• During the online meeting held 20 May bringing together the six consortium leaders chosen by the OECD to promote Social Economy Ecosystems in strategic areas
• The six projects are funded by the European Union and involve 136 partners from 30 countries
• The consortium led by CEPES is made up of 25 national public and Ministerial departments, local and regional governments and Social Economy entities from a wide range of countries across three continents
Madrid, May 22, 2021.- CEPES (Spanish Confederation of Social Economy Enterprises) unveiled 20th May the main actions and objectives of the international project “Legal Ecosystems for Social Economy” to promote favourable legal frameworks for Social Economy at global level. This project led by CEPES has been approved by the OECD as part of its Global Action ‘Promoting Social Economy and Solidarity Ecosystems’, which is funded by the European Union.
During the event, CEPES and the other five consortium leaders of the projects chosen by the OECD presented the details of their actions, including the one led by that Spanish Economy employer organisation which is being undertaken between April and October.
CEPES’ project aims at driving progress towards favourable legal frameworks for the Social Economy. This action is supported by an international consortium of 25 organizations, made up of public national and Ministerial departments, local and regional governments, as well as organizations from the field of Social Economy from a wide range of countries across three continents: Brazil, Canada, Korea, Italy, Mexico and Spain. The Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Economy is strongly involved in this project.
At the event held on Thursday, CEPES highlighted the OECD’s commitment to the Social Economy and its “optimal” position for supporting policies in favour of Social Economy at global level involving its member States, “to which the OCDE can provide guidance in creating favourable legal frameworks for the Social Economy enterprises”.
“Developing legal frameworks is key to boost Social Economy. This is the first time a global-scale initiative addresses the legal frameworks of Social Economy, so it demands the participation of different stakeholders. This is a totally innovative and highly ambitious action, which has been possible thanks to the partnership between the OECD and the European Union, which are showing their firm commitment to the Social Economy”, commented CEPES’ President Juan Antonio Pedreño.
CEPES also made it clear that the European Union and the OECD’s commitment to the Social Economy is due to the fact that this enterprise model provides an answer to challenges arising from the global current situation, both of an economic and social or environmental nature, among others.
“That is why this project is so important. It generates the sort of policies to unlock the full potential of the Social Economy. That implies cooperation and dialogue between many stakeholders, above and beyond the Social Economy stakeholders, and seeks to involve public authorities, which are the ones with the legislative powers to create favourable frameworks for the Social Economy”, Pedreño noted.
The initiative led by CEPES facilitates the exchange of experiences and knowledge regarding Social Economy legal frameworks among the 25 consortium partners.
A GLOBAL PROJECT WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF 136 PARTNERS AND 30 COUNTRIES
During the online event moderated by the head of the OECD’s Social Economy and Social Innovation Unit, Antonella Noya, leaders of the six consortiums chosen by the OECD gave detailed explanations of each of the projects undertaken under the Global Action “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems”.
DIESIS network is at the helm of the consortium made up of 23 members and two independent experts from 13 countries, focussing on International Social Economy Learning and Knowledge.
As such, one of the projects will focus on measuring the social impact of the Social Economy, this project being led by France, and involving 15 organizations from nine countries. Another of the projects is focussed on global action to promote the internationalization of Social Economy organizations, as well as the role of women in them (led by the Impact Hub network, and comprising 23 organizations from 11 countries).
The Social Value International network is at the forefront of another of the initiatives, which seeks to conduct research into better practices for measuring and managing social and environmental impact. This is made up of 26 members from 13 countries.
In addition, ‘Respond, Rebuild, Reinvent’ is the title of another of the projects with OECD approval, and which seeks to generate dialogue between its 15 members from 11 different countries. This initiative is being headed up by UpSocial and Ashoka.
The online event concluded with an internal work session in which members shared joint work experiences.
