BUSINESSMED along with several of its members participated to the second Workshop on Social Economy, organised online on June 26^th 2020, by the Union for the Mediterranean, in partnership with the GIZ and the Spanish Confederation of Social Economy Enterprises.

The Workshop brought together over 60 stakeholders and practitioners from both shores of the Euro-Mediterranean Region. The event focused on the role that the Social Economy should play in the social and economic post-pandemic recovery and the measures to promote its contribution to a sustainable growth path and reduction of inequalities in the Euro-Mediterranean region in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Workshop also addressed the challenges faced by Social Economy and the innovative solutions provided by this enterprise model based on values of democracy, solidarity and social responsibility to the most immediate effects of the crisis through creating jobs, supporting small enterprises and tackling social and economic injustices.

The participants stated that in light of the urgency to address the recovery, it is evidently crucial to facilitate the social economy with the necessary financial instruments for Micro, Small, and Medium Sized Enterprises, to strengthen incubators and encourage the adoption of legal framework. The exchange of experiences between national networks and advisory experts has been shown to strengthen existing services as well as help develop and professionalise Small and Medium Size Enterprises that form part of the social economy as they adapt to the new market conditions and innovations in different sectors.