











Wind of Renewal (Άνεμος Ανανέωσης) – our social enterprise, and our biggest project, the innovative Welcommon Hostel, a hostel with social and green impact – are based in Athens. We established the social cooperative in the Greek crisis in order to bring fresh air, to promote new initiatives and ideas for the revitalization of the economy in our country and promote win-win solutions.
We are a beacon of sustainable tourism in the heart of Athens, an inspirer and educator for climate change action, energy transition and social economy as well as a community centre for social inclusion of refugees and local Greeks, to come together, learn essential life and language skills and be empowered.
As the system in Greece is not supportive for social and green innovation, we need social investors, donors, supporters and collaborators from all over the world to join us. We believe in being a part of the change we want to see in the world – and we need collaborators.
If you want to collaborate with us as we deliver real social and ecological impact in Athens, Greece, please contact us for more information and direct communication: windofrenewal@gmail.com.
We are calling on social investors to partner with us by providing €10,000 to €50,000 of finance capital. So far, we have invested €600,000 for the renovation and refurbishment of Welcommon Hostel – necessary both for delivering social and environmental change and for offering sustainable tourism in Athens.
We still need to invest in:
For social investment partnerships, we will offer:
In our WELCOMMON HOSTEL we are offering empowerment, non formal education, intercultural courses and a place for socialing open for all: travelers, tourists, locals, refugees, migrants, volunteers with the asssistance of many volunteers like Hope, Noyonika, Franziska, Anne Marie, Jonathan, Penelope, from all over the world. Since September 2016 we have hosted more than 300 volunteers. Our ambition is to generate enough income from our social Welcommon Hostel, to fund our social and environmental projects sustainably. That is not yet our position, however. We need donors now to help us withstand the financial challenges faced by any enterprise – especially those in the tourism industry – in its first years of operation and to support our social projects.
Donations of all sizes are welcome and necessary. Donors will contribute towards our innovative, volunteer-led programme of social inclusion and integration activities (music, art, film, family picnics, cooking workshops, co-learning opportunities and sports) for refugees and local Greeks.
We can receive donations now through our bank:
ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL
Piraeus Bank
IBAN: GR83 0172 0180 0050 1807 7868 253
Piraeus’s BIC code is PIRBGRAA
Donors able to contribute €5,000 or more will receive an original painting of their choice from our collection of quality artworks provided by local artists who wanted to help us be the social and environmental change we want to see in the world.
We need to partner with enthusiastic individuals willing to commit their time and expertise for us for limited periods.
Our supporters help us to:
As well as inviting supporters to participate in all of our activities, we can offer them free accommodation in Welcommon Hostel whenever there is availability.
We continue to engage numerous volunteers from every corner of the globe (hosted in the volunteer space at WELCOMMON HOSTEL) with our innovative and inclusive @DaysofWelcommon and #GreenSocialInnovationESC programs.
We want collaborators with individual or organisational skills and expertise to help us transform our building into an educational resource for energy efficiency and renewable energy transition. We want our building to achieve carbon neutrality. We want to share knowledge and inspire others to do the same while we work towards this, as well as acting as a demonstration centre once we have achieved our aims.
We are looking for businesses, cooperatives and other organisations to collaborate with us, sharing their knowledge and experience in transforming large buildings for energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.
At the same time, we want collaborators who can help us create an Energy Lab with an inspired team of experts to provide education and inspiration for our international guests, participants in our social activities, future leaders we are training and our local community.
Wind of Renewal was founded as a social cooperative in Athens in 2014. Born out of a desire to help in social and green transition of Greece, promote social and green innovation and economy, welcome refugees – providing safe accommodation and social inclusion – we remain committed to changing the world in collaboration with dedicated partners.
Now, we are focussing on two strands of world-changing activities:
In 2020, we are:
In everything we do, we work in collaboration with anybody who wants to be part of the change they want to see in the world. This includes the volunteers delivering our language classes, cultural activities and integration events; the refugees and local Greeks who participate in them; our guests in Welcommon Hostel; the students and teachers engaged in our climate education and action projects.
