The aim of the Region is the development of the Social Solidarity Economy

S. Adam: “We should not look at each policy area individually, but we should see them horizontally and in this transformative direction”

The aim of the event-workshop was to familiarize the participants with the creative economy

An event-workshop on the contribution of the Social Solidarity Economy (SOE) to the creative economy was organized by the Municipality of Komotini on the afternoon of Monday, April 22, in collaboration with the Exagono Youth & Volunteering Center and the Social Policy Department of the University of Athens, with the support of the Heinrich Foundation Bell – Office of Thessaloniki – Greece, of the Region of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace and the Municipal Library of Komotini, in collaboration with the Social Cooperative Enterprises (KOINSEP) BlueChain from Kavala, Dot2Dot from Thessaloniki, Oxygono and Pleteno from Xanthi.

The aim of the event-workshop was to familiarize the participants with the creative economy, to learn how they work and how the “GOOD” ventures can be used, in order to contribute to the employment of young people as well as to the transformation of regional cities in terms of sustainability for the youth.

In the first part of the event, reference was made to the terms of the creative economy and the initiatives of “KALO”, while at the same time the forthcoming edition of the Heinrich Bell Foundation for Open Cooperation was presented. A short greeting was addressed by the thematic vice-regional governor of Development, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Social Economy of PAMTH, Alexandros Iosifidis.

In the second part, a workshop was implemented which was addressed to young people, such as students, students of the Experimental School of Higher Vocational Training (SAEK) Komotini, the Public IEK, the Vocational Schools and students of the EPAL Komotini and the Evening Lyceum of Komotini. The workshop was about the creative economy and the possibilities of developing cooperative livelihood ventures through the presentation of good practices from ventures in this field.

To enable young people to propose their own ideas for the future
As informed by the head of Exagono, Louiza Saltsidou, the two important pillars of the action are the creative economy, a sector that she considers to be rapidly developing, and the other is the projects of the Social Solidarity Economy, such as the Social Cooperative Enterprises (COINSEP), as and worker cooperatives. The main objective was for the young people to discuss and be informed in an interactive way about good examples of the implementation of such projects so that they could also propose their own ideas for the future development of the creative economy.

Al. Iosifidis: “We have a lot of scope for development and progress”
The thematic deputy regional governor Alexandros Iosifidis informed that this is the first time that there is the responsibility of the social economy and the thematic deputy regional governor of Development, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Social Economy in our Region. “I have the pleasure, the honor but also the great responsibility to manage this case. It is a case, a process that is not particularly well known in our country. Unfortunately, we have a lot of room for development and progress. We as a Region have already made the first contacts in Kavala, contacts that will continue in the future”, he emphasized about this special form of economy.

Asked what is the ideal goal of the Region for the five years in terms of the social economy, he emphasized that the first priority is to further develop this institution which is currently “in its infancy. We are thinking of creating a mobile mental health unit that will be based on specialized scientists, who will provide and provide to vulnerable people in remote areas of Kavala and perhaps expand to the entire region,” explained the deputy governor, who, as he claimed to have already met with the deputy minister responsible for mental health issues, Dimitris Vartzopoulos.

Creation of productive cooperative schemes
Assistant Professor of the Department of Social Policy Sofia Adam, who deals with the context of local development and transformative public policies: that is, how we can deal with horizontal issues of economy, society, environment. “And I think, not only me, that the social solidarity economy is a way precisely to promote this horizontal entity, that is to say that we should not look at each policy area individually, but we should see them horizontally and in this transformative direction” , write down. He explained that the desire is to create productive, cooperative schemes that have livelihood possibilities for their members.