Vision is an independent, non-profit think tank

Think tank

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...

 based in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Its main efforts are "dedicated to strategic thinking on the transformations triggered by technologies and globalisation." Research and analysis are conducted on public and social policies, focusing on the principles of democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

, open society

Open society

The open society is a concept originally developed by philosopher Henri Bergson and then by Austrian and British philosopher Karl Popper. In open societies, government is purported to be responsive and tolerant, and political mechanisms are said to be transparent and flexible...

 and social reform. In addition to policy research and strategic analyses, one of Vision's primary aims is the promotion of open dialogue and cooperation between all sectors of society.

Vision is not aligned to any political party in Italy and the organisation has described itself as a non-partisan group.

Among the Visionaires: Francesco Grillo, Gianfilippo Emma, Flavius Stan, Asif Parvez, Oscar Pasquali, Valeria Sirabella.
Among the projects conducted by Vision in the last years, the main relevant are:

• Italian and European Universities in the global market of Innovation: reforms and triggers of change

Which future for Italian and European Universities? An international conference to discuss triggers of change within the university system: merits and limits of rankings and power of internationalization.

• The Politics and Economics of happiness

The project deals with the issue of measuring well being in modern societies. Among the questions we tried to address: Who can define what happiness is? Is “progress” still a valid notion towards which science and economy should be oriented?

• Kyoto of the Cities

The scope of the project is to explore the possibility of engaging major cities in an international agreement on environment - related goals and explore strategies for CO2 emissions in housing, waste management and urban transportation.

Mission

The mission of the think tank is "idea dissemination." According to the organisation, objectives include :

• The collection of ideas,
• Protection (of ideas) from short-term pressures,
• The growth of projects with high social-added value, and
• The successful realisation of goals.

Organisation

Vision is described as independent and non-partisan. Unlike traditional "brick-and-mortar" research centres, the think tank functions as an international network of collaborators. Most projects receive insight from professionals in a number of different fields, rather than a permanent staff of dedicated scholars. Partners often include: European think tanks and research centres, government officials and legislators, NGOs and non-profit organisations and university staff and students.

Research Areas

Vision's three main research areas are promoted in its "Factory of Ideas." These include:

• Globalisation and Democracy
• Society and Globalisation
• Technology and Society