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SAVE THE DATE
On track to #BordeauxGSEF2025 !
The 7th edition of the GSEF's Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum will be hosted in Bordeaux, France, from October 29 to 31, 2025.
All SSE stakeholders are invited to come and share their experiences and expertise, reaffirm their commitments, and demonstrate the strength of the movement that the SSE is driving for just transitions towards sustainable and inclusive development in all territories!
Following editions in Seoul, Montreal, Bilbao, Mexico City and Dakar, the biennial GSEF Forum returns to Europe with the central theme: “The SSE, a precondition for a just transition towards resilient territories and the well-being of their inhabitants”.
Find out more about the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum at: bordeauxgsef2025.org
A look back at the BordeauxGSEF2025 launch event on December 3.
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| GSEF SSE YOUTH HUB |
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| Young Leaders Forum on SSE: a step towards a sustainable future for African youth! |
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From October 29 to 31, 2024, Yamoussoukro played host to the 2nd edition of the Young Leaders Forum on SSE, co-organized by ARDCI, Abewe and the GSEF's SSE Youth Hub. This flagship event brought together young leaders, SSE players and partners to share ideas and experiences on innovation and social entrepreneurship for African youth.
Check out the article
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| ADVOCACY |
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| The United Nations adopt a second resolution on SSE! |
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On November 26, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new resolution entitled “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development”, which encourages States to support the development of the SSE worldwide in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and their localization!
Check out the new resolution
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| EVENT |
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| Towards a scientific observatory for the SSE in Africa! |
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On November 4 and 5, 2024, the Scientific Colloquium on Social and Solidarity Economy, organized by the Think Tank Africa Perspectives Institute (API) in Abidjan, marked a milestone for SSE in Africa. A scientific event of continental scope, it brought together 840 participants from 13 countries. Many thanks to RIESS - the Ivorian SSE Network, a member of GSEF, for its commitment! The symposium resulted in the adoption of a declaration for the creation of an African SSE Scientific Observatory (FORAESS' recommendations in Yaoundé), an essential tool for formalizing and promoting solidarity-based practices rooted in African societies.
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| ADVOCACY |
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| The African Union adopts its ten-year strategy on SSE |
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The member states of the African Union have adopted a ten-year strategy on SSE and its implementation plan for the period 2023-2032. This adoption strengthens the recognition of SSE on the continent, and enables progress to be made towards the establishment of favorable frameworks for the deployment of its initiatives, notably to support decent work and pursue the sustainable development goals.
Learn more
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| WEBINAR |
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| GSEF 2024 Asia Policy Dialogue |
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The 2024 GSEF Asia Policy Dialogue, co-organized with our Asian continental co-chair SSEGOV, gathered 57 participants from 14 countries. The discussions highlighted how the SSE strengthens community resilience at both local and regional levels, showcased existing SSE policies implemented by national and local governments in Asia, and emphasized the importance of strategic measures such as regional advocacy, capacity building, and financial solutions to foster a more dynamic SSE ecosystem across Asia.
Replay
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| MISSION |
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| Mission to Korea: Mobilization and Perspectives for #BordeauxGSEF2025 |
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The GSEF recently conducted a mission to South Korea, marked by key events and strategic meetings with local Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) stakeholders. This trip highlighted ambitious initiatives led by Korea and strengthened international alliances in preparation for the Bordeaux GSEF 2025 Forum.
Check out the article
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| ADVOCACY |
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| An inspiring campaign to raise awareness among local authorities in Belgium |
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During the last communal elections in Belgium, ConcertES, the social economy platform in French-speaking Belgium, GSEF Co-chair for Europe, launched a campaign to raise local authorities' awareness of the importance of the social economy. The initiative aims to bridge the knowledge gap between well-informed communes investing in the sector, and others unaware of its potential.
The campaign is supported by a brochure, “Social economy, good for my municipality”, which presents social economy initiatives in various fields such as recycling, energy or social inclusion, as well as key contacts for further information on the subject.
A website also offers customized economic data for each commune: number of jobs, businesses and sectors represented.
Check out the campaign
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| WEBINAR |
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| GSEF 2024 European Continental Dialogue |
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Hosted by GSEF's continental co-chairs for Europe, ConcertES and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, the meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the situation in the European institutions (Commission, Parliament) and to highlight to GSEF's European members the Social Economy Europe campaign for renewal of the European Parliament's Social Economy Intergroup.
