ESS en los territorios

The local level (« territoire » in French) is the place where we live, where cultural, economic and social activities are embedded, embodied and take root, and where we have a duty to preserve the environment, which is the foundation of life. From a political and economic point of view, some territories are forgotten, neglected, showing huge unequalities. However, economic localization, which enables a larger share of the added value to be kept where it is produced, contributes to the redistribution of wealth. « The need for local development is therefore still very strong, as is the need for an alternative economic model, integrating an economy that is more connected to the territories, an economy that is more based on cooperation than on competition » ^[1] Territorial projects will be the result of an alchemy between the inhabitants, the actors who carry out the initiatives and the local authorities. Thousands of local citizen initiatives are experimenting and implementing new forms of solidarity and new modes of organisation. Local authorities have a decisive role to play in catalysing, co-producing and identifying opportunities for cooperation between actors. National and international institutions must make available favourable and relevant legal and financial frameworks.

SSE is at the heart of these processes: childcare, local food ecosystems, local mobility, new work organisations with third places (« Tiers-lieux » in French) or activity and employment cooperatives (CAE), all the issues that make up the ecological transition in the territories, putting the human being and the protection of the living at the heart of economic activity.