The 19th Meeting of the Inter-university Network of the Social and Solidarity Economy (based in France) will focus on the theme “SSE of culture and culture of SSE“. It will take place on the 15th to 17th of May, 2019 at the University Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée.
You will find the call for papers on this website.
The date of receipt of abstracts is 12 January 2019.
Dear Colleagues,
You know we are living in perilous times. The need for systemic change has never been more obvious or more urgent – for people and planet.We at Synergia are reaching out to you because we believe you are committed to the common struggle for transformative change. As an international network of senior, lifelong practitioners and community educators we are shaping our contribution around two core areas of work:
a) Designing accessible, high quality educational resources that can be leveraged by change agents everywhere to create system changing solutions fitted to local contexts. Our online learning platform offers discussion and exchange of practical knowledge and strategies for action leading to systemic change and the provision of basic needs
b) Providing training and education programming to change makers –whether individuals or organizations – through intensive, face-to-face courses that fit solutions and strategic thinking to solving key issues in strategic sectors. In 2017 we piloted a MOOC (Massive, Open, Online Course) to test our ideas, methods and tools. Over 600 people registered from 24 countries. We learned a lot.
Beginning March 11, 2019 we are offering the newly revised course where change makers from many fields can experience and utilize contemporary, cutting edge content to advance their work. The course will be offered in two four week segments. Registration details to follow. We would like you to join us and take full advantage of this unique learning opportunity. We have two requests . We are seeking your help to make staff and members of your networks aware of the opportunity to connect with others in the solidarity & social economy, co-operative, commons, sustainability, and green social movements to learn from each other and to advance our collective efforts at systems change.
We also invite you to leverage the course to advance your own capacity, further your organization’s mission, and strengthen your networks and alliances.We will design the means by which the participants you target can be given space on our online platform to dialogue collectively around what they are learning and the implications for their work. Peer-to-peer learning and knowledge creation is a key priority and we are encouraging the formation of study circles and local action circles to reflect upon and apply the lessons learned in this course to active issues and local contexts. The Synergia MOOC offers a certificate and we are working to secure undergraduate and Masters level accreditation. The course is free at the certificate level. The cost of degree accreditation is not yet finalized.Our aim now is to make this free online program as widely available as possible. With your help and involvement, we can make this happen. To learn more about the theories and approaches that underpin our vision and work, see the attached course overview and visit: https://synergiainstitute.wordpress.com/
To learn more about our face-to-face programs, click here: https://vimeo.com/305934
If you have questions about the MOOC or if you want to discuss how we can help facilitate group learning that is geared to your priorities and objectives, please contact Michael Lewis at lewiscccr@shaw.ca
We look forward to hearing from you very soon.
The Synergia Team
Michael Lewis, John Restakis, Mike Gismondi and Pat Conaty
By Josette Combes (RIUESS)
It is the second edition of The Handbook on the Other Economy (Principes d’économie solidaire – Manuel de l’autre économie): directed by Eric Dacheux and Daniel Goujon, it is to be put in all hands, first and foremost those of the Master students, for whom it will be an abundant source of references, definitions, historical reminders, perspective and theoretical proposals. But even more importantly, it is a work of popularization in the noble sense of the term, which offers the opportunity, now that the term “solidarity economy” circulates in every direction – unfortunately often misused, for each citizen to familiarize him/herself with this economy, its foundations and its potential, so that it develops beyond the limited (though expanding) circle of its practitioners. Read more
Independent media are close to the SSE, often by their status and especially by the values they defend. But how do they approach it? Here is a selection of independent media articles from the last three months. You can also find them on the map of socioeco.org: Journalism of Solutions (the articles are located in the city where the experience is taking place or, in the case of a general article, in the city where the media is based).
As you will see, the articles are in their original language, due to the diversity of European countries. For Greek, for which the Efsyn journal is particularly present with sometimes several articles per week on SSE, an English summary is included. This will allow you to perceive which themes are covered by these media: sustainable development, refugees, self-management, cooperatives, organic agriculture, etc. Feel free to send us an article or a media site to improve the map and our knowledge of SSE. Write to Françoise Wautiez: fwautiez[at]socioeco.org
Image of Terra Nuova
The Transformative Cities initiative is launched by a group of regional and international organizations (in alphabetical order): European network for community-led initiatives on climate change and sustainability (Ecolise), Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS), Habitat International Coalition (HIC), the Global Platform for the Right to the City (GPR2C) and the Transnational Institute (TNI).
In giving the Transformative cities award, we aim to highlight political practices and solutions that can serve as inspiration for others. We aspire to create a new model of awards, one which is participatory, inspirational, and rooted in exchange and learning. We envisage a process of knowledge co-creation and practice exchange that leads to an atlas of political practices, whose inspiring stories speed up a process of systemic transformation towards a more democratic, equal, peaceful and resilient world.
This award does not seek to judge social movements, civil society organizations, citizens platforms or other groups. It is a platform where those acting to transform the world may systematize their successful practices, exchange with and learn from others, and receive increased exposure and outreach. After the first edition, we are engaged in an ongoing learning process, looking at how to systematize local political practices, so we can identify what is working, to help accelerate the process of transformation.
We do not have definite answers, and we expect to solve these questions collectively. We see cities broadly as the location for place-based struggles for basic rights. “Transformative” recognizes that these struggles have succeeded in articulating an inclusive vision for a social majority to transform their city or defined environment. These practices will have measurable results, since they have been implemented successfully, and they will be practices that can be replicated in other regions and places. The evaluation criteria include: equity and participation, capacity to inspire collective action, sustainability and efficiency, solidarity and public ethos, impact, transferability and replicability, accountability and transparency, fairness of labour conditions and the recognition of the domestic and care work.
Finally, the award will pay special attention to those experiences whose results are particularly hard to reverse. Think about a caterpillar that transforms into a butterfly, this change cannot be changed back, these are the kinds of transformations we aim to collect, and magnify.
This initiative is open to collectives, not individuals. A collective can have the form of a social movement with recognizable structures and goals without a formal legal recognition, a legally existing civil society organization, a citizens’ platform seeking to gain institutional power at municipal and/or city level via a political candidacy, an established city council, or other forms of collective action that centre their practices in a specific location that is not generally recognized as a region, state or similar delimitation.
The second edition of the award (2018-19) will look at the three issues included in first edition: Energy, Water and Housing plus an additional one, Food Systems. We expect to keep adding issues based on our capacity, and aim to organize at least three annual awards.
If you are not sure about your eligibility, please do contact us.
Did you apply last year and not get the Award? We encourage you to apply again, probably your initiative has grown stronger and you have more inspiration to share.
To apply please follow this questionnaire.
We look forward to receiving your inspiring stories of transformation. Another world is not only possible, it is already happening, and we hope to work with you to make it as strong and visible as possible.
For more information go to the Frequently Asked Questions page.
