Oct 26 2022
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Visit to the “House of Lorenzo” – Casa di Lorenzo, a good practice of assisting people who have health problems

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Visit to the House of Lorenzo. Non profit organization

In the context of the meeting of the partners of the project SESYCARE, in Italy, Lanciano – Abruzzo, on the 20 and 21 October 2022, the hosting organization Consortium GMC Global Med Care (Consorzio di Cooperative sociali Global Med Care (former: Consorzio Cooperative Sociali SGS Servizi Globali  Sociosanitari), organized a visit to one of its members the House of Lorenzo, to show it as a best practice.

Foto La Caza di Lorentzo is a non-profit organization (NPO) that fulfills social objective and as such is recognized as an entity of social utility. According to the Italian legislation this type of NPOs can enjoy certain tax allowances for the financial support they receive from the public or State, while the donors can also receive tax exemptions.

Lorenzo Constantini was a 20-year-old young boy who was a good student and very sportive young boy until the family discovered that he had a leukemia. Lorenzo had to be transferred to a special hospital in USA but the family could not afford the cost of the treatment which was $600,000. Their call for financial assistance from the public proved to be very successful, people of the region proved to be very sensible to Lorenzo’s case, and a period of few weeks was enough for this sum to be collected.

Unfortunately Lorenzo succumbed to this illness. Therefore, an NPO was created to which the above amount was transferred to assist families with young persons who need help and have health problems. A small apartment was acquired by the NPO where those who experience the pain of an illness of their relatives, mostly children or a dear loss, can find support and comfort. It offers totally free services that include group meetings with professional psychologists, nutritionists, yoga sessions and support to all people who experience pain in solitude.

There are also meetings with lawyers and social assistants to support and advise from a bureaucratic point of view all those who need to rely on to a professional for the handling of invalidity practices, and social –  sec https://www.lacasadilorenzo.org/

Picture

 

The meeting took place in Lanciano, Abruzzo, Italy under the hospices of the Global Med Care Consortium of Social Cooperatives promotion of Social Entrepreneurship Skills to Young CARE givers of people with chronic Illness and mental and other needs, to which Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal is a partner together with EPIONI, the Istanbul Gelisim University and the Dutch Foundation of Innovation Welfare 2 Work.

Oct 07 2022
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Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal, Welcommon Hostel and our efforts for promoting sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

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Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal, Welcommon Hostel and our efforts for promoting sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

The social cooperative Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal and the Welcommon Hostel (a project created by our cooperative) try to combine our daily life with some of the SDGs

SDG 1 No Poverty: we create new jobs, we train persons (eg refugees and unemployed Greeks) in new jobs in sectors like sustainable tourism, social economy, climate protection, energy efficiency, social work or tackling energy poverty.

SDC 4 quality education: although we are a non-formal education organisation, we are involved in many activities promoting in our premises, (in the three first floors), quality education, like theory and practice (dual) training schemes for young experts on energy efficiency, training of trainers (about 220 teachers) on climate protection, training of teachers on energy cooperatives (100 teachers), on teaching renewable energy (100 teachers), intercultural courses for more than 1500 refugees, with volunteers, migrants, locals, and travelers.

SDG 5 Gender equality: we implement the gender equality by helping female refugees to have a job and we train women (using schemes like internship, European young entrepreneurship, volunteering, vocational training) on sustainable tourism in the hostel

SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation: We try to sensitize our clients not to waste water

SDG 7 Clean and affordable energy: Our constant effort is to reduce the energy consumption, we have installed 190 LED lighting instead of 2400 fluoride lamps and 20 solar panels on the roof for producing hot water for use by our clients, we organise many workshops on energy reduction, renewable energy, cooperatives and energy democracy, we try to turn the Welcommon Hostel to a zero emission hostel and climate friendly every day.

SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth: Our Welcommon Hostel is a center for social and green innovation and economy. Our aims are

(a) to succeed in financial sustainability of our innovative hostel and create new employment opportunities for unemployed locals, refugees and young persons in social and green economy.

(b) to help refugees and young persons to be self-employed and create new micro / social enterprises in areas such as sustainable tourism, upcycling, ethnic cuisines, culture, green / cyclic economy, energy efficiency, ethical fashion and others

(c) to present proposals and find collaborations on youth employment and supportive schemes like “youth guarantee” and “European Young Entrepreneurship”

We have already:

–organized more than 50 seminars in collaboration with Universities, municipalities, social and professional organizations on social and green innovation / economy, social inclusion and job creation, energy transition and energy cooperatives, teaching renewable energy in primary and secondary schools with the participation of a total of 3000 persons.