As a social cooperative, we will not waste anybody’s talent, idea or enthusiasm. We will empower people to act, learn from them, and collaborate to change the world together.
Wind of Renewal is a founding member of the Greek Forum of Social Entrepreneurship, a member of REVES (European Network of Cities & Regions for the Social Economy) and a member of REScoop.Eu (the European federation of renewable energy cooperatives).
Find out more about Wind of Renewal:
When we had to cease our WELCOMMON, the safe accommodation and social inclusion core offer in 2018, we had to act quickly to keep our cooperative plan alive. We made the decision to pivot to a innovative hostel with social and ecological impact run by a social enterprise, and launched Welcommon Hostel in July, 2018.
Welcommon Hostel is a vibrant sustainable tourism destination in the heart of Athens. Our ambition is to fund our work to change the world sustainably from the income of the hostel, however we are not in this position yet.
We use five storeys of our seven-storey building in Exarcheia, Athens, to welcome visitors. The remaining two storeys are used for our programme of language classes, social inclusion, energy transition, green economy and climate education and action.
We maximise our impact in our local community by providing training and employment for refugees and unemployed local Greeks. At the same time, we maximise our tourism offer by providing opportunities for guests to collaborate and change the world with us – and just by staying with us they are already contributing to our mission to be a part of the change we want to see in the world.
We are a member of Le Mat Europe, a pan-European network of social entrepreneurs including their local communities in sustainable tourism. We are recognised by the Greek Youth Hostels Association and are members of Hostelling International – national and international bodies recognising good standards for sustainable tourism alongside commitment to social and environmental change.
ANEMOΣ ΑΝΑNEΩΣΗΣ / WIND of RENEWAL (social cooperative for social – green economy)
ΚΟΙΝ.Σ.ΕΠ. για την κοινωνική και πράσινη οικονομία, την καινοτομία και τον πολιτισμό
Τ: 2103803959, 2103810646
WELCOMMON HOSTEL, an innovative hostel with social and green impact
ένα καινοτόμο HOSTEL καθώς και κέντρο κοινωνικών, πράσινων και καλλιτεχνικών δραστηριοτήτων
Wind of Renewal (Άνεμος Ανανέωσης) – our social enterprise, and our biggest project, the innovative Welcommon Hostel, a hostel with social and green impact – are based in Athens. We established the social cooperative during the Greek crisis in order to bring fresh air, to promote new initiatives and ideas for the revitalization of the economy in our country and promote win-win solutions.
We are a beacon of sustainable tourism in the heart of Athens, an inspirer and educator for climate change action, energy transition and social economy as well as a community centre for social inclusion of refugees and local Greeks, to come together, learn essential life and language skills and be empowered.
As the system in Greece is not supportive for social and green innovation, we need social investors, donors, supporters and collaborators from all over the world to join us. We believe in being a part of the change we want to see in the world – and we need collaborators.
If you want to collaborate with us as we deliver real social and ecological impact in Athens, Greece, please contact us for more information and direct communication: windofrenewal@gmail.com.
We are calling on social investors to partner with us by providing €10,000 to €50,000 of finance capital. So far, we have invested €600,000 for the renovation and refurbishment of Welcommon Hostel – necessary both for delivering social and environmental change and for offering sustainable tourism in Athens.
We still need to invest in:
For social investment partnerships, we will offer:
In our WELCOMMON HOSTEL we are offering empowerment, non formal education, intercultural courses and a place for socialing open for all: travelers, tourists, locals, refugees, migrants, volunteers with the asssistance of many volunteers like Hope, Noyonika, Franziska, Anne Marie, Jonathan, Penelope, from all over the world. Since September 2016 we have hosted more than 300 volunteers. Our ambition is to generate enough income from our social Welcommon Hostel, to fund our social and environmental projects sustainably. That is not yet our position, however. We need donors now to help us withstand the financial challenges faced by any enterprise – especially those in the tourism industry – in its first years of operation and to support our social projects.
Donations of all sizes are welcome and necessary. Donors will contribute towards our innovative, volunteer-led programme of social inclusion and integration activities (music, art, film, family picnics, cooking workshops, co-learning opportunities and sports) for refugees and local Greeks.
