Building Social Solidarity Economy as an Alternative Model of Development

Manila, The Philippines, 15-18 October 2013

Official languages of the International Meeting of Social Solidarity Economy 2013: English, French, and Spanish. ASEC Philippines should open a dialogue with the French and Spanish Embassies in Manila to get them involved in the organization and conduct of the international meeting, and in particular gain their material support for the interpretation requirements of the meeting.

2. Details

2.1 Day 1

* Opening Ceremony

A formal moment of the meeting, which can be open to external public, with some speakers among the RIPESS Board (one for each Continent), the Local Organizers Committee, Government authorities, Supporters, Partners.

The timeline of the Ripess Meetings should briefly be recovered, highlighting the main results of each one, in a manner to contextualize the actual 2013 Meeting.

Some methodology could be used to create a way for the participants to present themselves (name, country, organization, sector of activity, expectations for the meeting)

* Political and conjuncture analysis

This is the moment of a global analysis where the world’s situation, the global crisis and the actual challenges and the possible role of SSE in the world would be treated. This will be done in the Plenary with a Ripess Board member and one or two key speakers not necessarily directly involved with SSE.

Someone from UN could also be called to contribute in this moment with the challenges on global governance and the redefinition of the Millennium Goals in 2015. Results of the UNRISD Conference “Social and Solidarity Economy: Potential and Limits” could be a good input for the discussions.

The results of the World Social Forum on SSE (July 2013 in Brazil) and the World Forum on Fair Trade (April 2013 in Brazil) will also be presented.

People from the Plenary would also contribute with an “open forum” moment after the main speakers.

* SSE in the continents: state of the art

Each Continent will have members from RIPESS Board who will present a State of the Art of SSE in their respective continents. The continental SSE state of the art should provide an overview of social & solidarity economy initiatives and the movement in each the 6 continents: Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe, North America, and Oceania.

At this point, each continental representative will also present briefly the main results of the proposals from the Continent about the Global Vision on SSE.

2.2 Day 2

* Territory of Social Solidarity Economy in Quezon City Memorial Circle (in Manila’s metropolitan area)

On the second day, the SSE International Meeting will take place in an open space, defining a “Territory of Social Solidarity Economy”. The probable place will be the Quezon City Memorial Circle Memorial Circle,in collaboration with the QC city government.

There will be three types of activities going on at the same time:

1. A Social Solidarity Economy Fair

2. Expositions about SSE initiatives from all around the world

3. Self-managed activities.

In this way, foreign and local participants can either display their products or advocacy materials. Local SSE enterprises will also be invited to present to the Meeting participants their concrete practices in The Philippines, as a way to present concretely something about the reality of SSE in Asia.

This will provide the Meeting participants and local community the opportunity to know something about the diversity of SSE in the World, engage the exhibitors in a dialogue and provide economic exchanges among the international actors that are present and also by institutional consumers from Asia, which are going to be contacted beforehand with a catalog of the products and services that are going to be available in the Fair.

2.3 Day 3

With the objective of deepening the discussions and producing resolutions that will guide the RIPESS members in the next 4 years, the participants will focus on 4 themes during the day: “Global Vision ”, “SSE Experiences and Economic Integration”, “Global Networking ” and “Communication and visibility of SSE ”.

The methodological approach for this moment is to base the discussions on real and territorial based experiences in the 5 continents and have a very participative and democratic way to build its resolutions.

* Morning – Theme 1: Global Vision

In the morning, all Meeting participants will be involved in crafting a Global Vision of SSE.

This Theme debates the basic principles that define SSE world-wide, and will serve as reference for Ripess’ comprehension of SSE. Both viewpoints that are consensual or divergent (i.e. showing different perspectives on SSE) should be highlighted. The document developed as a result of the consultation process in the continents during the year (click here to participate!) will be the reference for debate, besides the concrete initiatives that will be discussed in the workgroups.

Questions/Issues of this Theme:

→ Governance structures for SSE

→ Values of SSE that set it apart from neoliberal market oriented economy

→ Social development services provided by SSE and ecological conservation services

→ Economical sustainability

Prior to the Meeting, the continental networks of RIPESS will initiate discussions on the global vision of SSE. Formulations of the global SSE vision will then be gathered and submitted to the respective RIPESS Board members, who in turn will review the vision formulations. RIPESS Board members will then select what may be deemed as sound formulations of the global SSE vision and submit these to the Executive Coordinator of RIPESS. The 2013 International Meeting of SSE participants will collectively review all the submissions and select what they may deem as the best or most appropriate formulation of the global SSE vision.

To participate in the consultation process about the Global Vision, please go to:
http://www.ripess.org/manila2013-en/global-vision/?lang=en

To establish collectively the consents and divergences on the global vision, different methodologies will be used.

* Afternoon – Themes 2, 3 and 4

In the afternoon, the Meeting participants will be divided into three workgroups which will treat the remaining three themes: 2) SSE Experiences in the Territories; 3) Global Networking and Organizing; and 4) Communication and Visibility of SSE.

