In the Basque Country, the social economy has a long and significant journey. It is well known that in our environment there are many economic cooperation initiatives in the field of production and distribution. Fortunately, the wave of interlinking is also reaching the field of knowledge. In fact, on 15 and 16 October, the first Inter-University Cooperative Congress of the Basque Country will be held at the Campus of Gipuzkoa of the UPV/EHU. The meeting, whose motto is the cooperative model in the face of current challenges, will bring together experts, teachers, actors and stakeholders in the social economy to reflect and lay the foundations for strategies and initiatives to build another economy.

The springs of globalization that we have been showing for a long time are incurable. Global warming, gender inequalities, social inequalities and social exclusion are spreading everywhere. The current liberal model of the economy, which brings with it extreme competition and a market uptake, has obvious limitations in meeting the needs of ordinary people. The crisis we are experiencing in Europe shows the impossibility of the current economic development paradigm to guarantee the future through people and the planet. The need for a change of economic paradigm is increasingly heard, also in the academic sphere. The recovery of values in the economy is essential if we want a sustainable and fair future.

The social economy is a reflection of the proliferation of actors and people committed to the recovery of ethics in the economy. Despite the problems, especially cooperatives, foundations, solidarity organizations, social insertion entities and other social entities stand out in their activities as non-profit objectives. Its main challenge for social economy entities is to reconcile the logic of profitability and the social vocation they need to stay in the era of the global and flexible market.

The debate and debate in Congress will revolve around how to reach that balance, that is, how to build a space of its own social economy, taking into account the limitations of current global capitalism, to generate another economy. This reflection is proposed from a plural perspective. The meeting will focus on the following topics: In the context of the relationship between the economic economy and the social economy, the bases will be analysed so that, as a personal space, another economy can materialise, as well as the impact of the crisis on cooperative principles.

Another section will analyze the presence of the social economy in public policies. On the road to economic and social transformation, building on the links between the market, the public sector and the social economy, there is an urgent need to clarify the role and position of the public and society. The meaning of innovation in the social economy will also be analysed. Of course, the path of social innovation is prioritized, a Community sense is given and the importance of the social perspective is also included in the processes of innovation. In addition, it will focus on the analytical objective of inter-cooperation in the process of internationalisation of business sectors and entities. In short, reflection on the social economy is an additional instrument for the representation of the economic transition, an essential seed for building the society and the economy of the future.