By Sofia Pereira, APDES (Portugal)
The side-event SSE and IVET: A step forward to create a meaningful future at the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2021 was held on 6th April.
The event aimed at discussing the potential of combining Social Solidarity Economy and IVET to promote alternative socio-economic models, needed in an era of transition.
SSE is a socio-economic alternative model rooted in inclusive values and practices, highly needed in an era of transition as the current pandemic situation and the needed social, economic and environmental support and recovery. SSE may contribute to revert the path of destruction and explotation of our planet. As the UN highlighted last year, SSE is a key-factor in shaping a people-centered and planet-sensitive recovery, namely because SSE’s promotion of active citizenship, participatory democracy and pluralistic economic systems is essential, especially in crisis situations, reaching out to the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.
The opportunity to present and develop SSE as the economy of the future, involving SSE organizations and practitioners, is clear. In this sense, we understand that next generations – the youngsters – have a key-role to play. Youth involvement in creating a cultural shift towards equality, sustainability and a renovated citizenship is crucial for the future. At the same time, the youngsters are suffering from diverse constraints due to previous crises that have been increasing in consequence of the pandemic, and are already claiming for changes on public policies and practices. To do so, it is in need to integrate this alternative socio-economic model in their framework of ideas and attitudes.
A paradigm change requires the change of consciousness, a new work mind-set and skills development. This is why education and training are a fundamental part of this process; especially programs such as IVET. Hence, IVET curricula needs to be innovative, in order to meet local development needs with new strategies and to provide youngsters with competences in different vocational areas.
Although SSE is hardly mentioned nowadays in training curricula, SSE and IVET have certain common aspects: development of key citizenship competences, attention to soft skills development (such as social and civic competences, initiative and entrepreneurship, awareness and cultural expression) and attention to peer-to-peer methodologies. In addition, IVET offers an access to young people and the link with professional qualifications from which SSE could benefit in this endeavor to reach the next generations. Therefore, APDES and its partners Solidarius, Mouvement pour l’Economie Solidaire, CRIES, TechNET, DOCK and RIPESS Europe have been developing projects on this topic since 2016, within the scope of Erasmus+ Program of the European Union.
In the event, the good practices that have been piloted were shared, and followed discussions on how education is a path for social and economic transformation and on the future of work, with more than 50 participants from different locations in the World.
Watch the event here: shorturl.at/iuyGY
All the materials from the IVET project can be found here.