– contributed in the study “Green and social innovation for combating energy poverty”.

-supported research by Universities on social innovation and social inclusion

– empowered and trained more than 3000 refugees although we miss the needed resources, and connected some of them with the job market.

– trained 11 Greek young experts on energy efficiency and climate protection (EUKI YESclima“).

We are planning to start some new projects on social inclusion and job preparation of women (locals, refugees, migrants). We are looking for innovative financial tools for seed capital for the establishment of small / social enterprises by unemployed locals and migrants / refugees.

SDG9 industry, innovation and infrastructure: We have started a new cooperation with Chamber of Handcrafts professional associations on promoting green economy and new green jobs as a response to the revitalization of the economy and a net zero, climate friendly economy

SDG 10 reduced inequalities: we are committed to invest the profits from the Hostel, after paying up debts and investors, in social and environmental improvements, to create a new co-housing and social housing model for the most vulnerable and to contribute to reducing the energy poverty of households, offering them know-how and support.

SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities: We promote a model of sustainable tourism for the benefit not only of tourists and our cooperative but also of the local community and the city. In fact we have a lot of co-operations with municipalities on promoting energy transition, energy efficiency, nature based solutions etc. Guided tours are organized and all the above elements will be explained to tourists customers, in collaboration with other organizations.

SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production: We are caring about promoting social and green procurement in the tourism sector, and we collaborate with other cooperatives for the provision of various services (eg we have a contract with a social cooperative for cleaning the hostel, established by refugees and migrants)

SDG 13 Climate action: We host or organize in our conference rooms many seminars and workshops on climate protection, on energy audits for schools and draft reports delivered to municipalities without cost for them. Examples: participation in climate actions, EUKI Climate Schools Ath.Be project (73 schools in Athens, 200 teachers, thousands of pupils), EUKI YESclima project (training of 22 Greek and Spanish young experts), participation in the Climate Alliance in Greece (45 NGOs and professional organizations), energy investments in our Welcommon Hostel,

SDG 14 Life below water

SDG 15 Life on Land

SDG 16 Peace, justice and strong institution: we offer intercultural courses open for all, for promoting the respect to others, the collaboration between cultures and social justice. We create strong communities of collaboration with the participation of guests, volunteers, refugees, and local people.

SDG 17 Partnerships for the goals We have a close collaboration with many Universities, organizations of civil society, professional associations, municipalities, European networks promoting the same values and goals.

Sep 09 2022
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Wind of Renewal and Sifnos participants of the GRAPE project– Social economy and green transition

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GRAPE – Local Social Green Resilience Action Plans for small and peripheral territories

“GRAPE – Local Social Green Resilience Action Plans for small and peripheral territories” is a european project co-financed by the EU Commission under the SMP-COSME-2021-RESILIENCE-SEM Call (Grant Agreement n. 101074093).

1. OBJECTIVE

The project aims at experimenting the co-construction of local plans for the green, social and digital transitions in four small and marginalised territories engaging social economy actors. Thanks to the lessons learnt, a tool will be designed, that could then be used also by other municipalities willing to follow the same path.

2. CONTEXT

Effective resilience to climate change, pandemic, economic and social crisis is inherently local.

In the EU there are some 121 000 small municipalities (EUROSTAT, LAU2) often located in deprived area, with low budget capacities and far away from mainstream public development policies.

Here, often Social and Solidarity-based economy (SSE) actors and local community initiatives have a primary role in creating and managing economic and social activities and services, as the for-profit economy has left these areas to localise in more profitable ones or abroad.

Social and Solidarity-based Economy and local communities may therefore contribute to the territorial resilience through the experimentation of innovative solidarity-based solutions encouraging local stakeholders to cooperate and use their resources to tackle local challenges. Local resilience and local stakeholders’ participation are the key concepts of this project, willing to drive and boost environmental, energy, digital, social, and economic transitions of local communities in an ambitious, systemic and solidarity-based way, developing local solutions to local needs.

