What is the Social and Solidarity Economy?

The Social and Solidarity Economy is a set of formal or informal socio-economic measures, which may be individual or collective, that put satisfying people's needs before profit. They are also independent from public authorities, guided by values such as equity, solidarity, sustainability, participation, inclusion and a commitment to the community. They are also promoters of social change.

You will find more details in the Barcelona 2030 Strategy for the Social and Solidarity Economy. document. Reactivating and strengthening an economy for life in the city. There you will find the description, practices, principles and values that the SSE sector in Barcelona has agreed on to define and project itself.

Common features of all the initiatives that define the transformative character of the Social and Solidarity Economy:

Democratic, participatory management

Instead of a hierarchical organisational model where some people control, manage and decide on resources, assets, information and the future of the majority, the SSE introduces democracy into the economy and enterprises.

Orientation towards human needs

he SSE tries to reclaim the economy's original function, placing it at the service of people by managing resources fairly and using them in a sustainable way, as well as creating a production model that turns work into an instrument for meeting human needs.

Commitment to the community

SSE organisations help to improve society, creating jobs, providing services, connecting with their area, supporting social causes, financing solidarity initiatives with poor countries and collaborating with transformative social movements.

SSE initiatives are present in all sectors of economic activity, from energy to culture and food.

Barcelona City Council is fostering the establishment of economic structures in the city that are more social and supportive, by consolidating and nurturing the already thriving network of cooperative, social and solidarity economy organisations in the city and promoting new initiatives. This work is politically driven by the Deputy Mayor's Office, through the Office of the Commissioner for Social Economy, Local Development and Consumer Affairs, which also promotes the development of responsible consumerism. In practice, the public policy to boost the SSE in Barcelona is implemented by teams from the Department of Social Economy (attached to the Directorate of Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Services) at Barcelona City Council and the Operational Directorate of Social and Economic Innovation at Barcelona Activa.