Proposal for an ECA moment in Athens, during the SE Congress, June 2017
Ruby van der Wekken
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Proposal for an ECA moment to be held in Athens during the 4th European Social Solidarity Economy Congress, 9-11 June 2017.
As is also sketched in the Commons & Social and Solidarity economy policy proposal worked on under the ECA, the Commons are an important part of a Solidarity economy. We can see the developing of a solidarity economy - including the increased cooperation between solidarity economy actors and the developing of new practices - as a furthering of our Commons and commoning. A solidarity economy furthering and upholding our commons is also what importantly gives a Commons its solidarity values, whilst building towards a more responsible, democratic and inclusive society.
The Congress in Athens (UniverSSE 2017 - www.universse2017.org), during which also the RIPESS European Solidarity economy network will be holding its Annual General Meeting, is as such a very good moment to promote a mutual recognition of the strands, and to dedicate this moment to the discussion of what kind of economy in and for the commons.
At the Congress, one of the thematic zones will be on "Commons and SSE: Approaches and practices on digital, natural, urban, cultural common goods". The RIPESS EU network for its part intends to prelaunch a working group on the commons this month, and then plans to take this further also in Athens.
The ECA in Athens will as such also be a moment to be feeding into the policy shaping process on Commons & Social and Solidarity economy - bringing the result from ECA Brussels to Athens, and opening the process then further up on a european and national level. Concrete outcome of the ECA moment would as such be a more broadly shared SE & commons policy document.
Attendance at the SE Congress in Athens is free of charge, and the organising committee intends to help participants in finding solidarity accommodation. Should there be an ECA moment in Athens, it would be wonderful if support given could be in the form of some ECA people’s attendance, who could also think along in the preparations of this ECA moment. The earlier this would be known, the better for the process.
with greetings from Ruby & Jason
Gaelle Thu 2 Mar 2017 7:31AM
Dear Ruby,
I think it's a great idea. I don't know if I will be able to come but anyway it should happen.
To implement this action it would be great to discuss how this moment could be organized:
- around the Commons & Social and Solidarity economy policy proposal
- but it would also be great to hear from people from the network fi they have specific issue to bring in relation to their acitvities in their country.
- what form can it take ?
- what collaboration with the European Social Solidarity Economy Congress ?
Best,
Gaelle
Nicole Leonard Thu 2 Mar 2017 8:52AM
Great proposal Ruby thank you. Like Gaelle, I don't know that I can come but I think it should go ahead. I think it would be good for me to be a part of the working group in a limited sense – I can't dedicate tons of time to specific logistics and programming but I would like to follow this process of an ECA moment to learn, and I can also probably help with some internal communications and organization with the rest of the ECA :)
Nicole Leonard Fri 17 Mar 2017 3:57PM
I just had a nice conversation with Jason on this. Here is a summary (I will also share this outside loomio):
@rubyvanderwekken and Jason have identified some people for a team to work on this ECA moment ( theodora kotsaka, Georgia bekridaki, silke helfrich) although we are looking for more.
Ideally we would like people from the Social and Solidarity economy (SSE) policy proposal to get involved, and also potentially those working on Work and Social Protection. This is also an opportunity to catalyze and enlarge the SSE Group of the ECA.
The central questions for this ECA moment are:
"What kind of economy for the commons?" "What is the connection between the social and solidarity economy and commons"
There is a call for activities/ideas going on right now. We would like to try to have a call soon for all interested in this, where we can discuss concretely what the moment would consist of. There are already some ideas:
- Further develop the policy proposal for SSE that was done before the First Meeting in Brussels
- Continue the exercise of commenting on the Collaborative Economy memo from the EU (which we discussed at the end of the program in the EU Parliament).
- Prepare/strategize in preparation for the 2nd edition of an EU forum on SSE (originally May 11 2018 but rescheduled for September 2018.) The first edition of this forum was in January 2016.
So I will work on sharing this and getting people together for a call soon so we can consolidate a team to prepare for this Moment and discuss potential activities.
Nicole Leonard Tue 21 Mar 2017 12:21PM
Here is the framadate!: https://framadate.org/5ovweyLismzwbxDR
Gaelle Mon 27 Mar 2017 4:33PM
I will not be able to make the call on Wednesday, but keep me in the loop please.
Gaelle
Nicole Leonard Wed 29 Mar 2017 12:59PM
The call is taking place now, I will send the summary after.
Nicole Leonard Wed 29 Mar 2017 9:25PM
SUMMARY
Thanks to all who participated or voiced your intention to participate in the call. I’m happy we had a lot of diverse people involved.
Present: Ana Margarida Esteves, Natalia Avlona, Panayotis Antoniadis, Laura Aufrère, Nicole Alix, Nicole Leonard, Jason Nardi
Apologies for the bad connection problems. Nevertheless I still think we made some progress. This is just a summary of what I understood, I welcome people to add and clarify.
-Laura and Frederic Sultan have had separate conversations on the importance of not having sessions on the commons separate from SSE. We should aim to bridge, and do this by focusing on issues.
-From this 2 main subjects have emerged: Public Policies, and Social Protection. There seems to be agreement that these are good ideas.
-The idea that we should be developing a timeline came up; for example seeing what policies are relevant on the national and European agendas so we can have a say.
-Another idea is that we ask people to come with specific local experiences (e.g. a local policy change, a conception of social protection) on these subjects, and then we workshop them in Athens at the Congress. In any case, this is part of the pre-work of what needs to be done before June.
-Format of the sessions: we ideally want one “convergence” space of 2.5 hours (Sunday, so as to conflict with GA) and then at least one other 2-hour workshop
Priorities: Get key details nailed down so we can reserve the space with the local organizers. (Who can liaise on this? Ruby?)
Determine precisely what we are asking of the ECA members
Jason and Laura are talking Friday to write up their proposal
Natalia is speaking with local Greek organizers on Monday
Nicole Leonard is getting more information on available funds, by Wednesday
Once we have details down, Ana Margarida will share with Portuguese Redpess network
Nicole Leonard Mon 3 Apr 2017 9:06PM
I need to be clear to everyone on a few things: I’m not assuming a primary organizing role on this and I won’t be able to travel to Athens for the Congress, I have a previous commitment. My intention was just to facilitate conversations with the ECA and assist remotely.
Nicole Leonard Tue 18 Apr 2017 11:57AM
Copy of an email to the organizing group on this
Hi all,
First of all, please fill out the framadate for another call ASAP, and make sure to save your input (all times CET)!: https://framadate.org/S8mWHyPfNzWz9Qcw
The deadline to give the description to the organizers is coming up in 2 days. Natalia (who has spoken with the local organizers) and I have been in touch and we thought logistically it’s best to scale back from 2 slots to just 1 workshop. We didn’t get much feedback last time so please, chime in. Anyways here is my pitch:
"ECA will hold a workshop during the Universse Congress in Athens, 9-11 of June, where RIPESS European Solidarity economy network will be holding its Annual General Assembly:
This ECA meeting will be focused on the Convergence of the Commons and Social & Solidarity Economy, and will be the preliminary workshop for the coming Forum for Social and Solidarity Economy in Brussels, in September 2017. We hope participants from around Europe will come with local examples that bring the commons and social and solidarity economy together, and that we can have a collective discussion on scaling these up and identifying policy opportunities that will allow these to flourish. It is also an opportunity to connect new members to the ECA and develop the ECA SSE policy proposal wiki (link).”
Laura and Jason have, as I understand, been working on a second pitch - can you please share this? Even if it is not finished so that everything is out in the open.
Thanks all,
Nicole
Ana Margarida Esteves · Wed 1 Mar 2017 8:36PM
Dear Ruby, Dear all,
Ruby, thank you for this excellent proposal. I totally support it and am willing to book these days ahead and come if I can get solidarity accomodation.
Than you and warm greetings,
Ana Margarida
De: Ruby van der Wekken (Loomio) ( [email protected] )
Enviado: 01/03/2017 20:17
Para: [email protected]
Assunto: [European Commons Assembly] Proposal for an ECA moment in Athens,during the SE Congress, June 2017