3. PARTNERSHIP

Smaller territories are a perfect laboratory to showcase in a reasonable time frame the impacts of such experimentation, at the same time contamination of good practices is easier at such a scale. Consequently, the project consortium is composed of 4 small complementary territories in 3 countries: Mirabella Imbaccari (IT), Malegno (IT), Bonares (ES), Sifnos (GR), together with an experienced European public authorities’ and SSE actors’ network (REVES) and a regional cooperative network (FAECTA).

For each territory, in addition to the respective municipalities, an SSE organisation has been involved: Fondazione di Comunità di Messina (leader partner) in Mirabella Imbaccari, Sol.Co. Camunia in Malegno, COOPINTE in Bonares and Wind Of Renewal in Sifnos.

4. ACTIVITIES

The project will organise exchange missions and prepare 4 local action plans for a social green and digital transition.

The project is structured in three different phases: in the first phase, 3 Social Economy missions (SEM) will be organised in Mirabella Imbaccari, Sifnos and Bonares, hosting each time the representatives of all partners. The consortium will use peer learning methodology and case study methodology to lay the foundations for the cooperation between partners and territories.

The second phase, then, will involve all partners to build local social green resilience action plan in the 4 target territories, taking advantage of the inputs developed during the SEMs.

The third phase of the project is the co-construction of a European digital toolkit for small municipalities interested in the cooperation with social economy actors to develop together participatory local action plans for social, green and digital transition to boost territorial resilience.

Finally, a policy paper with recommendation will be issued to support small territories in drafting local resilience plans, learning from the experience of the GRAPE project.

                                                                                                                                     

May 31 2022
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Paula, volunteer: Welcommon Hostel is a really nice place where you can create a big and beautiful community

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I am Paula Galván

My experience as a volunteer with Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal in Welcommon Hostel was very rewarding. Just before coming to Athens, I finished my studies in the social field, and working on this project gave me a lot of new perspectives on a collective which I didn’t work before.

I could learn a lot about cultures from different countries, and about the migrant situation in Greece; especially in Athens. Also, I could meet lots of new people from countries around the world who became friends, and with whom we could share acknowledgement about the current situation.

If I talk about the hostel,  I could say it is a really nice place where you can create a big and beautiful community with the families and the young people living there. I stayed there for five months (November to march), and we were a group of nine volunteers at the same time.

We created a nice atmosphere with every person in the place; organizing language and art classes and also extra activities during the weekends and for the festivity dates.

I enjoyed my time in the project, because It changed my mind completely, giving me new principles and consciousness. As well, I can say that this experience taught me new professional and personal skills that I’ll use in my future jobs in the social field, like communication, collaboration, adaptability, teamwork and creativity among others.

Apr 15 2022
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11 european and international awards and distinctions for Wind of Renewal and Welcommon Hostel

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ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL has received 11 international and European-level distinctions for innovation and contribution to the social economy, social innovation, social and green impact.

– Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal has been awarded the European Citizen’s Prize 2018, by the European Parliament.  The European Citizen’s Prize recognizes initiatives that contribute to the promotion of EU values and fundamental rights, mutual understanding and closer integration between people in the EU, cross- border cooperation that builds a stronger European spirit.

– HOSTEL WORLD named in 2020 the WELCOMMON HOSTEL as one of the Hostel Heroes 2020, “a hostel that in the midst of the crisis is supporting the community coming together… building a better world!”.

– Welcommon Hostel was recognised as the most EXTRAORDINARY Hostel Hero 2021 by leading Online Travel Agent focused on the hostel market, Hostelworld. It was crowned most EXTRAORDINARY Hostel Hero by a panel of expert travel judges and more than 20,000 votes by hostel  travelers  all around the world.

– WELCOMMON HOSTEL was distinguished as the best social / intercultural action 2020-2021 in Greece during covid-19 – the competition was organized by the national network of “Anna Lindh Foundation“, the euro-med network for the intercultural dialogue.

– It was included in the short list of the finalists of the Central European Bank – CEB “social inclusion” award 2021,

– It was included in the short list (5 projects) of the HOSCARs “Extraordinary Sustainable Hostel” 2021

– It was selectd as one of the best 3 examples of projects for refugees contributing to the dialogue between the cultures in the Euro-med area (2017 Euro-Med Dialogue Award) by the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Fondazione Mediterraneo.

– We have also received A Special Mention” award of the REVES Excellence Award 2017 and a bronze prize 2019 in the competition @REVESNetwork #ExcellenceAwards2019 and.

