Cooperatives as a key constituent of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE)

The cooperative movement has been one of the main institutional pillars constituting the SSE from the latter’s historical origin back in the 1830s and has been actively engaged in the modern revival of the SSE concept. Many new SSE initiatives are emerging under different denominations, and many of them are very close to cooperatives in their governance and management (see the SSE common features above). The ICA acknowledges that these common SSE features broadly used by other SSE actors and enshrined in many legal frameworks share a substantial part of the core identity of cooperatives9. The cooperative movement strongly supports these common SSE features, which are not reduced solely to the social impact which all types of enterprises and organisations can produce. It is important for the SSE to be recognized not only for its undeniable social contributions, particularly in regard to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, but also for its distinctive common features which are their real source of social innovation and, transformative power in the world, particularly in the face of the unprecedent global crises we are living.

www.ica.coop/en/newsroom/news/ica-stands-robust-enabling-environment-sse