‘’Social and Solidarity Economy: A common path’’ was the title of a working session in which the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)’s Gender Department took part on November 22nd 2017. The session was held within the framework of the project ‘’Empowering the Mediterranean young women, a key sector for boosting social and Solidarity economy’’ which is organized and coordinated by the General Directorate of Youth of the Government of Catalonia, in collaboration with the IEMed, the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation, Barcelona City Council, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Solidarity Economy Network (XES), the Regional Activity Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production, and the InterMediterranean Commission (CPMR).

The project which will be implemented throughout 2018 in close collaboration with several local and regional authorities of France (Corsica), Italy (Campania), Morocco (Tanger - Al hoseima) and Tunisia (Sousse), aims at supporting the economic emancipation of young Mediterranean women by providing them with tools and skills that would enable them to achieve successful socio-professional transition.

The project’s specific goal is to promote networking and interregional debate on a Mediterranean level to advocate for public policies that would encourage and foster young women’s initiatives and projects in the field of social and solidarity economy.

The IEMed contribution to this project will be as an advisor during the whole process of planning, implementation and evaluation.The sessions´ report is available below (in French).

** Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) refers to enterprises and organizations (cooperatives, mutual benefit societies, associations, foundations and social enterprises) which produce goods, services and knowledge that meet the needs of the community they serve, through the pursuit of specific social and environmental objectives and the fostering of solidarity.