– The French Federation of Social Inclusion Enterprises invited ANEMOS ANANEOSIS / WIND OF RENEWAL to participate in it’s national Congress organized 16-17/11/2018, in Marseille, and presented  the WELCOMMON center for housing and social inclusion of refugees as a “good example of social inclusion in Euro-Med area”.

– Welcommon Hostel was selected as one of the Best Of civil society initiatives of the Euro-Med Region and was presented during the “Long Night of Ideas” on 7/6/2021: how civil society in the Euro-Med was contributing to overcome challenges of our times

Jan 16 2022
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Hannah Neumann, MEP: “My trip to Greece” – and her visit to Welcommon Hostel

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Hannah Neumann, MEP: “My trip to Greece” and …her visit to Welcommon Hostel

This article is published by Hannah Neumann, a Member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA, Germany) after her visit to Athens, and, between others, to Welcommon Hostel. Thank you Hannah

Hannah Neumann talking to Afghan Women MEPs in Greece
In Greece, female MPs are working on the foundation of an Afghan Women’s Parliament in exile. As soon as I heard about it, it was clear to me: I have to meet them.With almost 30 per cent female members, the Afghan parliament had been a pioneer in the region for years, thanks to a fixed quota (the percentage of female MPs was even ahead of some EU countries like Bulgaria, the Czech Republic or Croatia). When the country was taken over by the Taliban, most women parliamentarians were forced to leave their homes; the majority currently live in Greece. I was therefore keen to find out how they see the future of Afghanistan in view of the ever-dwindling room for manoeuvre for women and girls and the desolate economic situation in the country.My trip was also a welcome opportunity to follow up on the topic of arms export. The former German government had supplied U-submarines to Turkey, even though the Council of the EU had imposed sanctions on Turkish officials because of the escalation in the Mediterranean. These submarines could be used against Greece, an EU member state. In Greece, the issue is understandably high on the foreign policy agenda, as Athens sees the Turkish conduct in the Mediterranean as a threat.

Curiosity about the traffic light coalition and the issue of arms exports

On the first day of my stay – which was actively supported by the Thessaloniki office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation – I was invited to the Greek parliament. On the agenda was a meeting with MP Dora Bakoyannis, first female Foreign Minister of Greece and first female Mayor of Athens. I discussed with her the impact of the Afghanistan conflict on migration and refugee numbers in Greece, the Greek interest in a common European position on arms exports and the change of government after the elections in Germany. We also exchanged views on the issue of sexism towards women politicians: Disparagement and misogynistic prejudices do not stop at party or national borders.The new traffic light coalition in Germany was one of the topics of many of my conversations. After 16 years of Merkel, many people are looking to Germany, curious about what the new government will bring. A lot is expected of us when it comes to defending Europe and human rights, as well as in terms of climate diplomacy and a feminist foreign policy.After the meeting, I went to the headquarters of the Greek TV station Skai to give an interview on this very question: What can the member states, but also the EU, expect from the new German government and Germany’s first female foreign minister? How will Germany position itself on arms exports to Turkey? And what can be expected from the French Council Presidency? After the countless remote interviews (due to Covid), it was a welcome change to be able to actually sit across from a journalist in a TV studio again.
Picture at the premises of Melissa network
A range of pictures at the premises of Melissa Network

The return of the Taliban: sheer disbelief, agony and the search for solutions

In the evening, I had an appointment with former Green MP Nikos Chrysogelos, who is now involved in local socio-ecological projects. Our meeting place was a special one: the Welcommon Hostel. It had always been planned as a joint accommodation for tourists and asylum seekers, but since the massive decline in tourism in Greece, the hostel had many vacant rooms. Since many state-funded shelters had been closed at the same time, the rooms now benefit refugees in need of protection. During the meeting, Nikos Chrysogelos introduced me to a number of former Afghan judges and prosecutors who were evacuated from the country with the help of the International Bar Association and are now staying at the Welcommon Hostel, among other places.
In our conversation, it quickly became clear how gruelling it must be for them to wait for the approval of resettlement applications and the onward journey to family members in other EU member states, who they wish to reunite with. We urgently need more flexibility and pragmatic solutions here, because it is clear: these people will not be able to return to Afghanistan any time soon. And of course, we mustn’t forget the countless people who are still in the country due to a lack of contacts and resources.The following day, I finally met the Afghan MPs in the rooms of the Melissa Network. The organisation was instrumental in the evacuation of the women and provides them with a platform for exchange and networking. As the MPs have not all been housed in the same place since their arrival in Greece, the meeting provided them with a welcome opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss future strategies.Of the former 69 female MEPs, around 25 are in Greece. The rest have gone to other European countries, Turkey or the US and Canada; according to BBC research, nine MPs are still in Afghanistan. One of the first to speak was Amina Afzali, former Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. She had followed the return of the Taliban with sheer disbelief, which quickly turned to agony when she witnessed the destruction of lots of what had been achieved so far. After all, Afghan women have been fighting for their freedom and rights for the last 100 years – certainly including many setbacks. Much of what they have achieved in the last 20 years they now see being destroyed at a staggering pace – and although they are in exile, their conversations revolve almost exclusively around possible ways to somehow still improve the situation on the ground.
Discussion with Afghan women at the Melissa Network