We can receive donations now through our bank:
ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL
Piraeus Bank
IBAN: GR83 0172 0180 0050 1807 7868 253
Piraeus’s BIC code is PIRBGRAA
Donors able to contribute €5,000 or more will receive an original painting of their choice from our collection of quality artworks provided by local artists who wanted to help us be the social and environmental change we want to see in the world.
We need to partner with enthusiastic individuals willing to commit their time and expertise for us for limited periods.
Our supporters help us to:
As well as inviting supporters to participate in all of our activities, we can offer them free accommodation in Welcommon Hostel whenever there is availability.
We continue to engage numerous volunteers from every corner of the globe (hosted in the volunteer space at WELCOMMON HOSTEL) with our innovative and inclusive @DaysofWelcommon and #GreenSocialInnovationESC programs.
We want collaborators with individual or organisational skills and expertise to help us transform our building into an educational resource for energy efficiency and renewable energy transition. We want our building to achieve carbon neutrality. We want to share knowledge and inspire others to do the same while we work towards this, as well as acting as a demonstration centre once we have achieved our aims.
We are looking for businesses, cooperatives and other organisations to collaborate with us, sharing their knowledge and experience in transforming large buildings for energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.
At the same time, we want collaborators who can help us create an Energy Lab with an inspired team of experts to provide education and inspiration for our international guests, participants in our social activities, future leaders we are training and our local community.
Wind of Renewal was founded as a social cooperative in Athens in 2014. Born out of a desire to help in social and green transition of Greece, promote social and green innovation and economy, welcome refugees – providing safe accommodation and social inclusion – we remain committed to changing the world in collaboration with dedicated partners.
Now, we are focussing on two strands of world-changing activities:
In 2020, we are:
In everything we do, we work in collaboration with anybody who wants to be part of the change they want to see in the world. This includes the volunteers delivering our language classes, cultural activities and integration events; the refugees and local Greeks who participate in them; our guests in Welcommon Hostel; the students and teachers engaged in our climate education and action projects.
As a social cooperative, we will not waste anybody’s talent, idea or enthusiasm. We will empower people to act, learn from them, and collaborate to change the world together.
Wind of Renewal is a founding member of the Greek Forum of Social Entrepreneurship, a member of REVES (European Network of Cities & Regions for the Social Economy) and a member of REScoop.Eu (the European federation of renewable energy cooperatives).
Find out more about Wind of Renewal:
When we had to cease our WELCOMMON, the safe accommodation and social inclusion core offer in 2018, we had to act quickly to keep our cooperative plan alive. We made the decision to pivot to a innovative hostel with social and ecological impact run by a social enterprise, and launched Welcommon Hostel in July, 2018.
Welcommon Hostel is a vibrant sustainable tourism destination in the heart of Athens. Our ambition is to fund our work to change the world sustainably from the income of the hostel, however we are not in this position yet.
We use five storeys of our seven-storey building in Exarcheia, Athens, to welcome visitors. The remaining two storeys are used for our programme of language classes, social inclusion, energy transition, green economy and climate education and action.
We maximise our impact in our local community by providing training and employment for refugees and unemployed local Greeks. At the same time, we maximise our tourism offer by providing opportunities for guests to collaborate and change the world with us – and just by staying with us they are already contributing to our mission to be a part of the change we want to see in the world.
We are a member of Le Mat Europe, a pan-European network of social entrepreneurs including their local communities in sustainable tourism. We are recognised by the Greek Youth Hostels Association and are members of Hostelling International – national and international bodies recognising good standards for sustainable tourism alongside commitment to social and environmental change.
ANEMOΣ ΑΝΑNEΩΣΗΣ / WIND of RENEWAL (social cooperative for social – green economy)
ΚΟΙΝ.Σ.ΕΠ. για την κοινωνική και πράσινη οικονομία, την καινοτομία και τον πολιτισμό
Τ: 2103803959, 2103810646
WELCOMMON HOSTEL, an innovative hostel with social and green impact
ένα καινοτόμο HOSTEL καθώς και κέντρο κοινωνικών, πράσινων και καλλιτεχνικών δραστηριοτήτων
The smoke from the Australian bushfires have, on occasions, soared over 17 kilometres up into the stratosphere, creating their own weather systems, including thunderstorms and lightning strikes that start new fires. NASA predicts the smoke will travel all the way around the globe and back to Australia. Many have claimed that arsonists are to blame but only one percent of the land burnt can officially be attributed to arsonists.
