International Masters program on Social Economy and Community Development Strategies

Introduction

Social economy manifests in various forms in modern societies. To be able to accommodate such a variety, we apply a rather broad framework of analysis of social economy. This framework is based on the concept of diverse economies, coined by J.K. Gibson-Graham, that endorses the abundant economic diversity that is present in today’s societies and is much more than the capitalist world reflected in mainstream economics. This diversity extends from worker-recuperated cooperatives and anti-mafia social enterprises, to caring labour and the work of Earth Others; from fair trade and social procurement to community land trusts, free universities and Islamic finance. (Gibson-Graham, J.K. & Dombroski, K. 2020. The Handbook of Diverse Economies. Cheltenham, UK: Edgar Elgar).

A central component within this framework is highlighting the elements of overall well-being (financial, creativity, good social relations, contribution to the community, health, ecological balance) as the overall goal of the social economy. This entails the investigation of the multiple forms that social economy can take, be it organisational, financial or other, depending in the ways that the created surplus is managed as well as the transactions, property and finance. This is what Module 1: Social Economy forms and types, does.

The different forms and types of social economy cannot be examined in isolation from theories that are connected to alternative economic models, nor those relevant to the commons and property issues, or development and transformative policies. This is done in Module 2: Social Economy Theory, which helps achieve a reframing of the concept of economy and the possible ways towards community development.

The reframing of the concept of economy guides the design and implementation of performative actions, which needs appropriate skills, soft skills in particular, of team building and participatory governance underlined by equality and inclusiveness and democratic processes. This is the topic that follows on in Module 3: Skills and governance. At the same time, for social economy to thrive towards a local (and wider) development model through top-down and bottom-up strategies, certain support structures are needed alongside the exploitation of local characteristics and addressing needs and obstacles. This is where Module 4: Support structures in Social Economy comes in.

Having been introduced to the soft skills, students are ready now to get themselves acquainted and apply the hard skills in a collaborative and co-creative manner. The hard skills relate to developing a business plan, or the financial management or a social economy enterprise considering the multiple types of social economy ventures. This is done in Module 5: Running a Social Economy organisation. Understanding what kind of value is created by social economy ventures is key as is the ability to measure and assess this value, that goes far beyond economics, by increasing the overall well-being and contributing to an alternative model of community development. Value creation and assessment is addressed in Module 6.

Module 1: SE types and forms

Social Economy (SE) organisations are economic initiatives that become visible when the economy is rethought as something that emerges from everyday action and takes into account the well-being of people and the environment. The whole structure of SE organisations is designed around the concept of ‘capital being in service of people, not people being in servitude to capital’. Thus, the success of SE organisations cannot be measured solely in terms of economic performance. Above all, they must be gauged by their contributions in terms of solidarity, social cohesion, and social capital. In this framework, SE is understood as integrating a set of activities with social and economic expression, managed by not-for-profit entities, aimed at satisfying needs not met by the Market and/or the State or even regulating the Market.

Within this context, this module provides an introduction to a range of diverse and alternative entities with multiple business and organisational models. The common ambition is to create a more inclusive and sustainable economic paradigm. By focusing on how these entities run through a variety of business models, different modes of exchange (market), the commons (property relations) and various forms of financing, all the wealth of multiple types and forms of SE organisations is highlighted.

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Curriculum details

Topic 1: Work and the multiple dimensions of well-being

Description: In this session, students are introduced to the approach of several dimensions of personal well-being: material, occupational, social, community and physical. Moreover, the high importance of consideration of planetary well-being is mentioned in this phase. Through the redefinition of various work organisation practices, the impact on various forms of well-being and the extent to which its multiple dimensions are satisfied becomes apparent.