Afghanistan’s central bank reserves – and a humanitarian crisis

The question of how to deal with the frozen assets of the Afghan central bank sparked off the first lively exchange of words – my interpreter could hardly keep up with the translation.The money involves reserves of no less than 9.5 billion US dollars, which some of the MPs argued could alleviate food insecurity and deep-rooted poverty in the country. Others were convinced that the money in the hands of the Taliban would not be used for the benefit of the population. Even if the funds were released, they would only cover the country’s import costs for about 15 months, according to World bank calculations. Structural problems such as drought, dependence on international aid and high unemployment cannot be solved even by releasing the reserves.The issue of central bank reserves is closely linked to the recognition of the Taliban regime: Currently, no state has recognised the Taliban. And, according to the women in the room, this should remain the case.
It is clear that the country is facing a humanitarian crisis and that women and children are particularly affected. According to estimates by the UN Refugee Agency, almost 23 million people, or 55 percent of the population, are suffering from extreme hunger. It is therefore urgent that the EU continues humanitarian aid to the country. Earlier this year, the UN issued an appeal for more than $5 billion in donations for Afghanistan in the hope of restoring the country’s collapsing basic services – the largest amount ever requested for humanitarian aid for a single country.Addressing the humanitarian crisis does not mean acknowledging the Taliban, who are a big part of the problem. Aid must reach the people of the country, regardless of their gender, origin or religious affiliation.

Hope for the next generation?

The desolate conditions in Afghanistan and the desire to work for the good of their country make it difficult for MPs to endure not being able to exercise their mandate. One MP, who did not want to be named, reported how difficult it is for her to do nothing when reports of sexual exploitation and human trafficking reach her: something that is difficult to change from exile. Shagufa Noorzai, elected for Helmand province, pleaded to continue to stand up for women’s concerns, for precisely this reason.The parliament in exile does not yet have an official speaker. The MPs are currently in a readjustment process, which will lead to the foundation of the parliament in exile. As a Member of the European Parliament, I am of course ready to support the women in their important work, and so are many of my colleagues.
One thing is clear: as the European Union, we must now do our utmost to assist the people of Afghanistan. This includes speeding up emigration procedures for people at risk (e.g. by reducing bureaucratic hurdles in visa applications) and expanding humanitarian aid and support for Afghan civil society. Women and girls in particular need this support more than ever – and of course the local forces that made our engagement in Afghanistan possible in the first place. On this issue, I have already submitted a question for oral answer to EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.. Committed Afghans like the women I met will also in future be an important link to the country. That’s why I will continue to exchange ideas with them in the years to come. And this is also about the next generation: on the sidelines of the meeting, I talked to the 18-year-old granddaughter of one of the MPs. Due to the invasion of the Taliban, she was unable to complete her high school diploma, as the Taliban deny girls access to education. In this exceptional situation, her school took the marks of the mid-term exams as a basis to calculate the grade point average for the girls’ graduation certificates. Now she hopes to come to Canada with her grandmother to study medicine.
Dec 19 2021
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Online event: EU Green Deal and the Greek Green Deal

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EU Green Deal and the Greek Green Deal
Online event: Monday 20th of December | 14:00-17:00 CET

In July 2021, the European Commission presented a series of proposals to implement the Green Deal, the goal of making the European Union “climate neutral” by 2050. Since then, the European Green Deal has been both specialised and criticised for its weaknesses in terms of its social objectives. At Member State level, the landscape is even more blurred and often conflicting, with inadequate climate policies, lack of political will and citizens’ ignorance of the impending changes in their lives, for example in terms of employment, energy, housing and quality of life in cities, agri-food, etc.

Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece and the social cooperative enterprise Wind of Renewal / Anemos Ananeosis have tried to answer the question “What would a Green Deal for Greece look like?” by asking researchers, representatives of institutions and experts to submit their views in the homonymous online dossier. This initiative aims to co-shape a Green Deal that leaves no one behind and achieves the transition to a new productive-consumptive model. In this context, the two organisations, are organising the online event EU Green Deal and the Greek Green Deal, on Monday 20 December, 14:00-17:00 CET.

The event takes place on the occasion of the publication of the Policy brief “A Green Deal for Greece”. The online discussion aims to contribute to the information of Greek citizens and to trigger a fruitful dialogue between a wide range of civil society actors and competent authorities on this strategy, the opportunities and challenges for its implementation in Europe, as well as in Greece.

The debate, which is the first of a series of others that will follow, is with the support of the European Parliament Office in Greece.

The event will be held in Greek and English, with simultaneous interpretation, and will be broadcasted live here and here

Registration here

For more information, please contact:
– Nikos Chrysogelos, Wind of Renewal, nikos.chrysogelos@gmail.com
– Kyriaki Metaxa, Heinrich Boell Foundation Greece kyriaki.metaxa@gr.boell.org

PROGRAM |14:00-17:00 CET

14:00 – 14:15 Welcome, Greetings:

  • Constantinos Tsoutsoplides, European Parliament in Athens
  • Michalis Goudis, director Heinrich Boell Foundation Greece

14:15 – 15:15 A European Green Deal for all

  • Emmanuella Doussis, Professor at the University of Athens, UNESCO Chairholder on Climate Diplomacy “Geopolitics of the European Green Deal”
  • Alexandra Geese, MEP Greens/EFA, “Green Deal and gender budgeting“
  • Elsa Durieux, Senior Officer, Sustainable Finance, Smart Cities and Business – ICLEI (tbc)

Questions

15:15 – 16:25 A Green Deal for Greece

  • Athena Dimou, Assistant to the Director and President of the BoD – Programs’ monitoring at National Observatory of Athens – CLIMPACT project “The need to link research with decision-making centers to address the Climate crisis. Examples of collaborations at national and regional level“
  • Vlassis Oikonomou, Managing Director – Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy Foundation “Heating decarbonization in Greece and the role of energy efficiency”
  • Nikos Chrysogelos, former MEP, chair of Wind of Renewl: “Green recovery of neighborhoods and cities and the role of social economy“
  • Maria Mourtzaki, Policy Manager – ActionAid Hellas: “The social dimension of the European Green Deal: elements for inclusive policies“

Questions
16:25 – 17:00 Wrap up
Moderation: Michalis Goudis, Director Heinrich Boell Foundation Office Thessaloniki, Greece

Dec 10 2021
1

Social Economy Europe welcomes the European Social Economy Action Plan

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A positive project for Europe, a new chapter for the social economy

On 8th of December, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner Nicolas Schmit presented the Social Economy Action Plan at a press conference in Brussels.

The Commission’s communication entitled “Building an economy that works for people: an action plan for the social economy” has a horizon of nine years for its implementation 2021-2030, and will be assed in 2025. Social Economy Europe believes that the Social Economy Action Plan is an impressive EU public policy, co-created with social economy stakeholders, that offers a positive project for Europe. An initiative that has the potential to scale up the social economy in Europe, going beyond the traditional 6.3% of total employment in the EU that it currently represents.

“We warmly welcome and endorse the Social Economy Action Plan for which we have been working and advocating since 2014. The Social Economy Action Plan will provide concrete instruments for social economy actors to scale-up all over Europe and beyond our borders.”  Juan Antonio Pedreño, President of Social Economy Europe

The Social Economy Action Plan provides a clear and inclusive definition of the social economy in Europe:

“In the context of this action plan and related EU initiatives, the social economy covers entities sharing the following main common principles and features: the primacy of people as well as social and/or environmental purpose over profit, the reinvestment of most of the profits and surpluses to carry out activities in the interest of members/users (“collective interest”) or society at large (“general interest”) and democratic and/ or participatory governance.“

