Co-construction of SSE Public Policies
Over the last 30 years or so, SSE has grown all over the world. Sometimes this approach is considered as local development, community development, solidarity economy or social economy. They all have similar approaches, they are community or civil society-led.
As the SSE sector developed and structured into networks, interaction with public authorities at all levels increased. An increasing number of governments and local authorities signed contracts to deliver products or services produced by SSE initiatives. In many countries, this evolved to become full scale public policies in support of programs such as day-care, waste management, cooperative housing, etc. Legislation on cooperatives already existed in many countries. However, in most cases the focus was strictly on cooperatives and did not include non-profits. The new laws embrace a much wider perspective, while including cooperatives.
Over time, this has evolved into the notion of co-constructing public policies, including legislation. By co-constructing, we mean working hand in hand with ministries and other public authorities to build policies and programs. Over time, many governments and local authorities have come to realize that this participatory approach is the best way to build effective policies that will have a much better chance of success. Much advocacy by SSE actors was, and is still, necessary to achieve this result.
RIPESS has adopted and promoted this participatory approach ever since it was first founded 25 years ago. Below some RIPESS-related references to go more in depth on this approach and experiences – to be updated regularly:
- The “co-construction of public policies” approach according to RIPESS
– RIPESS Positioning on Co-construction of SSE Public Policies – See HERE
– RIPESS webinar on the co-construction of SSE Public Policies from local to global – See HERE
- Legislation and Public Policies in support of Social Solidarity Economy (SSE). First steps & Elements of a practical Guide. Yvon Poirier, Jan. 2018.
- Different kinds of SSE related public policies
– “Public policies and the solidarity economy” and its different files and keywords: for example, responsible public procurement, territorial innovations, cities as actors of change, etc.
– Mapping of SSE Public Policies :
- Mapping according to needs : Public policies for SSE
- Mapping according to the SDG : Public Policies and SDGs
- Example of sectorial tools for SSE Public Policies
The 10 elements of agroecology (including SSE), See HERE
– What does the documentation on co-construction of PP tell us?, Socioeco.org – See HERE
- Local governments and SSE
- UNRISD SSE Public Policies co-constructed case studies published in 2021, see HERE : with examples from Durban, South Africa, Montreal, Seoul, Liverpool, etc.
- “Guidelines for Local Governments“, UNRISD, 2021; explaining the key elements constituting an enabling policy and institutional environment, or “ecosystem”, for SSE; including a toolbox.
- Resources platforms linked to RIPESS work on Public Policies
- The multilingual resource site Socioeco.org has a 5 language index of thematic documents on SSE and includes a section dedicated to public policy and SSE. To know more, HERE
- The UNTFSSE Knowledge hub on SSE
- Urgenci resources platform –Advocacy for Community Supported Agriculture: A Guide for Advocates
- Réseau des collectivités Territoriales pour une Économie Solidaire– kits for local, departamental and regional policy makers to support SSE (FR)
- Key international organizations & platforms related to SSE Public Policies, RIPESS is collaborating with
- UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE)
- Global Platform for the Right to the City(GPR2C)