Learn more
In other key news, European Commissioner Roxana Mînzatu is now in charge of the social economy portfolio at EU level, and will be responsible for fully implementing the EU Social Economy Action Plan.
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| EVENT |
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| The GSEF at COP16 on Biodiversity: the SSE, an economy for life |
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The GSEF headed to Cali, Colombia, last October to speak at the 16ᵉ United Nations Conference on Biodiversity, COP16. At the same time, we took part in the ECOOVIDA2024 Meetings, a valuable opportunity to build bridges between the SSE and the various forms of economy for life.
Read the full article
We also took part in CIRIEC's 34th International Congress in San José, Costa Rica. CIRIEC, a privileged partner of the GSEF, will be holding its nextInternational Research Conference on Social Economy from October 27 to 29, 2025 in Bordeaux, ahead of the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum!
More information
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| MISSION |
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| The GSEF in Brazil: new prospects for SSE cooperation |
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Last November, Aude Saldana, GSEF General Secretary, organized a visit to Brazil to strengthen existing partnerships and initiate new collaborations around the Social and Solidarity Economy. The visit was structured around three key events, in Maricá, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with support from Leandro Morais, researcher at the University of Sao Paulo and SSE expert, member of the GSEF Advisory Committee.
Check out the article
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| SAVE THE DATE |
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| Off to the Social Economy Summit in Quebec! |
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From May 14 to 15, 2025, the Social Economy Summit will be held in Montreal, a structuring event for the social economy movement in Quebec.
The Chantier de l'Économie Sociale, which holds the continental co-presidency of the GSEF for North America, is the driving force behind this major initiative.
Learn more about the summit
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“In collaboration with strategic partners and players in the social economy, the work leading up to the Summit aims to build a collective vision and common objectives on various themes. This work will culminate in concrete proposals and an action plan aimed at establishing alliances, announcing commitments and launching new initiatives favoring the social economy movement and, ultimately, all of Quebec."
Major themes:
- Socio-ecological transition
- Plural perspectives
- Local and democratic governance
- Collective real estate
- Seniors
- Food
- Environment
- Culture
- Equity and employment
- Entrepreneurial succession
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This section is dedicated to highlighting projects and resources produced by and useful to GSEF members. Contact the secretariat to feature your expertise and initiatives in the next issue!
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They joined the GSEF in 2024!
In 2024, GSEF welcomed 9 new members from 4 continents! They represent the diversity of SSE stakeholders.
- The commune of Golf Sud (Senegal) 🔗
- ARDCI - Assembly of Regions and Districts of Côte d'Ivoire 🔗
- NARMIN - National Association of Rural Municipalities of Nepal 🔗
- SENS Bénin - Solidarité Entreprises Nord-Sud (Benin) 🔗
- Namuna Sahakari Kheti - Model Cooperative for Agriculture (Nepal) 🔗
- The NGO Nova (France, Benin, Ivory Coast) 🔗
- The NGO ASEFCE - Afrique Solidarité Emploi Formation et Créations d'Entreprises (Benin) 🔗
- FEBEA - European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks 🔗
- ISTEPS - Higher Technological Institute of the Social Popular and Solidarity Economy (Ecuador) 🔗
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Community-based management of the Dzeng forest in Cameroon
Ms Monique Ayi, Mayor of Dzeng in Cameroon and President of REMCESS, the Cameroon Mayors' Network for the Social and Solidarity Economy, and a member of the GSEF Steering Committee, shared her experience of the innovative and responsible community management of the Dzeng communal forest at an AIMF meeting in Bordeaux.
Check out her presentation
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| Guidelines for Local Governments on Policies for Social and Solidarity Economy |
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These Guidelines, published by UNRISD and GSEF, are a key resource for fostering a thriving social and solidarity economy (SSE) at the local level. They offer practical tools and insights to build an enabling ecosystem for SSE, addressing topics such as co-construction of public policy, legal frameworks, integration into development plans, capacity building, financing, market access, advocacy, and research.
Designed for policymakers, SSE practitioners, and local stakeholders, the Guidelines provide clear answers and strategies to develop effective, adaptable policies that support inclusive and sustainable local development.
Check them out
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GSEF members and partners take part in working groups on key SSE themes.
