professional.  The term also implies the capacity to envision options other than repetition and reproduction of past behavior.  The term focuses on the ability to transform roles and, thereby, on the ability to contribute to the transformation of institutions.

In this context, "institution" designates organizations of all kinds, including  the end products that they generate, the factual and mythical histories that underlie them, the implicit and explicit rules that govern them, the conscious and unconscious emotional life that sustains them, and, in general, everything that keeps them in existence.

The Forum's paradigms stress the function of roles in the transformation of institutions and takes into account the psychic aspects of institutional life.  One guiding principle is that evolution in behaviors takes place through work or reflection on mental images, fantasies, myths, feelings, sensations, and anxieties that are common components of life in any institution.  Transformation cannot take place without anxieties and crisis.

The Forum's focus on Institutional Transformation and a deeper understanding of its requirements and rewards regularly holds an international frame of reference.  In fact, it  employs the conscious and unconscious expression of diversity in languages and cultures as a resource, so often underused, that is to be valued.

The Forum is both a permanent institution, devoted to transformation, as well as a place of transit, where it is possible to work individually and collectively in the "here and now" towards the transformation of roles and institutions.  The diversity of the origins and experience of the Forum's members and staff constitute a rich resource.  The Forum intends to utilize this complex resource in its efforts to meet the high demands it makes of itself as an international institution in transformation.

In concrete terms, since 1978, the principal activity of the Forum has consisted in organizing an annual, international, bilingual conference on the themes of authority, leadership, and transformation.  The conference takes place near Paris, France, although the Forum has sponsored and participated in numerous conferences organized in many other countries.

The Forum maintains contact and collaborates with other organizations dedicated to the same principles.

The upcoming conference listed below offers opportunities to further explore, through experience and collective reflection, vital individual and organizational themes:

At this conference both French and English are utilized as official conference languages.

Pour tous renseignements, s'adresser à:  /  For information, contact:

FIIS
60, rue de Bellechasse
75007 Paris, FRANCE
 

Téléphone - Phone:	+ (33 1)  4541 3949	(from countries other than France - hors France)
	+ (33)  01 4541 3949	(from within France - en France)
Fax:	+ (33 1) 4541 3942	(from countries other than France - hors France)
	+(33)  01 4541 3942	(from within France - en France)
E-mail:	ifsi.fiis@wanadoo.fr

For information on similar conferences in the United States, contact:  /  Pour tous renseignements concernants des séminaires similaires aux Etats-Unis, s'adresser à:

Sandra Burnett
Executive Director
A. K. Rice Institute National Office
P. O. Box 1130
Rainier, WA  98576
United States of America
 

Phone - Téléphone:	+ (1  360)  539 5867	(from all countries)
E-mail:	akri@scattercreek.com	(from all countries)

At either address above you may request further information about the study of groups and organizations as whole, living systems and about work and social roles within modern groups and organizations.

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