For decades, scientists have warned us about the consequences of inaction on climate change. Their predictions seemed, for many, to be a problem far off in the future. In 2019, Australia stumbled unprepared into that future. Whilst the bushfires themselves have been described as unprecedented in scale, intensity and duration, it’s important to put them into the context of all the other events experienced on this continent in 2019.
An extreme heat wave in January 2019 resulted in Adelaide recording its hottest day of 46.6 degrees, while Port Augusta, 300km further north hit a record temperature of 49.5 degrees Celsius. In December and January an estimated one million fish died in the Darling River in three mass kill events as politicians blamed the drought for the lack of water in the river.
The extended drought is, of course, the backdrop to the bushfires, heatwaves and mass fish deaths. According to BOM, the 3 years from January 2017 to December 2019 have been the driest on record for the Murray-Darling Basin and the state of New South Wales (NSW), as shown on this map.
After a long drought, Townsville in North Queensland experienced an unusual, extended period of heavy rainfall resulting in flooding in February 2019. According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) “the accumulated totals from consecutive days of heavy rainfall were the city’s highest … since records began in 1888”. Two people and an estimated 500,000 cattle perished, while 3,300 homes were damaged. At the same time Tasmania was experiencing unprecedented bushfires.
Such extreme weather events are precisely what climate scientists predicted as the climate warmed. Average temperatures across the globe have so far warmed just one degree Celsius above the average pre-Industrial levels. It sounds so insignificant. Just one degree, yet on a fragile and dry continent like Australia this small change is already wreaking havoc. Have we hit the first tipping point? Can we hope that next summer will be back to the relaxing summer’s of our past or should we now expect more — and more intense — weather events in the future?
While there were some wild stormy days in winter, the overall winter rainfall was low and so the bush was very dry, providing fuel for the coming fires. In September, at the beginning of Spring, the bushfires started. Australia experiences bushfires almost every summer and a large proportion of Australia’s plant species are fire tolerant, fire resistant or fire dependent. That is, some species need bushfire periodically in order to propagate. Australia’s First Nations people managed the landscape with fire, periodically burning sections of their Country. Regular small fires at cooler times reduced the risk of large unmanageable bushfires in Summer. Yet cultural burning is a continuous process of active management by all communities across the entire continent. It was embedded in the way of life. The approach varied according to local conditions and has the aim of keeping ecosystems in balance and encouraging an abundance of life. Modern bushfire management is under-resourced and its aim is to reduce risk to human life and property.
In November, we were in East Gippsland in Victoria and heard about the bushfires in southern Queensland and NSW. I have never felt so worried and sad as when we travelled back to Sydney for Christmas. For most of the eight hour trip we drove through a smoke-filled landscape. It was dark in the middle of the day and we drove with our headlights on. The sun was a red circle in an eerie sky. Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne have all experienced many smoke-filled days this Summer. By the time we arrived in Sydney we were regularly hearing the advice that we should stay indoors, not do strenuous activities and wear a face mask. The Air Quality Index was regularly at levels deemed hazardous to human health and on a number of occasions reached as high as twelve (12) times the hazardous level. For much of December, in the lead up to Christmas and the New Year, the usual joy was subdued as many communities were suffering.
As of 14 January 2020, 18.6 million hectares were burnt, 5,900 buildings (including about 2,683 homes) were destroyed and 33 people killed. The selfless and tireless work of thousands of mostly volunteer fire fighters has been instrumental in minimising the loss of lives and property.
An earlier estimate suggesting 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles were killed has now been revised to one billion. Some endangered species may be driven to extinction, while ancient rainforests that never burn have also burnt.