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Research - The impact of SSE public policies |
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Following the call for papers on local SSE public policies launched in December 2023, 36 proposals for research articles have been accepted. Some texts have already been received and are currently being reviewed by members of the research group. The territories studied range from Canada to South Korea, via Haiti, Brazil and Morocco. All articles will be published ahead of the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum!
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Responsible Public Procurement |
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The Working Group met for a morning of constructive discussion on Wednesday, December 4, to structure activities and define the action plan and timeline for the coming months. This made it possible to prioritize the actions to be carried out, organize the theme's place at the GSEF2025 Forum and define the deliverables to be produced.
Organizations wishing to take part in the process are invited to fill in the survey (link below) and/or contact Martin Georges: martin.georges@gsef-net.org
Take the survey
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Financing SSE |
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The GSEF has launched a partnership with the FAIR network to feed into the working group's reflections. The first stage of this collaboration was the organization of a round table at the Convergences International Forum in September. It is continuing through a study carried out from October 2024 to July 2025, and will be officially published and presented at the GSEF2025 Forum in Bordeaux.
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In particular, it aims to analyze and map SSE financing approaches around the world thanks to contributions from stakeholders: innovative initiatives and inspiring examples (focus on developing economies in Latin America, Africa and Asia).
Several working sessions (3) are planned, the first of which was held on December 5. In January 2025, a survey will be distributed to international and regional networks, GSEF members and FAIR network partners.
A look back at the Convergences conference
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| The SSE Youth Hub across the globe |
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The actions of the GSEF SSE Youth Hub are thriving on each continent thanks to its co-pilots ! A key milestone on our roadmaps is the BordeauxGSEF2025 Forum, with a view to co-constructing continental pleas and an International Youth & SSE Call!
Latest news from the GSEF SSE Youth Hub:
In Africa, the SSE Young Leaders Forum was held from October 29 to 31 with the theme: “Cooperative entrepreneurship and social innovation: what policies for sustainable integration of young people in territories?” In Latin America, a webinar was held to mobilize the continent's youth and networks on September 26, 2024: “ On track for BordeauxGSEF2025”. In Asia, the GSEF took part in the Eco-Peace Forum on the theme: “Innovation for peace and ecology: The cases of young Asian social entrepreneurs” to launch the dynamic in Korea and on the continent. In North America, the Social Economy Summit in Quebec is currently being organized for May 2025, and will give a central place to young people, as a stepping stone before coming to bring their plea to the GSEF2025 Forum. In Europe, an Erasmus + project has been submitted to form and strengthen cooperation between several organizations and networks in order to build common advocacy. Surveys and meetings with other European partners are underway to ensure a broad representation of young people from all countries.
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Towards a new GSEF Charter
A working group comprising members of the Steering Committee and the Advisory Committee has been formed to rethink the GSEF Charter. The aim is to adapt it to changes in the international context since the GSEF was created in 2013 and to strengthen its role as a space of convergence for all stakeholders in the Social and Solidarity Economy!
GSEF members will be kept informed of the group's progress.
Current GSEF Charter
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New faces joining the GSEF
We welcome Antonella Noya, an expert in the social economy and social innovation and former head of unit at the OECD, as the 10th member of the GSEF Advisory Committee!
The GSEF Secretariat team has been reinforced with the addition of :
- Valentine Boglione, Assistant Operations Manager for the GSEF's SSE Youth Hub, Africa Zone. Based in Abidjan, she is on a one-year International Solidarity volunteer program.
- Jeanne Morel, Coordinator of the BordeauxGSEF2025 Scientific Committee, who works closely with the Forum's organizing team.
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Date
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Place
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Event
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January 16 2025
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Geneva, Switzerland
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The Mont-Blanc Meetings, ESS Forum International
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January 24 2025
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Videoconference
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GSEF European Continental Dialogue
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March 18 2025
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Brussels, Belgium
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European Commission Conference on cooperatives
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April 1-4 2025
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Seville, Spain
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6th UCLG World Forum on Local Economic Development
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May 14-15 2025
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Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Quebec Social Economy Summit, organized by Chantier de l'Économie Sociale
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May 28 2025
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Videoconference
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Extraordinary General Assembly of the GSEF
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October
29-312025
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Bordeaux, France
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BordeauxGSEF2025
the 7th edition of the GSEF's Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum
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