The Centre for Social Studies (CES), together with the International Institute for Labour Studies of the International Labour Organization (ILO)*, decided to create, in April 2012, the Observatory on Crises and Alternatives, with the objective of monitoring the development of the crisis(es) in its various dimensions and manifestations in Portugal, making its characterization and diagnosis more accurate.

The Observatory seeks to monitor policies, both in terms of aims and means employed and the expectable or observable results, and to contribute to the identification of responses and to broadening the range of alternatives considered in the public debate. It does that through a set of regularly released publications - Cadernos, Barómetros and Relatórios -, as well as through the organization of events and participation in various projects.

In order to achieve its goals, the observatory comprises a team of researchers and a group of donors.

*ILO’s mail role in the Observatory is to foster the research in areas in which ILO has a mandate. In this context, ILO cannot be held responsible for the research projects’ specific contents nor for the opinions expressed in those projects. ILO will facilitate the Observatory’s access to its studies, databases, results and work networks and, simultaneously, will capitalise the national best practices identified.