After catastrophic conditions on New Years Eve and in early January, the risk has now subsided somewhat although many fires are still burning. The northern wet season can bring occasional milder weather and more rains to the south of the continent. The north of Australia is tropical and usually experiences monsoon weather from November to April but the period of heavy rainfall is getting shorter and this year the first tropical cyclone arrived in early January.
Australia’s weather has always been quite variable and one of our problems is that when Europeans arrived on this continent, we assumed that Australia experiences the same weather variations throughout the year as in Europe — Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Yet not only do weather patterns vary widely between the tropical north, arid interior and temperate south but the variations between years are sometimes more significant than those within the year. First Nations people had a deep appreciation of these fluctuations and, together with their respect for the land and other species with which they lived, this informed their land management practices.
By contrast the modern relationship to land is having a substantial negative impact. This is not just about the burning of fossil fuels, creating the greenhouse blanket that warms the entire planet. In Australia, our negative impact includes the failure to manage the precious little water that falls on this continent. Mining and farming practices extract and use water without accounting for the significant natural variability — from year to year — in the availability of water, lurching as we do from droughts to floods. Although Australia naturally experiences periodic droughts, the frequency and severity of these can be dramatically influenced by our farming practices, particularly the way we collectively manage water. Yet like most current economic practices, our farming practices are extractive. We simply take whatever water we need.
The Murray-Darling Basin — the most drought affected zone as shown in the map above — has the most contested water in the country. The Murray-Darling River Basin starts in southern Queensland, passes through much of inland NSW and Victoria before reaching the Southern Ocean in South Australia (SA). This is the largest and most complex river system in Australia. Over 9,200 irrigated agricultural businesses rely on it and SA depends on it for 83 percent of its water. Low flows in the river meant that dredges were needed to keep the mouth of the river open between 2002 and 2010. The Murray-Darling Management Plan was introduced in 2012 to manage the demands of irrigators and ensure there was sufficient flow out to sea without dredging. Yet as the next drought cycle commenced we simply re-commenced the dredging of sand in January 2015 and this continues today.
The contest between extractive economic activity and the needs of the environment are nowhere more starkly obvious than in the Murray-Darling Basin. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth and water extraction for agriculture that damages river ecosystems can only end with both the ecosystems and the economy that depends on water collapsing.
By contrast, regenerative agriculture seeks to build soil volume and vitality, enabling it to capture and clean water thus encouraging an abundance of life. Extractive farming, usually as monocultures, eliminates all species but those that return a profit. Regenerative farming supports and encourages a rich diversity of life. Instead of just taking from the land, regenerative farming practices give back in equal measure. This is the circle of life and applies not just to farming but all aspects of our economic activity — never take more than you give.
Charles Massy’s Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture, A New Earth identifies the principles of regenerative agriculture as follows:
As we rebuild lives, homes, businesses and communities, regenerative practices will help create a deeper understanding of our place on this continent and our responsibility for managing it.
As we rebuild we ought to re-imagine all aspects of how we live on the land, how we generate energy, how we manage water, how we produce food and how and where we build our homes. A systems approach to rebuilding our towns and communities might think in terms of a local renewable energy micro-grid, a local water micro-grid and a local integrated bio-diverse food system. This would allow communities to collaborate as they harvest, store and distribute their basic needs — food, water and energy — locally. In turn, this would not only build local resilience and create local work opportunities but also build the natural ecosystems upon which all societies and economies depend.
Steven Liaros is a Director of town planning consultancy PolisPlan.com.au and author of ‘Rethinking the City’ — an exploration of the historical ideas that underpin the organisation of cities — showing how these ideas are being transformed by the Internet. With qualifications in civil engineering, town planning and environmental law, Steven is currently undertaking a PhD research project at the University of Sydney’s Department of Political Economy. He has visited our WELCOMMON. We have asked him to write an article about the current situation in Australia, We thank him
These are 20 of the hottest destinations to visit in 2020…
And, our WELCOMMON HOSTEL in the list of the 20 “hotest destinations”!
It feels like Thanksgiving was five minutes ago and Easter was last week, but here we are at the end of 2019. And if you’ve got any cash left after Christmas shopping, it’s time to book a getaway in the New Year. So whip out the calendar and get planning—from the ends of the Earth to your own backyard, these are 20 of the hottest destinations to visit in 2020.
