At MedTOWN International Seminar on Social Innovation & Inclusion, organized on 26th January 2022, the panel 'Projects & solutions. Affecting policy from project experimentation' addressed the question of how experimentation at project level is able to change the delivery of public services. 

The event, developed in the framework of MedTOWN project "Co-production of social policies with social and solidarity economy (SSE) actors to fight poverty, inequality and social exclusion", was hosted by José Ruibérriz, Social & Solidarity Economy Focal Point at Assembly for Cooperation for Peace (ACPP).

The challenges and solutions implemented by the social innovation & inclusion projects MedTOWN, MedUP, MoreThanAJob, InnovAgroWoMed, SIRCLES and Aquacycle, were then discussed including aspects as co-production, social entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment, reinforcing people at risk of social exclusion, using sustainable management of waste & wastewater to engage communities, and, of course, circular economy, to create an enabling environment for Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) initiatives to flourish in the Mediterranean region. 

The conversation closed with the introduction of MedRiSSE capitalisation project, which aim is to take up the baton to enhance the value of these projects among others, as replicable innovations of SSE in the provision of services & creation of decent jobs in the post covid-19 crisis recovery.

Submitted projects during the conversation: 

• MedUP 'Promoting social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region' by Cristian Bevacqua, Regional Program Coordinator at Oxfam Italia.
• MoreThanAJob 'Reinforcing social & solidarity economy for the unemployed, uneducated & refugees' by Dr. Samah Saleh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work. An-Najah National University. Palestine.
• InnovAgroWoMed 'Social Innovation in the Agri-food sector for Women’s Empowerment in the Mediterranean sea basin' by Marco Buemi, Senior expert in networking/raising awareness, Cawtar. Tunisia.
• SIRCLES 'Supporting Circular Economy Opportunities for Employment & Social Inclusion' by Sawsan Qodsi, House of Water and Environment (HWE). Palestine.
• Aquacycle 'Towards Sustainable Treatment & Reuse of Wastewater in the Mediterranean Region' by Dirk De Ketelaere, Senior Researcher. Integrated Resources Management Company Ltd (IRMCo). Malta.
• MedRiSSE capitalization project 'Replicable Innovations of SSE in the provision of services and creation of decent jobs in the post covid-19 crisis recovery', by José Ruibérriz, Social & Solidarity Economy Focal Point at ACPP. Spain.

Watch the video including full conversation and project presentations by clicking here.

The conversation continues here.