What is the Solidarity Economy?
- The solidarity economy and the zero carbon mapping project
The solidarity economy is one that supports social enterprises. The ownership is shared between individuals, not controlled by shareholders. In the solidarity economy each person has a vote. Businesses can be based within a range of sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, finance (credit unions), social services. It is sometimes referred to as the third sector.
In the Transition Liverpool mapping project, we and other Transition groups across Merseyside will be particularly focusing on 6 areas:
- Food growing and the selling of food grown sustainably
- Sustainable green energy
- Green transport systems
- Improving the heating and retention of heat in buildings
- Re/afforestation of local areas across Mersey Region
- Community activities and support systems
- The history
The idea of building a Social Economy goes back to the mid-19th century. The first modern example of social economy in recent times was the” Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society” established in 1844. This is considered as the first co-operative. The concept of the solidarity economy came originally from Spain in 1937 and was adopted in Columbia, South America and France in the 1980s. It has recently been more widely adopted in English-speaking countries, particularly in America and there has been a growing interest in promoting the solidarity economy since the turn of this century.
- Its aims
Businesses in the green solidarity economy are part of a movement established to improve the well-being of people as well as their environment. On Merseyside we are promoting this way of working as a way of:
- Improving the quality of life in local communities across Merseyside by establishing not-for-profit enterprises.
- Setting up an alternative economy that supports and encourages strategies for creating more person centered employment.
- Supporting local, community enterprises that keep money within the local economy and supporting credit unions
- The purpose of promoting the solidarity economy is to:
- Improve the living conditions through creating a system of mutual interdependence
- Create a climate that enables local people to live a meaningful, caring and rewarding work life
- Develop social connections, to create a supportive society that works or everyone
- Create dignity through work
- Provide work that is sustainable though:
- Promoting practices that work in harmony with nature
- Rebuilding natural infrastructures that have been damaged, our soil, our rivers and our countryside
- Developing technologies that reduce our levels of carbon emissions
- Encouraging support through networking at a local and regional level
For more information, including details about the first two pilot sites, you can visit The Solidarity Economy Association
More information about the Merseyside Zero carbon mapping project here.
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