All over the world, networks and initiatives to transform our economic reality are gaining strength.

For historical and cultural reasons, different countries may use different terminology. But there is a growing international convergence around the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) framework, which seeks to build an economy and society grounded in shared values of solidarity, equity in all dimensions, participatory democracy, sustainability and pluralism--hardly the one size fits all approach of today’s reigning economic dogma.

What is the state of the SSE movement internationally now, and what should it be working toward?  How can it  strengthen local solidarity economy practices -- worker, consumer, financial and housing cooperatives; social currencies; CSAs; community land trusts; participatory budgeting--to build a more equitable, sustainable economy centered around people’s needs and aspirations?

RIPESS (the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy), organisations that gather local governments and actors of the SSE within the Global Social Economy Forum, and UN-level structures like the UN Task Force on the SSE to name a few. Many are part of broad international efforts, as in the case of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals..

As these groups  actively work to bolster local capacity by enabling sectoral exchanges and share best practices, we invite session proposals that:

• Provide a better understanding of the vision and concepts of SSE, the history of building the SSE movement and the functioning and objectives of existing international organisations, coalitions and networks
• Illustrate the relationship between the local work being carried out and international projects or networks
• Present examples of successes of movement building at the regional and intercontinental level (public policy, education, transfer of best practices, international joint-ventures, adaptation of international framework such as the UN 2030 agenda, etc.)
• Propose paths of possible convergence for SSE participants and explore new methods or issues to foster international cooperation toward a new economy.

We invite presentations from network builders, international development organisations in fields related to SSE, such as sustainable development, community organisations, researchers and academics. Workshops should be organised so as to allow for debate and discussions.

To learn more about the SSE, see RIPESS, the UN Taskforce on SSE and the Global Social Economy Forum.

Coordinated By:

• Yvon Poirier, Canadian Community Economic Development Network / RIPESS (ypoirier [at] videotron.ca)
• Emily Kawano, US Solidarity Economy Network (emilykawano [at] gmail.com)
• Béatrice Alain, Chantier De L'Economie Sociale (beatrice.alain [at] chantier.qc.ca)

Propose a Session