To participate in the preparatory debates, please go to:
http://www.ripess.org/manila2013-en/debates/?lang=en

Questions and issues to be treated in each Theme follow below:

Theme 2: SSE Experiences in the Territories

This group will be focused on the ways that the existing initiatives of SSE do their economic activities and their integration in economic networks and supply-chains. In this Theme, territoriality and sustainable development is a key aspect that should be present transversally in the discussions.

Questions/Issues of this Theme:

→ What actions/ innovations are being undertaken by SSE to link/connect (ethical) producers and (ethical) consumers? How to make further advances in this aspect?

→ What actions/innovations are being undertaken by SSE to link/ connect (ethical) production and solidarity/social finance? How to make further advances in this aspect?

→ What concrete actions/ innovations are being undertaken by SSE to create an alternative market for SSE products and services at the local, national, and international levels? How to make further advances in this aspect?

→ What actions/innovations are being undertaken by SSE contributing to territorial development? How to make further advances in this aspect?

Theme 3: Global Networking and Organizing

Global Networking refers to the way that the movement organizes itself locally, nationally and internationally. This has to do with political strategies, articulation with other movements and international institutions, and the structure of the different networks that are more effective in building up a strong and interconnected global network of SSE represented by Ripess.

Questions/Issues of this Theme:

→ What are the network initiatives that are necessary for reinforcing the global vision in the following dimensions:

. finances

. public policies

. research and education

→ What are strategic actors (social movements, institutions, government structures) with which we should strategically articulate?

→ What actions are undertaken by SSE enterprises to link/connect with local, national, and international networks? How SSE expands membership locally and internationally?

→ What are the challenges in establishing such institutional linkages?

Theme 4: Communication and visibility of SSE

One of the main challenges of SSE is its invisibility towards the common public, the public policy makers, and even in other social movements. This Theme will treat this challenge and propose ways to spread the message and contributions of SSE for another development model.

Questions/Issues of this Theme:

How to develop the visibility of:

→ the SSE experiences among each other (SSE initiatives knowing and learning from each other)

→ the SSE initiatives to society, common public, other movements and actors

→ the organization of SSE (its networks, where they are, what are the actors doing SSE and how it’s organized)

→ the global vision of SSE in respect to political issues of interest for society and development (political positions/views)

In each one of the three thematic workgroups, each continent will have chosen, before the Meeting, one concrete initiative that will be presented in each Theme. This means that for each thematic workshop, there will be at least 5 persons (one from each continent) who will share their perspective on the theme based on their concrete experience and practice. Therefore the continental experience will serve as the starting point of the discussions (bottom-up approach). The presenters should have prepared their presentations well ahead in time for translation into other official languages of the SSE International Meeting.

Each Thematic Group will be coordinated by two RIPESS Board members, preferably one Man and one Woman, from different Continents.

Finally, a Systematization Committee will work on the final proposals developed by the 3 Thematic Groups to have them ready for the Continental Meetings and Final Plenary the next day.

* Evening – Continental meetings

During the evening of the third day, the participants of each Continent will have a separate meeting at the same time (5 rooms). It’s a moment to build their evaluation of the discussions so far and to prepare the continental proposals and presentation in the next day.

Since there were already Continental Meetings prior to the 2013 International Meeting of SSE, the results of such Continental Meetings will also serve as reference to be considered by the participants.

2.4 Day 4

* Morning – Specific and concrete commitments, actions and goals for 2014-2017

The discussions and debates done during the first three days were of general nature. On the morning of the fourth day, the participants will discuss specific topics, in each one of the 4 Themes, sharing commitments and consolidating concrete agreements, goals to be achieved, a global agenda and other specific actions, which might be multilateral or bilateral.

* Afternoon 1 – Dialog between RIPESS, Governments and UN Agencies

During all the event, several aspects involving public policies will be discussed. Representatives from national governments and UN agencies will be present and will have the opportunity to better know the reality and challenges of SSE around the world.

Before closing the event, a dialog with representatives from national governments and from UN agencies present during the Meeting will be held. The purpose is to discuss best practices in the co-creation of public policies with the participation of the SSE movement and establish commitments regarding the strengthening of SSE as a development strategy in the countries. The post-2015 agenda in the UN will also be discussed: how can the governments engage in proposing the inclusion of SSE as an important strategy in the Objectives of the Millenium to be modified in 2015?

* Afternoon 2 – Final Plenary

The Final Plenary is the moment where the main results of the 4 days are presented: The state of the art of SSE in the 5 continents; The issues raised in the “SSE Territory” during the second day; The results and proposals of the 4 Themes; and the planned activities and commitments of the 5 continents.

It could be closed with an open microphone where people could freely do an evaluation of the Meeting, share commitments from their organization and contribute with other reflections on the results that were presented.

* Closing Ceremony

The Closing Ceremony could be a moment to show the richness of the different ways that SSE is lived in the 5 continents: with music, colors, testimonies. Participants could for example be advised to bring a national costume to be worn and prepare a cultural presentation, in music, dance, or poetry.

The idea is that a basic document developed as a result of the consultation process in the continents during the year (click here to participate!) will be the reference for debate, besides the concrete initiatives that will be discussed in the workgroups.