“The Action Plan is a federative initiative, it includes some of our main policy recommendations. The proposal of a Council Recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions, that the Council should adopt in 2023; the new Single EU Social Economy Gateway to be launched in 2030; or the importance of supporting social economy representative networks in every EU MS, as well as the emergence of local social economy contact points in all Member States, are fully alligned with the letter and spirit of our proposals.”
Juan Antonio Pedreño, President of Social Economy Europe

The  policy includes 38 concrete actions to be implemented in the coming nine years, in key areas as: state aid (exploring new possibilities for work integration social enterprises and other social economy enterprises of social utility), legal and policy frameworks, socially responsible public procurement and access to markets, promoting social economy at local, regional and international levels; business support, skills, youth entrepreneurship, access to funding and finance (InvestEU and othe relavant programmes); social economy contribution to the green and digital transitions, social innovation; recognition and more.

In line with the EU Industrial Strategy , the Commission also launched a Transition Pathway for the Proximity and Social Economy Industrial Ecosystem, that enacts a participatory process that will will result in

“a finalised transition pathway during 2022, summarising the joint work and targeted engagement with stakeholders and mobilising stakeholders to present commitments and joint actions to boost resilience and accelerate the green and digital transition of this industrial ecosystem. The Commission will mobilise different mechanisms to enable this process and facilitate stakeholder cooperation on the roll-out of the transition pathway”.

“This is a very good EU public policy, a policy that inspires and supports a positive project for Europe, a policy that will kick start an entrepreneurial revolution. What excites us the most at Social Economy Europe, is the way forward. All hands are needed now to implement the plan: social economy stakeholders, Member States, EU Institutions, local and regional authorities, researches, financial institutions, the philantropy and investors, the GECES, etc. An adventure in which we look forward to cooperating with our amazing network.”
Víctor Meseguer, Director of SEE. 

Nov 11 2021
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Lilian B. volunteer: my time at the Welcommon Hostel was very intense and unique

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My experiences at the Welcommon Hostel

I’m Lilian a 19 years old german girl and I stayed with a friend at the Welcommon Hostel in Athens for over one month participating in the European Solidarity Corps project “Green Social Innovation for young people”. The name Welcommon, fits perfectly to the philosophy of this amazing place. Welcommon means welcome in common. Related to the name the original idea of the Hostel is, that refugees, tourists, and volunteers are all welcome and live together at this wonderful place. During these five intense weeks I have met so many interesting and wonderful people, with different stories and unique backgrounds, from all over the world!

In the following I would love to share my expectations before Athens and my experiences with you.

First, I would like to start with my expectations before coming to Athens.

My Expectations

My friend and I found this beautiful project on a website called: workaway. Workaway is a great website, for travelers, where you can find different projects all over the world. We felt in love with the idea of the Hostel immediately and thought that this project fits perfect to our original dream to do something social and meaningful while traveling. To be completely honest I did not really had any expectations before coming to Greece, because it was my first volunteering project. I expected that the work would be more like typical Hostel work, for example staying at the reception or cleaning the rooms.

I just felt verry exited of the time at the hostel, the new people I will meet, the places I will visit and the new experience I will make. In the following I`m going on with my experience at the Welcommon Hostel

My Experience

Our main tasks at the Hostel were, to give classes to the refugees who live in the Hostel and to everybody who wants to attend. My task was it to give a german and english beginner class and together with the other volunteers an art class. The focus in our classes was on sustainability and environmental education. Specially in our art class we tried to connect painting with sustainability. I also tried to connect my beginner german and English class with topics like climate change, but the classes were more about the basics of the language.

In my german beginner class I teached the Alphabet, the sound of the language and the most useful german words and phrases. In my English class I teached kind of the same, but we also have done some small conversations and a lot more of vocabulary’s, because the most of the students already know the most basic words. It was so beautiful to see how motivated every student was.

The time with our students was also verry intense and emotional, especially because of our talks about their individual background story’s. For example, many of the students are from Afghanistan and during our time at the Welcommon Hostel, the Taliban took over the country. During one class, our students invited us to a demonstration in Athens against the Taliban, which was so heartbreaking to see.

Moreover, we spent much time with the children who live in the hostel. For example, we went to a nice park in the near of the hostel a couple of times. It was so great to see how the children had a great time, grew up and learn new things every day.