Hostelling International Canada proposes:
“9. Athens
Out of the ruins of millennia-old landmarks (and the rubble of a much more recent financial crisis) emerges one of Europe’s most exciting – and affordable – destinations. Athens appears on Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020 for its great-value food and drink scene, long list of free attractions (the Parthenon doesn’t cost a cent), and friendly exchange rate.
Book your bed at the recently opened Welcommon Hostel, a sustainable seven-floor property run by an eco-friendly co-operative”
The end of the year is an opportunity to review activities, redesign and develop new initiatives. Wind of Renewal is in this process, entering its 6th anniversary, although it looks like we have already closed a few decades while operating. During these years we have achieved rich work on social innovation and economy, climate protection, energy transition and energy model change. Our work reflects on all 5 of the European distinctions we have received over the years for our work. But what seems outward is only a small part of the energy and soul-giving we are giving.
2019 was a difficult but also an exciting year for the Wind of Renewal, the social partnership we created with a small group of people willing to contribute to the changes that our society and world need. We have had many difficulties but continue to be empowered or start new interesting activities and approaches that have significant social and ecological impact.
The WELCOMMON Refugee Center was closed at the end of February 2018, after 1.5 years of operation, because, as we were told, “no such innovation-based transition centers were needed” (our model was based on empowerment through creation of communities) and the Funding for housing of vulnerable refugees stopped. We were financially covered all the remaining integration and empowerment programs that were demanding and innovative. It was expected that the “big refugee centers” would close (WELCOMMON was treated like a… camp, Schisto or Moria!). We were closed and all refugees had to move to apartments and find their way there. During the operation of the centre, we hosted in a cooperative spirit, in a community based model, around 160 refugees -a total of 600 people over a period of 1.5 years- , from 22 ethnicities, who spoke 14 languages and dialects and represented almost all major religions. They were some of the most vulnerable among refugees. It is no coincidence that we have hosted very vulnerable people (victims of rape, trafficking, people with disabilities, serious health problems or even cancer, severe psychological or even psychiatric problems, single parent families with many children, the majority being women and children, while 41 healthy children were born during the operation of our center!).
But most importantly for our model, WELCOMMON (Welcome in Common, that is, not only for refugees but also #withrefugees and with / for the local community) was the empowerment of refugees through the creation of a “community” , through art therapy, the participation of refugees themselves in the operation of the center as well as in actions to improve the neighborhood or to help other people of all backgrounds. It was for many a new beginning – and on a solid basis in their lives – no just an occasion to sleep in a decent place and eat a plate of food:
It is no coincidence that even today we receive hundreds of visitors from every continent who want to know about our “experiment” or that it has become a “source” for university education, research and analysis.
When the housing program stopped abruptly, despite the shock we experienced from such a sharp decision because we had to close the innovative center within 40 days, move all visiting refugees to places they did not know or did not want to go, lose an experienced personnel of 30 people, think about what we would do with the huge building that we had rented for social purpose and we had spent a lot of money to make it safe and decent.
From WELCOMMMON center for refugees towards an innovative WELCOMMON HOSTEL with social and ecological impact
Despite the financial and other difficulties we faced, we decided to create and implement within 3 months – without the staff, grants, funding and time needed – a social entrepreneurship project that could ensure financial sustainability and have a positive social and ecological impact , to continue our project but also combine it with green innovation.
So, we designed and implemented an innovative Hostel – WELCOMMON HOSTEL – aiming for a sustainable tourism model. We want to host as clients tourists, travelers groups, schools, universities and individuals who seek their own journey to leave a positive rather than a negative, social impact. That is what we call sustainable tourism. At the same time, WELCOMMON HOSTEL wanted to be transformed into a center of social empowerment and integration, green and social innovation, intercultural dialogue, new creative and functional solutions to social and ecological problems, a space for culture and expression.
And we can say that, despite the difficulties and obstacles, or sometimes the cynicism and indifference that we encounter and gives rise to feelings of frustration, we are on a very good road today.
