The transition to a social economy
On 12 and 13 February, the conference centre of the city of Liège (Belgium) hosted a new European Social Economy Meeting.
Representatives of social economy enterprises, institutional leaders and academic experts debated the role of these companies in the inclusive, green and digital transitions, including the need to attract young talent and to address the ability to respond to today’s major challenges, with the aim of building a more social and sustainable Europe.
One step further towards social economy
The meeting, which was a follow-up to the conference organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy last November in San Sebastian, was held under the title The social economy at the centre of transitions.
The agenda included three plenary sessions dedicated to each transition, six best practice workshops, and four round tables discussing public policies and strategies, state aids, integration of social economy and the access to funds.
The meeting concluded with the signing of the Liège Roadmap for the Social Economy in the European Union, which expands on last year’s San Sebastian manifesto and contains the agreement of 19 EU social economy ministries in order to promote this sector on the continent.
What commitments are included in the roadmap?
These commitments include the promotion, creation and development of curricula and training centres dedicated to the social economy and social entrepreneurship; and the creation and development of master’s degrees, chairs and research-action programmes in the social economy at universities.
Governments are also committed to stimulate the creation of statistical tools adapted to the social economy, at local, regional, national and European level, in order to support the collection of data and surveys that specifically detail the reality of the social economy and give a more accurate picture of its ecosystem and its impact.
