Our project MedRiSSE is full of funny words: 'capitalization', 'replicable innovations' & acronyms: 'WCoP', 'Lab', 'SSE' but ... What is it we really intend to do in MedRiSSE? Well, we are getting the experiences of five very interesting projects and reviewing their good practices to enhance their value. Our experts are looking for what we can learn from these good practices to reuse -or replicate- them in other places or time; and to scale them up, making them bigger & available to a wider audience, to benefit more people.

And what kind of good practices? This question is easier... or not? We are looking for good examples within the social and solidarity economy (SSE) that are providing services for people, or co-producing (jeez! another funny word! keep reading this article for more information) them with public entities, that are fostering the creation of decent jobs in the post covid-19 crisis.

Here is a little introduction about each of the five main capitalized projects. In next articles, we will provide more detailed information of the best practices chosen in the framework of each one:

• MedTOWN (ENI CBC Med programme) is an initiative focused on the combined potential of agents of the social and solidarity economy (SSE), citizens and local authorities to co-produce the social policies that can fight poverty, inequality, social exclusion, and environmental unsustainability, providing them with tools and connections to build local resilience and foster the transition towards more fair, resilient and sustainable societies in the Euro-Mediterranean region (specially Tunisia, Jordan, Palestine, Portugal, Greece & Spain). Therefore, the best practice from this project is intended to be the promotion of the use of local currencies as local payment services to facilitate and improve the impact of public/donor spending through public-private non-profit partnerships (PPnP). This is done through social innovations that enable the circulation of legal complementary currencies in the community, fostering the multiplication of the economic impact and welfare of the community.
   
• The main objective of MedUP project (Europe Aid) is the promotion of an enabling environment for the development of the social entrepreneurship sector as a driver for inclusive growth and job creation and more concretely, by increasing economic inclusiveness and employment in in the Southern Mediterranean partner countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan & Palestine) where adequate policies on social entrepreneurship are in place, public-private dialogue and exchanges of practices are promoted and high quality services for social enterprises are provided.
   
• MoreThanAJob (ENI CBC Med programme) aims to deliver and demonstrate a framework of best practices in Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Italy & Greece. Its function is the inclusion of the unemployed (including refugees and uneducated) in work and education system. The framework is based on the collaboration of SSE actors and public authorities for delivering in a more effective way their services. To achieve this, MoreThanAJob support pilot sub-projects aiming to ensure a long term impact and the creation of jobs.

• RUWOMED (ENPI CBC Med programme) aimed to improve income-generating opportunities by setting up and strengthening existing SMEs and women cooperatives in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories to become efficient, viable and sustainable economic entities and ensure a decent source of income for their households. The intervention selected has been “Consume Palestine” an intervention that is a result of the RUWOMED project, funded by the ENPI programme of the European Union in 2009. 
   
• IESS (Europe Aid) Promotes employment through the development of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), a source of social cohesion, prioritising the disadvantaged regions of Tunisia and specifically, create sustainable workplaces for young people and women by creating and strengthening the network of viable SSE enterprises in the Tunisian provinces of Jendouba, Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, Mahdia. In order to achieve it, the best practice selected has been CitESS, which is a multi-service territorial SSE support centre. It is the physical or virtual grouping, in the same geographical area, of a set of complementary and synergistic local services/structures to which any SSE entrepreneur (with priority given to women and young people) can turn to facilitate the creation, development and sustainability of his or her enterprise.

Here you can find info about MedRiSSE work in progress & the tools we are developing: A lot is going on in MedRiSSE

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