The World Social Forum 2018, will be held from March 13 to 17, 2018, in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, where several members of RIPESS LAC will be attending, as well as members from RIPESS Europe and XES, who will be presenting the Thematic Social Forum on Economies of Change, which is planned to be held in Barcelona in 2019.
The World Social Forum (WSF), which began in Brazil, is one of the largest gatheringswhere civil society experiences are shared and solutions are agreed on solutions, in terms of solidarity and democratic perspectives. The event brings together tens of thousands of participants from around the world, who will be debating various topics, from social development, to the solidarity economy, the environment, human rights and democratization, among other themes.
The slogan of the WSF 2018 is “Resist is to Create, Resist is to Transform” and it points to the need for alternatives for another possible world.
As mentioned in the forum application letter, strong resistance movements are once again emerging in Brazil due to the Neo-liberal reforms being implemented in the country. This context will be sure to generate opportunities for cooperation between the alternatives that already exist both there and in the world.
RIPESS LAC, the RIPESS network of Social Solidarity Economy of Latin America and the Caribbean seek to consolidate alliances and facilitate the convergence of alternative practices at a continental level.
We invite you to join the conference: The Solidarity Economy Movement in Latin America and the Caribbean: cooperate in the network! (on 15 March from 9.am- UFBA – Faculdade de Comunicação – Room 3), in which several members of RIPESS LAC will be present: Luciano Mina and Rosemary Gomez (from the Brazilian Forum of Solid Economics – FBES) and Alicia Canaviri Mallcu (The Solidarity Economy and Fair Trade Movement of Bolivia). To contact RIPESS LAC write to: americalatinacaribe@ripess.org
The event will also be an occasion to present the project for the Thematic Social Forum on Economies of Change, which is currently being promoted by RIPESS Europe, the XES(the Catalan Social and Solidarity Economy Network) and RIPESS Intercontinental, and which is planned to take place in Barcelona, Spain, in April 2019.
Besides bringing together networks of public authorities, universities and social movements, this forum aims at strengthening alliances and strategic actions in the whole range of today’s transformative alternatives (SSE, the commons economy, feminist economy, collaborative economy, fair trade, ethical finances, degrowth, food sovereignty, etc.), by focusing on creating practical solutions for a resilient, co-operative and solidarity-based society.
You are invited to participate in the construction of this forum, contributing with your experience and skills. You can contact the organizing team at: forum2019@ripess.org; and for those who will be at the forum, to also attend the presentation event (on March 15 from 1.pm – UFBA – Faculdade de Farmácia – room 1)) where Jason Nardi and Josette Combes from RIPESS Europe will be present, as well as Fernando Paniagua from XES.
Finally, RIPESS has been invited to participate in several conferences, among which are (dates to be confirmed – See the final programme):
- The launch of the Campaign for a Global Curriculum on the Social Solidarity Economy (see also the website). This is an SSE educational initiative of which RIPESS is a co-promoter and with whom our working group is initiating new means of cooperation. The objectives, the charter of principles, its educational tools and the newly-launched mapping will all be presented.
- Convergence Session on the Right to the City – Strategies and Perspectives for Global and Regional Action
We hope to see you at WSF 2018!
