Cesos was founded in 1982 on the initiative of the former general-secretary of the Italian Confederation of Workers' Unions (CISL) and ever since it is supported by CISL, in collaboration with scholars, trade union experts and consultants. Cesos sees its role in the following:

- To contribute to reflection in the trade union movement on the anticipation and management of changes.

- To promote scientific communities, which are able to deal with changes in the trade union experience.

- To manage scientific and trade union interests on an international scale and to promote permanent partnerships.

- To encourage dialogue with groups who have a different perspective and different interests from those linked to the trade union experience.

- To help trade union structures and other institutions to develop their working relationships and joint work.

- To help set up a system which involves standing partnerships with CISL's central confederal structure, sectoral trade unions, territorial structures and other bodies.

The principal activities of Cesos include the promotion, coordination and realisation of research and studies on:

1) The experience and history of the trade union movement

2) Industrial relations

3) The social, political and organisational problems of the trade union action.

In recent years, besides taking a more international approach, Cesos has enlarged its field of interest by focusing its attention on:

4) The educational system and vocational and continuing training

5) Ongoing transformations in the fields of labour, industry and services

6) New forms of workers' participation in companies

7) Welfare reforms

Furthermore Cesos promotes and organises conferences, debates and workshops of interest to academic, trade union and political circles and publishes a large amount of material.

Europaform Consortium is a structure promoted by Cesos. Its main goal is the creation of a scientific and professional community in order to strengthen the role of the social partners in the management of training resources. The Consortium seeks to assist the social partners in drawing up and managing research, training and technical assistance projects at local, national and international level. It supports a bipartite approach to the issue of training. The consortium is composed of Cisl-affiliated centres and private centres.

The Rsu Observatory is a unitary structure which manages and certifies electoral data on the election of representatives to Rsus (workplace employee representative structures). The Observatory was designed and set up by Cesos in collaboration with the three main Italian trade union confederations - Cgil, Cisl and Uil. It started its activity in 1994.

The Observatory on Social Policies was created in 1996 by an agreement among some Cisl-affiliated organisations. It is created by Cesos and its aim is to study problems, initiatives and legislation concerning social policies at local level and to promote the dissemination of good practice. It produces a newsletter on welfare issues and publishes specialised booklets on the subject to inform and to train those involved in these issues at the local level.