On Wednesday 17 June, the International Chair in Popular, Social and Solidarity Economy (EPSS) and Social Rights will be officially launched. This is a joint initiative of the Administrative Department of Social Prosperity (DPS) of the Colombian Government and RIPESS Intercontinental. This initiative has been established with the aim of strengthening the strategic, political and organisational capacities of popular, community, social and solidarity-based organisations throughout the country.
The Chair seeks to promote a comprehensive vision of the Popular, Social and Solidarity Economy as a transformative project, bringing together knowledge, tools and experiences to consolidate sustainable and democratic processes at the local level.
The session will be delivered in Spanish and will take place online.
Key objectives
- To strengthen political advocacy, strategic management and the visibility of processes, tools and proposals within the Popular, Social and Solidarity Economy (PSSE).
- To promote democratic and horizontal governance, productive sustainability and the consolidation of associative networks.
- To develop a shared strategic vision that brings together community resources, knowledge and capacities.
- To raise the international profile of the progress made by the Colombian PSSE within global networks, platforms and spaces.
An open, participatory and educational process
The Chair brings together spaces for dialogue, political education, knowledge exchange and skills development so that organisations can think through and plan their initiatives as true strategists for change.
This is an open, participatory and community-based exercise that recognises the diversity of experiences within the Popular, Social and Solidarity Economies and their central role in building rights, democracy and collective well-being.
Participants
- Mauricio Rodríguez Amaya, National Director of Social Prosperity (DPS), Government of Colombia
- Sandra Moreno, Executive Secretary, RIPESS Intercontinental
- Alejandro Russo, President of the Argentine Confederation of Mutual Societies, Argentina
- Ariana Burgos, Director General of the National Institute of Popular and Solidarity Economy (IEPS), Ecuador
- Cristian Amarilla, Deputy Minister for Agricultural Development of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Ruth Quevedo, Deputy Minister for Water and Basic Sanitation, Government of Colombia
- Maxime Baduel, Ministerial Delegate for the Social and Solidarity Economy, Government of France
- Alba Rodríguez Vega, Delegate for the Commissioner for the Social Economy, Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, Government of Spain
- Hans Cediel Morales, Network of the Forum for Transformative and Alternative Economies, Colombia
- Gustavo Wansidler, General Coordinator of the International and Ibero-American Chair on Popular, Social and Solidarity Economy and Social Rights, Coordinator of the RIPESS LAC Education Commission, Territorios en Desarrollo, Argentina
- Javier Morales and Natalia Quiroga, Lecturers and Researchers, Colombia
- German Oestmann, Rector of the University of Southern Chaco (UNCAu), Argentina
An alliance to strengthen grassroots power
The DPS and RIPESS have agreed to drive this process forward as part of their commitment to strengthening popular and solidarity-based organisations, promoting a national strategic coordination that enables progress towards fairer, feminist and sustainable economic models.
