Social Economy
Social Economy enterprises and organisations are economic and social players active in all sectors of society; they are set up to respond to people’s needs. They are characterised principally by their aims and their methods: a different way of doing business which continuously associates the general interest, economic performance and democratic operation.
Social economy includes co-operatives, mutual societies, associations and foundations as well as other types of enterprises that share the values defined in the principles of the Social Economy Charter.
Successful in economic terms, the social economy creates jobs. It has the capacity to meet today’s challenges by combining often highly labour-intensive production with the use of new technologies and the social integration of the most vulnerable.
Social economy enterprises and organisations combine and associate the economic and a social dimension. By sharing a vision of an economy for the people, the local foothold of the social economy enterprises and organisations is an asset for stability in a globalised economy.
The social economy is everywhere for everyone, at anytime.
Specifically, the social economy is active in domains such as:
social security, social and health services (pharmacies, hospitals…),
insurance services,
banking services,
local services (maintenance, cleaning, repair and renovation jobs for housing and green spaces, social transport and other),
education, training and research,
culture, sport and leisure activities,
social tourism,
energy,
consumers,
industrial production,
agricultural production,
handicraft,
building, the residential environment and cooperative housing.
Click here to read SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE’s "Social Economy Charter"
