Valencia, world capital of the Public Economy, Cooperativism and the Social Economy

The city of Valencia will be the world capital of the Public Economy, Cooperativism and the Social Economy in June. Researchers, representatives of public administrations, cooperativism and social economy agents, trade unionists and politicians will meet at a major international forum designed with the aim of offering answers to today’s great global challenges. Thus, the 33 CIRIEC International Congress (International Center for Research and Information on the Public, Social and Cooperative Economy) will bring together international experts from more than 40 countries for three days.

And it is that, in this new era-Covid, the activity of public, social or cooperative companies together with the role of the State plays a leading role: the activity of the Social Economy alone represents 10% of Spanish GDP. Likewise, in the Valencian Community, the Social Economy (cooperatives, mutual societies, labor companies, insertion companies and other social companies, associations and foundations) has a sales volume of approximately 14,000 million euros per year and generates around 175,000 direct jobs.

According to José Luis Monzón, director of CIRIEC-Spain and curator of the 33rd Congress, “more than 50 researchers, company managers and public sector managers will expose their formulas to respond to issues of such interest as housing and urban development, governance, partnerships between the public economy and the social economy, the just ecological transition or public investments.”

What’s more, this forum will address global challenges such as: the quality of social and health services, the increase in sustainable mobility or new formulas to combat depopulation, the environmental crisis and the digital divide. Along with these aspects, others such as employment, pensions or the guarantee of supply of essential services such as water, energy and transport will focus the debate, which will be divided into 6 plenary sessions and 8 workshops that will have simultaneous translation in Spanish, English, French and German.

Fifty speakers and 80 communications in workshops

The 33rd CIRIEC International Congress It will have the participation of fifty experts headed by great references in the discipline such as Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize in Economics 2008, who will offer the opening speech. Mariana Mazzucato, director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Service, Professor at University College London and advisor, will bring her experience and knowledge to the closing session.

The Congress will also feature speeches by the Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights of the European Union, Nicolas Schmit; the president of the European Confederation of Social Economy (Social Economy Europe), Juan Antonio Pedreño, and the president of the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Valencian Community, Emili Villaescusa.

The Scientific Committee of the Congress has received nearly 300 communications proposals. Of these, around 80 works will be selected to be exhibited in 16 parallel thematic workshops. Through them, the new techno-economic, social and environmental dynamics will be analyzed; The impact of the Covid crisis on the social economy and on the public sector in general will be measured, and the specific responses of public, social and cooperative companies to the socio-health crisis and to these great dynamics will be analysed.

Under the motto of Congress ‘New global dynamics in the post-COVID era: challenges for the public, social and cooperative economy’, public, social and cooperative companies, with their own values ​​and missions, will meet at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía on June 13, 14 and 15 with the aim to offer the most innovative responses to new problems and challenges.