The next day…
We have many plans for this coming year and the next decade, starting from 1/1/2020, on sustainable tourism, social inclusion and empowerment, social entrepreneurship, social and green innovation, fossil fuel independency, transition to renewable energy, education on social and environmental sustainability, job creation in the social and green sectors.
We are extending the very important experience and educational material on climate action and energy saving in schools under the EUKI “Climate Schools Be.Ath (Athens-Berlin) program and in new schools of various areas, combining a pedagogical approach and technical suggestions.
We are all involved (clients, volunteers, refugees, friends) in climate actions.
Almost all of our clients are actively supporting our choices for a sustainable tourism model that contributes to reducing the ecological footprint and empowering the local community while rejecting discrimination and exclusion.
We are gradually converting WELCOMMON HOSTEL not only into a social space, but also into a greener hostel that, step by step, reduces dependence on fossil fuels (oil) and becomes more and more “solar“. It is not an easy way but we have already started with the reduction of oil use with the immediate aim of reducing the use of oil for heating water by at least 80%. The next phase is to heat and cool the building (3200 square meters, capacity of 167 people in separate rooms of 2,3,4 people or dormitories of 4 or 8 people) with natural systems as well as generate as much electricity as possible from renewable sources.
We apply a waste minimizing system, especially reducing one-way plastics, increasing seperation at source and recycling, while the whole WELCOMMON HOSTEL was based on a rational upcycling and re-use, which is actually an example of how we can combine reuse with high quality aesthetic effect and functionality.
We are involved or working with many European and international networks, universities, social agencies across the globe and we are part of the change we want to see happen, not just talk about it.
ANEMOΣ ΑΝΑNEΩΣΗΣ / WIND of RENEWAL (social cooperative for social – green economy)
Fb www.facebook.com/social.cooperatives
www.facebook.com/
WELCOMMON HOSTEL, an innovative hostel with social and green impact
www.facebook.com/
Young students from 33 countries all over Europe will travel to Brussels to discuss #ClimateChange & the future of our planet. It is the 11th edition of the #youth plenary event which will take place on 19-20th of March 2020! Climate change is on everyone’s mind, and young people all over the globe are mobilising to save the planet. The European Economic and Social Committee is joining the movement and asking the young participants at YEYS for the best way forward in protecting our planet. This year’s event will model an international climate change conference (COP).
The Committee is interested in hearing students’ fresh ideas on how to deal with the current climate crisis and how to come closer to meeting the 2050 climate-neutral ambitions. Students will be asked to represent a country and negotiate with each other, in order to come up with recommendations to stop climate change. These recommendations will be submitted to international environment policy-makers and discussed at conferences around Europe throughout the year. During YEYS, the students will also be put in contact with international youth organisations that will help them translate these recommendations into concrete measures and make their voice heard.
The Social Economy Intergroup (SEIG) has been renewed. Over 100 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) of the main political groups expressed their interest in renewing the Social Economy Intergroup. The decision was taken on the 19th of December 2019, by the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament.
The Social Economy Intergroup will play a key role in establishing a political dialogue with the European Commission to develop an ambitious European Action Plan for the Social Economy, announced some weeks ago by Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, in her mission letter to Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit.
The Social Economy Intergroup will be of outmost importance to mainstream the social economy perspective in the main EU’s social, economic and environmental policies, such as the Green New Deal, the SME and Industrial Strategies, the digital Single Market policies, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the agenda for the implementation of the SDGs or the external action of the EU.
Social Economy Europe (SEE) President, Juan Antonio Pedreño, commented : “I would like to thank all the MEPs that have supported the renewal of the Social Economy Intergroup and also all European Social Economy actors that have demonstrated, once again that alone, we are invisible, but together, we are unstoppable and capable of building a more sustainable European Union”.
The Social Economy Europe is the umbrella organization for social economy and the voice of social economy enterprises and organizations in Europe. It is the secretariat of the European Parliament’s Social Economy Intergroup. It provides a strong logistical support to the social economy intergroup. The intergroup works in a transparent and accountable manner. A publicly accessible webpage for the social economy intergroup is available on SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE’s website
The Social Economy Europe gathered the interest of MEPs. At the end of September, Patrizia Toia (S&D, IT), a long-time supporter of social economy, Nicolas Schmit (S&D, LU), MEP and Commissioner-Designate for jobs and Dolors Montserrat (EPP, ES), Leopoldo López (EPP, ES), Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, DE) and Monica Semedo (Renew, LU) sent a letter to the 751 MEPs to encourage them to reestablish the Social Economy Intergroup.