As a volunteer participating in the projects organised by Anemos Ananeosis in the Welcommon Hostel you are very free. You can spend your time with every project you would like to do. For example, another volunteer was doing a Boxing-Class in the Morning, or we painted the walls of backyard once. The schedule was from Monday till Thursday, and we had the possibility to design the lessons however we wanted. On the weekend you have free time. So, we had the great possibility to explore the historical center of Athens or the beautiful Greek Islands.

To sum it up my time at the Welcommon Hostel was very intense and unique, because of all the beautiful people I met and all the talks I had with them. Because of the Welcommon Community I have learned so many things about different cultures, perspectives and especially for my future live. I`m feeling so grateful for this time

Lilian Bartsch

Nov 11 2021
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Bente W., Volunteer: I learned so much about different lifestyles, cultures and experiences

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My name is Bente

I stayed at the Welcommon Hostel in Athens from August 4th until September 4th with my friend, participating in the European Solidarity Corps project of Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal. To explain the Welcommon Hostel a little bit, the name “welcommon” means welcome in common, which actually fits to this hostel perfectly: during my stay I’ve met tourists, refugees, other volunteers, the workers there and youth groups that all together filled the hostel with life. We all lived there together in a community and all of them became an important part of this amazing experience.

To start this report, I’d like to talk about my expectations before coming to the welcommon hostel.

My expectations

To be completely honest, I did not really have any expectations before coming to this hostel. My friend and me found this project on a website called workaway, which is a website, where people can share projects all over the world. People that would like to volunteer at those projects can get in contact with the hosts by simply texting them and then hope for an answer.

The communication with the organisation Anemos Ananaeosis and the Welcommon Hostel was super fast and easy. We got an answer right away and were informed about the European Solidarity Corps project, that the organisation and the Welcommon Hostel are taking part in. We were told, that we were supposed to give classes about environmental education, because that was one of the two the main topics of the European Solidarity Corps project, which is why I expected to teach a little about environmental issues and how to reduce them. Other than that, I expected some typical hostel work like cleaning or working at the reception etc because in the end, the welcommon hostel is not only a community project but also a hostel for travellers.

My experiences

My very few expectations did vary from reality. There was not really a lot of ”hostel work“ for us to do, though we did stay at the reception in my last week, because there was a lot to do for the receptionists. Our main task was to give classes to everybody that would like to attend. I gave intermediate English, advanced beginner German and art classes and connected them with the task of environmental education asked for by the European Solidarity Corps project: some art classes consisted out of experiences of the students with climate change or pollution and how they felt about it. In the end we talked about what the causes are and how to reduce
them (shown in the picture to the left).

In my intermediate English class we also talked about environmental issues, for example the leak of the oil pipeline in the beginning of august in Trinidad, and how oil is harmful for the environment and the animals in the marine ecosystem. (some of the vocabulary is shown in the picture on the right on the next page) In my advanced beginner german class, I mostly did grammar and vocabulary, because there was no way we could have talked about environmental issues, because it still was a beginners class, so there was obviously a lack of vocabulary and grammar for this topic.

The most important and also the talks I remember most were the talks about Afghanistan in all my classes (mostly in my english intermediate class). To explain this a little further, during my stay at the hostel, the Taliban took over in Afghanistan, and with the backround of a majority of my students fleeing from Afghanistan, these were very emotional and touching talks we had in class. During my class, one of my students invited us to a demonstration in athens against the taliban, wich was also a super intense experience (picture to the left).

We also played with the children at the hostel from time to time. One time, for example, we did yoga with some of the kids (picture to the right). We also went to a park with them a couple of times. It was amazing to see how motivated everybody was to learn things or how advanced some of the children already were in a language that was not even their mother language. Though there obviously was a language barrier, it was super easy to communicate with everybody.

To be honest, the talks that I had at the hostel in general were the thing that made my experience so unique: I learned so much about different lifestyles, different cultures and experiences, that I have never experienced in my whole live, which also made me change my perspectives on everything. Also, the community we have had there was a huge part of me feeling super comfortable there: Not only my students or the loving and generous families at the hostel, but also the team of volunteers and workers at the hostel made my time super enjoyable. I have made super close friendships in such a short period of time, which made leaving super hard.

All in all, this experience at the welcommon hostel was super intense, because of all the new things I have learned, but so very worth the while, exactly because of these changes concerning my perspective etc. I gained so much, because of this amazing community, for myself and also for my way of thinking for the future and seeing things in a different light.

Bente Wilkens, 16.09.21, Techau, Germany