Text by Majo Varela, RIPESS LAC
The Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean is marking the intercontinental path by presenting the Diploma in Public Policies and the Popular, Social and Solidarity Economy with great success on 28 September in an online event.
This diploma course has been a huge success in its first year, with almost 400 people enrolled. It proposes a collective space for the construction of knowledge in which academic knowledge and the experiences of public policy and organisations that live and work in the popular, social and solidarity economy meet. With the support of Wiego and WSM, this project, planned since 2023 in RIPESS LAC, is becoming a reality, opening a wide field of participation and debate for the strengthening of the organisations and the 22 networks of networks in the fourteen countries of the region that make up RIPESS LAC.
During this online event, different political and institutional representatives as well as entities and organizations at regional and global level working for the SSE intervened and enjoyed the digital presence of Valeska Sarmiento and Hans Cediel, representatives of the Regional Board of RIPESS LAC; Madani Koumaré, Co coordinator of RIPESS INTERCONTINENTAL and president of the African Network of Social and Solidarity Economy (RAESS); Alexandra Agredas of the World Solidarity Agency, Ximena Ponce, former Minister of Economic and Social Inclusion of Ecuador; Federico Parra, specialist in Social and Solidarity Economy of WIEGO; Hernán Vargas, Vice-Minister of Popular Power of the Communes and Social Movements of Venezuela; Ruth Maritza Quevedo Fique, Expert Commissioner of the Government of Colombia; María Catalina García Barón, Technical Director of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge of Colombia, who welcomed the participants and pointed out the importance of this initiative for the strengthening of the Network and the regions.
After the Earth Ceremony offered by the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission, Gustavo Wansidler, General Coordinator of the RIPESS LAC diploma course from Argentina, thanked the participants for their participation ’We celebrate the participation of the twenty-two RIPESS LAC networks, from the fourteen countries where they are located, the generous participation of WSM, of the World Forum of Transformative Economies Network, of Wiego, of legislators of the national public systems of this enormous Latin American and Caribbean Matria, those who occupied and still occupy executive positions at the national, provincial, regional, departmental and local levels; the participation of universities, the Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, the Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, the Universidad de Guadalajara and the Universidad Nacional de Chaco Austral.
Among the words of support that they shared, Hans Cediel remarked that this diploma course ‘is more than a diploma course, it is a space to meet, also to discuss, transfer knowledge and experiences, and build common horizons from politics, from political ethics, and from public policy that manages to install this possibility of the dream of the social, solidarity and popular economy’, Valeska Sarmiento also stressed that ‘we are very excited to start this diploma course, which had never been done before in RIPESS’.
From RIPESS Intercontinental, which includes networks from all continents, Madani Koumaré stressed the importance of this pilot experience to strengthen strategic alliances and efforts in ‘a path of triangular South-South cooperation (…) to show the whole world that the solidarity economy is a model and a solution that we are proposing from our realities, both to achieve the Development Goals’ and to influence vulnerable populations and ‘update our knowledge and our practices towards obtaining public policies in our continents’.
In this sense, Alexandra Agredas of the World Solidarity Agency, said that ‘we are witnessing a clear testimony of the commitment to building a fairer, more equitable and sustainable economy in our region. And this is because we think, we believe, that today more than ever it is crucial that our organisations and all those actors that make up the social and solidarity economy are strengthened and empowered, trained to face all these current challenges…’, she added:
“The participation of each of you is proof that the social and solidarity economy is not just an alternative, but a reality under construction that is changing the face of our societies.
On behalf of Wiego, Federico Parra thanked the possibility of accompanying and participating in this process and considered that ‘At this time, at a global level, the issue of the misnamed informality is being reviewed by bodies such as the International Labour Organisation. And to meet with you in the debates on the meaning of an emerging notion, a notion of our own, on the economic development of workers, women workers, communities from the territory: their contribution to societies is fundamental’.
For her part, Ximena Ponce, former minister of economic and social inclusion of Ecuador, celebrated the diversity of this space as a Minga, a collective construction, pointing out that ‘We all have this form, if we have the word, of course we have the action’ and recalled that in times of crisis ‘it has been these community and organisational practices of holding hands and acting collectively that have allowed the majority of the population not to fall into situations of misfortune, not to fall into situations of poverty. This is the economy that needs to be recognised, that needs to be strengthened and that needs to be facilitated’ with laws that adapt to the demands of society. ‘.
From Venezuela, Hernán Vargas, Vice-Minister of Popular Power for Communes and Social Movements, also highlighted the importance of ‘promoting spaces for theoretical production based on the practice of our peoples, who are building alternative economies, which run against the current of the metabolism of capitalism (…). ) We ratify the importance for the continent of making these experiences of popular, solidarity-based, alternative economies, mechanisms that have to begin to crystallise alternatives in the midst of a model of Western civilisation that is in crisis; its crisis puts life at risk, so it is essential to take the leap (…) and begin to guide an alternative to this crisis of civilisation, which allows us to offer humanity a viable alternative’.
With regard to the challenges, Ruth Maritza Quevedo Fique, Expert Commissioner of the Colombian government, said, ‘There is a very big challenge in this sense, and that is that public policy is built on the basis of concrete experiences and practices, so that the actors of the popular economy are protagonists’ (…) ‘at this moment the popular economy, its definition, its narratives, its practices, are a field of tensions’, and in this sense she stressed the importance of political will in governments.
Finally, María Catalina García Barón, Technical Director of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge of Colombia, shared that ‘Initiatives such as this, which make it possible to build collective knowledge, which also make it possible to build perspectives for a common agenda and critical views of what is happening in economic matters in our countries, I believe it is fundamental, above all insofar as it can also inspire thought in action, a praxis that can make possible more complex views of what these popular economies have been’.
Finally, Gustavo Wansidler, at the end of the opening ceremony said‘… we can build a territoriality based on a sense of belonging that is protagonist, that is recognised in history, of a full present for a future of a world in which all the worlds that dare to love with social justice can fit’.
What is the diploma about?
The proposal is based on a training course aimed at local, regional, national and international organisations and networks that think and work in the promotion, strengthening and sustainability of the EPSyS, are recognised in a social environment, with academic, territorial and political significance. A space that opens up to reflection, produces knowledge and information, and integrates experiences that can be capitalised in favour of the region, in principle Latin America and the Caribbean, thinking of work as a social right.
A training that promotes and is part of the construction of social events of valorisation and recognition of all forms of work that are part of the political, cultural, social and economic proposal of EPSyS.
In its structure, the diploma course offers seven sessions with academic specialists and presentations of experiences linked to the three modules that make up the proposal:
- Popular social and solidarity economy
- Public policies and EPS&S
- EPS&S Development Planning and Management
In addition to three open seminars by the Commissions in which RIPESS LAC is organised, giving an account of their own constructions, experience and journeys:
- Youth
- Indigenous Peoples
- Diversity and gender
- Education
- Economic Circuits and Social Protection
The diploma course has been a huge success in its first year, with almost 400 people enrolled. This interesting process will be extended in meetings until the 14th of December during which they will enjoy great learning and exchanges that we hope can influence the course of public policy for the popular social and solidarity economy towards one that is closer to the realities and sustainable for the organisations, whose focus is on people, the environment, links and not individualism.
Tomorrow, October 19th, the first open seminar, where the commission of peoples and youth will share with us the vision of the Popular Social and Solidarity Economy:
