Article by Josette Combes, RIPESS Europe
Since 2001, RIUESS has been organizing its annual meetings on the base of a management by the welcoming universities. This year, Sciences Po Bordeaux welcomed the participants (more than 450 registered) researchers, students, political leaders, development actors. Under the title “The SSE actor of the transition? » the program articulated according to 7 themes the workshops which are the opportunity for the participants to present their work in progress. The theme of research-action was very provided. RIPESS presented the work of the Erasmus + SSE VET 2 project in duo with the MES, the French partner that had led the programme. As a workshop facilitator, I had the pleasure of discovering the work of the Coopec team (Cooperatives for Education in Collective Entrepreneurship). It brings together 9 researchers from 6 universities. who are conducting a study including 21 student cooperatives. The presentation focused on methodology, with the team working on the criteria to identify a “skeleton” from the common characteristics between thes profiles of the members and the cooperative forms. Note that some co-ops of students are called “ephemeral”. What they have in common is that they offer students the opportunity to experience an economic activity in cooperative form during their studies. Another UCOOP research group presented another experience of student cooperatives. I could not attend the workshop (lack of ubiquity capacity). We will not fail to follow this work and to give access to the publication that will result from it.
Another topic “Tourism and transition: an alternative e-tourism for tomorrow world ” which interests us at RIPESS Europe since a project was led by a European team. I also came across – during the contributions – some of the entities met during the Meeting in Cremona. (Les Oiseaux de passage, FairBnB, use-it). The 3 presentations focused on reducing the privatization of data and the environmental impact of e-tourism.
During the GA, the delegation of RIES (the Italian network) was able to introduce itself and express the project to create a similar network in Italy. (see article).
To finalize the meeting and allow participants to explore a Bordeaux less touristic but solidarity-based, the organizers had planned some guided visits to places in rehabilitation. I had the pleasure of walking along the Garonne in the old dock district where the occupying troops had camped during the war and which therefore enjoys a huge green space and a self-rehabilitation program for houses. We visited Tous aux abris ! “a collegiate association that aims to design and build protection shelters for threatened introductory animals* (birds, bats, hedgehogs, bees…) and more generally to protect natural life, in a participatory, pedagogical and prospective approach (R&D, citizen sciences)”.
Let us conclude with Timothée Duverger who coordinated this event with a highly motivated and competent team (the program is available here.
Projecting the SSE, grasping it in its dynamics and experiments, is the sine qua non condition for it to become the desirable norm of
the economy of tomorrow. This implies maintaining tension between utopias and its practices, to organize the dialogue between research and action, and above all to open it to the world it aspires to transform.
Success to all!
