Blue Solidarity Economy (BSE) is a new concept and field of action that merges the opportunities of the Sustainable Blue Economy with the benefits of the Social and Solidarity Economy. 

The Blue Economy promoted by the EU since 2012 and developed through the Blue Growth Strategy and the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) are in full growth within the Mediterranean agenda. The Solidarity Blue Economy (SBE) is the conjunction of these two concepts, seeking the integral, intelligent and sustainable use of marine resources and coastal areas with the perspective and principles of the SSE.

On 6 April 2022, MedRiSSE project was part of the FEBSMed seminar “For a Blue Solidarity Economy in the Mediterranean”, mainly focused on the opportunities around Blue Economy that can be developed in the Mediterranean region taking advantage of the modern infrastructures and fostering the dialogue between policy makers, institutions and the civil society.

The event was led by MedRiSSE partner iesMed European cooperative, and co-financed by the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregio (Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Occitania) & the MedEBS Association. It took place in the Port of Barcelona (Spain) as part of the FEBSMed project and it counted on the collaboration of MedRiSSE leader, Assembly Cooperation for Peace (ACPP), and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies Mediterranean (CIHEAM). 

The seminar hosted a wide number of panellists and several discussions and debates were put on the table helping to create synergies and working lines for the future. This event was closed with the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Open Government of Catalonia.

The presentation about capitalisation opportunities through SSE projects in the Mediterranean Sea Basin, and particularly under MedRiSSE project, shared main tools our project provides like the Widened Community of Practice (WCoP) or the online platform launched by MedTOWN as a meeting point for ESS agents, policy makers, researchers and more practitioners interested in sharing knowledge, finding collaborations & capacity building. 

Organisations of the Blue Solidarity Economy and the rest of the audience were invited to register at the Community of Practice platform and start to interact with the existing community members, in order to scale up together the SSE environment.