Experience from OECD countries shows a rich variety of organisations that have developed alongside for-profit enterprises and public organisations, pursuing a range of missions from productive goals to advocacy and grant-making activities. What these organisations share, and what sets them apart from for-profit enterprises is the overall aim of their activities, which excludes the pursuit of profit as an ultimate goal and its distribution to the owners.

At the same, experience from the Central Eastern and South Eastern European countries shows that reforms towards functioning democratic societies and market economies have resulted in growing inequalities in the standard of living and a sharp rise in poverty. As physical and social infrastructure deteriorated, with rising consumption prices and a changing labour market, the potential of “social economy” organisations remained untapped.

This one-week training seeks to deepen participants’ knowledge base on the role and potential of social economy organisations in promoting local development, with a special focus on the issues relating to Central, Eastern and South Eastern European Countries. It is aimed to allow participants to gain a deeper understanding of the role and potential of the social economy, and of the tools and strategies it employs to promote social cohesion at the local level. Seminar objectives are:

• To review and assess common methodologies and experiences in social economy organisations across OECD countries, enhancing awareness of the potentials of social economy organisations in sustaining local development and in fighting social inequalities and enhancing social cohesion and solidarity behaviours in transition countries.
• To gain insights on why and how social economy organisations succeed or fail.
• To establish a common set of approaches and tools for the social economy, in the prospect of singling out possible evolution paths for social economy organisations in transition countries.
• To support the endogenous capacity building process in local development and social economy.

The selection of participants from social economy organisations and initiatives will be competitive, based on their application. Their full application file should include:

• a duly completed Practitioners’ Case Study Form ;
• a letter of motivation; and
• a curriculum vitae.

The participants from national ministries will be nominated to the OECD through the competent Ministry by 3 September 2004. Nominees from national ministries should then send their application file including:

• their duly completed Policymakers’ Case Study Form ; and
• their curriculum vitae.

The seminar will take place in the premises of the newly created . The working language will be English, no translations facilities will be provided. Application deadline is 1 October 2004.

For more information on this seminar and on how to participate, please contact [email protected] or by fax (+39.0461.277650).

Please read carefully the draft programme .