Booklet : Building Up Social and Solidarity Economy (BUSSE)

The first two chapters of the booklet are more general ones where you can learn about the basics of SSE. The first chapter – Starting up – will provide you with some key information needed for everyone who would like to organize SSE initiatives of various kinds based on democratic and sustainable principles. The essential aspect of a strong SSE enterprise is community. It is based on a collective of persons involved in the SSE enterprise and from a broader perspective, this includes the community of all those impacted by the activities of the collective. This is why the second chapter addresses the issue of community building.

These are the basics: don’t start out on your transformative path without this preparation and essential life-saving package!

The remaining two chapters look at areas that are not always clearly and explicitly connected to SSE, but serve as very useful and important examples. In chapter three you can explore SSE principles as applied to co-operatives. Co-operatives have a long tradition, and they form an important part of the SSE “universe”. This is why we believe it is worthwhile including co-operatives here. The final topic presented in this booklet is Food Sovereignty, an intensively urgent goal. As Olivier De Schutter, former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and agroecologist said: “We won’t solve hunger or stop climate change with industrial farming on large plantations. The solution lies in supporting small-scale farmers’ knowledge and experimentation, and in raising the incomes of smallholders so as to contribute to rural development.“

It is important to emphasize how all four chapters or themes are interconnected and mutually support one another. You cannot have a resilient co-operative if it is not based on community building, and you cannot have an equitable and just Food Sovereignty project if it is not connected to and anchored in SSE values.