About the social economy in Europe:
The social economy is an essential part of the European economic and social landscape formed by a diversity of enterprises and organisations such as cooperatives, mutuals, associations, foundations, social enterprises or paritarian institutions of social protection.
In the EU there are 2.8 million social economy enterprises and organisations, that employ 13.6 million people and account for 8% of the EU’s GDP.
About the Social Economy Intergroup in the European Parliament
The Social Economy Intergroup is a platform for exchange between members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and members of the civil society. It represents an essential link into the democratic process of the European Union. Objectives:
ACTIONS:
Meetings are organised every two months on a regular basis, either in Strasbourg or Brussels. They bring together MEPs, representatives of other EU institutions and representatives of civil society.
The intergroup follows closely the work of the European Parliament’s Committees. It can make proposals, and inform MEPs about relevant issues for the social economy.
Considered as genuine awareness raising tools, memorandums have been developed in view of a greater recognition of the social economy.
The intergroup can call upon the Council and/or the European Commission to offer a clear answer to questions of concern to social economy actors on a wide range of topics.
Support is provided to the organisation of events aimed at the promotion of parliamentary work on social economy.
The social economy intergroup is also able to disseminate information to the press in order to inform the European citizens of matters of interest.
ACHIEVEMMENTS:
The social economy intergroup already has a positive track record.
Created in 1990, it was successively chaired by French MEP Marie-Claude VAYSSADE, Italian MEP Fiorella GHILARDOTI, French MEP Marie-Hélène GILLIG, and Belgium MEP Philippe BUSQUIN. Throughout the years, the social economy intergroup has played a significant role in the EU democratic process.
In 2005, members of the intergroup triggered the demand for the establishment of an own initiative report on Social economy in the European Parliament. The request was accepted in 2008. Italian MEP Patrizia TOIA was appointed rapporteur for the Employment and Social Affairs Committee. The report was adopted in plenary on 19th February 2009 with nearly 80% of the votes in favor.
The intergroup bi-monthly meetings have provided precious opportunities for discussion for more than 30 EU and national level organisations.
On December 1st, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen stated in her mission letter to Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit: “You will develop a European Action Plan for the social economy to enhance social innovation”.
Social Economy Europe (SEE) President, Juan Antonio Pedreño, commented: “I would like to congratulate President Von der Leyen for this courageous decision of boosting the social economy across the EU to co-construct an economy that works for people and the planet. We are ready to cooperate with Commissioner Nicolas Schmit and with the entire Commission to enter this new era of EU policies for the social economy”.
SEE has been consistently calling for a European Action Plan for the Social Economy since 2014. In 2018 the SEE presented a the policy paper “The future of EU policies for the Social Economy: towards a European Action Plan” that was submitted, in cooperation with the Social Economy Intergroup, to former Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen.
President Pedreño added: “This opportunity is the result of a collective success of all social economy actors that working together contribute to build a more prosperous and sustainable European Union. I would also like to acknowledge the fundamental support that the social economy has received from many Institutions, Member States and the Social Economy Intergroup and its members. Today I would like to pay tribute to the tireless commitment of our friend Jens Nilsson, former co-Chair of the Intergroup, who left us in 2018”.
Furthermore, this announcement enhances the need to renew the European Parliament’s Social Economy Intergroup to work hand in hand with the European Commission to develop a successful European Action for the Social Economy.
About the social economy in Europe:
The social economy is an essential part of the European economic and social landscape formed by a diversity of enterprises and organisations such as cooperatives, mutuals, associations, foundations, social enterprises or paritarian institutions of social protection. In the EU there are 2.8 million social economy enterprises and organisations, that employ 13.6 million people and account for 8% of the EU’s GDP.
Social Economy Europe (SEE) is the voice of the 2.8 million social economy enterprises and organisations.
Recent Comments