Local Government and the Social Economy: Collaborations for Smarter, More Sustainable Cities

Date:

9 August, 2016

Learn about the Global Social Economy Forum happening September 7-9, 2016 in Montréal, Canada - and why your organization should attend!

All over North America community-based initiatives are taking place to ensure more inclusive and sustainable cities that meet the needs and aspirations of their citizens, from housing and access to local products and services, to ensuring decent jobs and fostering socially cohesive communities. More and more local governments have understood that by recognizing and encouraging these efforts they can support the economic and social development of their cities and oftentimes their environmental and/or cultural development as well. In many places in the world, these practices have been defined as “social and social economy initiatives” and in some cases national, regional or local legislation has been passed to ensure their development

The 2016 Global Social Economy Forum – GSEF2016 aims to highlight best practices of collaboration between these community-based initiatives and local governments that foster more equitable, sustainable and smarter cities taking place all over the world.

As members of the Honorary Committee of GSEF2016, CCEDNet and the New Economy Coalition invite you to listen to this introductory webinar on GSEF2016 to:

learn more about what is meant by the term “social and solidarity economy”
discover some of the initiatives that will be presented at GSEF2016
discuss how applicable these are in a North American context
learn more about the format of the forum and the ways to get involved

Some information on the 2016 Global Social Economy Forum:

The Global Social Economy Forum -GSEF2016 is the third edition of the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), a large international gathering that was initiated by the City of Seoul, South Korea in 2013, in collaboration with its local social economy partners. The 2014 edition, held once again in the South Korean capital, culminated in the founding of the GSEF as a permanent international association uniting local governments and civil society stakeholders that recognize the social and solidarity economy (SSE) as a key factor in local economic development.

Initiatives presented at GSEF2016 include:

Different approaches that have contributed to the revitalisation and social cohesion of cities such as Cleveland, Seoul, Barcelona and Bamako
Successful and innovative community-based approaches such as Mondragon, today the largest federation of worker cooperatives in the world, or the Greenbelt Foundation, which protects agricultural land and support the Local Food Economy in Ontario.
New ways governments are working with the social economy, including social procurement, co-development of new services operated by collective enterprises in municipal spaces, and supporting the commercialisation of local products and services developed by the community.
Important ways to reinforce the visibility and growth of the social and solidarity economy such as effective public policy implemented at the local and regional level, financial tools to enable the creation of new enterprises and coalition-building at the local, regional, national and international level.

Public officials from over 50 cities have confirmed their presence including Mayors or elected officials of cities such as Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Bamako (Mali), Barcelona (Spain), Bilbao (Spain), Götebord (Sweden), Lille (France), Montreal (Canada), Paris (France), Seoul (South Korea). In all, 2,000 participants from local governments, SSE enterprises and networks, researchers as well as committed citizens from all over the world are expected to attend.

For more information on the program of GSEF2016 and to register, visit www.gsef2016.org.