Two-day Social and Solidarity Economy Event "Koinon Epicheirein"

Social Entrepreneurship in Practice

28 & 29 May 2022

The two-day event for Social and Solidarity Economy was successfully held at the Heraklion Cultural Center. A large audience attended the cycles of presentations – discussions – workshops on social economy (inside the experimental stage), with invited speakers from Crete and beyond, including representatives from the competent ministry, policy bodies, funding agencies, Social Economy Networks, and positive practice examples. Social enterprises and other organizations related to Social Economy had a strong presence in the atrium area of the center with booths and stands.

The goals of the two-day event were:

• To more strongly disseminate the idea and importance of social economy to the average island citizen,
• To present business activities in this field from Crete and good examples from the rest of Greece, aiming to transfer positive experiences, feedback the development effort of the sector, and allow the average visitor – citizen to see firsthand how a social enterprise operates.
• To highlight social economy as a mechanism of sustainable development, production of quality products and services, and as a means to enhance employment and tackle social exclusion.

To achieve these goals, the following were presented:

• The European, National, and Regional Plan for social economy, so people understand social entrepreneurship in Crete as part of the broader strategic direction for a Europe with social cohesion,
• The role of local government authorities as a driver for social economy development through social clauses, free provision of movable and immovable assets to social economy bodies,
• Good practices in social economy development in thematic areas of RIS 3,
• Financing tools for social economy (European, national, regional), as well as microcredit tools from banking institutions (cooperative or otherwise),
• Activities from local and other Greek Social Enterprises, networks (formal and informal), collectives of social actors and enterprises, research labs, open technology organizations, municipalities, social services & community centers, the Social Inclusion Observatory of the Region of Crete, development companies, social economy consulting firms, and banks.

Views were expressed, thoughts and questions submitted, opinions formulated, with all attendees leaving richer and wiser about the power and importance of this third sector of the economy in developing entrepreneurship locally, enhancing employment, and combating social exclusion especially of vulnerable and sensitive groups.

Get informed briefly about the discussions held and in detail about the event through videos (Live Streaming) or presentations.

Also download the collective volume titled "Studies on Social and Solidarity Economy" created in spring 2021 as part of a series of training seminars on Social and Solidarity Economy implemented by KEKAPER Rethymno, with academic oversight from the University of Crete and contributions from the Laboratory of Social Analysis and Applied Social Research and the Laboratory of Political Economy and Economic Development.