The event, hosted at the Palace of the Province of Trento was organised by the Italian Ministry of Labour and Public Policies within the Italian Presidency of the Monitoring Committee of the Luxemburg Declaration.

It was the first of a series of events and exchanges with EU and international experts and stakeholders which will lead to a new declaration of the Committee on the role that the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) can play in Europe in the coming years, and the EU and its Member States’s role in supporting this key sector. The declaration will be presented and signed on October 21 in Bologna, which will be the conclusive event under the Italian Presidency of the Monitoring Committee of the Luxemburg Declaration.

The conference was the opportunity to exchange, build alliances and engage in the implementation of the European Social Economy Action Plan launched in December 2021 and to reinforce and extend the membership basis of the Monitoring Committee of the Luxemburg Declaration.

The event began with the opening remarks of Mr. Franco Ianeselli, Mayor of Trento, Mr. Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Ms. Ruth Paserman, Director of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission (EC) and Mr. Andrea Orlando, Italian Minister of Labour and Social Policies.

In his opening remarks, Minister Orlando recognized the importance of the SSE in putting the people and workers at the centre of their operations, creating and maintaining jobs and advancing just transition and inclusive and sustainable development. Minister Orlando recognized the international momentum around the SSE, highlighting ILO’s work and the Resolution and Conclusions concerning decent work and the SSE adopted by the 110th International Labour Conference.

The conference was organized in three thematic panels consisting of experts, policy makers and European and international organizations’ representatives.

In the first session, “Social Economy and Public Sector” moderated by Mr. Luca Gori, Professor at the Sant‘Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and Member of the Italian Scientific Committee for the promotion of social economy, panellists discussed the importance of legally defining the SSE in order to establish and strengthen promotional measures for its support and its multiple relations with the public administration. The concept note of this thematic panel is available here.

In the second session “Social Economy and Local Development” moderated by Ms. Fiorenza Lipparini, Member of the Italian Scientific Committee for the promotion of social economy, panellists discussed the link between local development and the SSE, at the global, European, national and local levels. It highlighted the importance of policy support, shared definitions, common objectives, exchange of best practices, cross-sectoral collaboration, and continuous learning from field experience. The concept note of this thematic panel is available here.

The ILO representative, Ms. Valentina Verze, Technical Officer on SSE and decent work at the ILO highlighted the momentum of the SSE at international level. She noted that “SSE entities, are recognized more and more as crucial to accelerate the path for achieving and localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Multi stakeholder partnerships are essential to create ecosystems of proximity and achieve sustainable development and social innovation at the local level, because they put people and their needs and aspirations at the centre of the economic and social life of their territories.” Ms. Verze presented the Resolution and Conclusions concerning the decent work and the social and solidarity economy adopted at the 110th International Labour Conference, and its implications for national and local policies. Ms. Verze informed the participants that ILO Office is developing an Office-wide strategy and action plan, which gives greater coherence to the ILO action on the SSE and decent work across the multilateral system. She concluded her intervention by mentioning the important synergies with the work of the United National Task force on SSE , including highlights on the ongoing process of the UN resolution recognizing the SSE and its role in achieving SDGs, and with the EU member states and the EC, as also recently discussed during the 16th EC-ILO High Level meeting, which included a technical discussion on the SSE.

In the third session, “Social Economy and Financial Instruments” moderated by Mr. Gianluca Salvatori, Secretary General of Euricse, Fondazione Italia Sociale and Member of the Italian Scientific Committee for the promotion of social economy, panellists discussed the evolution of financial mechanisms in place for SSE organizations in different contexts. The panel discussed the various means of financing for SSE organizations and the policies supporting the social economy could facilitate the use of the various resources in combined forms. The concept note of this thematic panel is available here.

The event ended with closing remarks of Mr. Alessandro Lombardi, Director General of DG Third Sector and Corporate Social Responsibility of the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and Mr. Wladimiro Boccali, Advisor of the Italian Minister of Labour and Social Policies.

The agenda of the conference is available in Italian and English.

The recording of the conference is available in Italian and English.