Proposed Readings

Gibson-Graham, J.K., Cameron, J., Healy, S. (Eds.), 2013. «Take Back Work: Surviving Well», in Take Back the Economy, An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities. University of Minnesota Press, pp. 17–48.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• After carefully reading the different examples of people's lives described in the book “Take Back the Economy, An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities”, write a detailed description (350 - 500 words) to describe a person (avatar) who manages to find a way to make a living and also participates in various other activities.
• Activity Step 1

Topic 2: Social Economy organisations classification

Description: According to the European Commission, 2.8 million Social Economy (SE) organizations in Europe offer concrete and innovative solutions to key challenges that communities are facing. This session will provide a bird's eye view of the plurality of SE organizations regarding their scope, legal form, and size. As entities that do not belong either to the public nor to the private sector, SE organizations exist across several types and forms of business models and embed diverse conceptions of markets, property and finance into managerial choices and practices. The impact of SE entities in creating and retaining quality jobs, contributing to social and labour-market inclusion of disadvantaged groups, offering equal opportunities for all, will be presented.  

Proposed Readings

Archambault, E. (2015). Organizing the Field of the Social Economy. The Social Economy and its Classification. Marie J. Bouchard & Damien Rousselière. The Weight of the Social Economy. An International Perspective, 6, P.I.E. Peter Lang, pp.91-116, 2015, Social Economy&Public economy, ISBN 2030-3408 ISBN978-2-87574-287-2. ffhalshs-00831556v2f. European Parliament (2016). Social Economy.

Cooperatives Europe (2022). Position paper on the European Action Plan for the Social Economy.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Listen to the EU Parliament Research Service podcast “What Future for the Social Economy?”
• Activity Step 2

Topic 3: Surplus distribution and business models

Description: The redefinition of needs is a necessary first step for the redefinition of well-being, individual and planetary. In this direction, the determination and distribution of the surplus resulting from economic activity are considered equally important to ensure it. This session will focus on how alternative ways of identifying and managing a business' surplus promote practices that are capable of alleviating social inequalities and protecting the environment.

Proposed Readings

Gibson-Graham, J.Κ. Cameron, J. Healy, S. (Eds.), (2013). «Take Back Business: Distributing Surplus», in: Take Back the Economy, An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities. University of Minnesota Press, pp. 49-84.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Activity Step 3

Topic 4: Cooperatives

Description: Cooperatives are not only historic members of the SE, but they are also one of the most significant economic actors in this ecosystem, strongly present in every economic sector. This session will explore the ways that the various types of these people-centered enterprises, jointly owned and democratically controlled by their members try to achieve common social and economic objectives.

Proposed Readings

International Cooperative Allaince. Cooperative identity, values & principles. Online.

Karakas (2019). Cooperatives: Characteristics, Activities, Status, Challenges. European Parliamentary Research Service.

Mori, P.A. (2014). Community And Cooperation: The Evolution Of Cooperatives Towards New Models Of Citizens' Democratic Participation In Public Services Provision. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 85: 327-352.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the documentary by CECOP - CICOPA Europe “TOGETHER - How cooperatives show resilience to the crisis”
• Activity Step 4

Topic 5: Social Enterprises

Description: This session will introduce us to a recent type of SE organisation that manages to combine a pronounced entrepreneurial approach, in an innovative fashion, with social and/or environmental objectives as the reason for its commercial activity: the Social Enterprise.

Proposed Readings

Bastida, R., Marimon, F. and Tanganelli, D. (2017), "Alliance success factors and performance in social economy enterprises", Management Decision, Vol. 55 No. 5, pp. 1065-1080.

Grassl, W. (2012). Business models of social enterprise: A design approach to hybridity. ACRN Journal of entrepreneurship Perspectives, 1(1), 37-60.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the video for the social enterprise by the Common Good Community.
• Activity Step 5

Topic 6: Multiple SE forms of transactions

Description: In this session we will try to follow the path that will lead us to answer the question: “where goods and services come from?”. Considering that the choice among multiple forms of transactions in SE affect people and planetary well-being, this session will focus on community-based initiatives, governed by a set of ethical choices, that not only try to achieve justice and solidarity in local economic exchanges, but also have made their presence felt on a global level.  

Proposed Readings

Gibson-Graham, J.K. Cameron, J. Healy, S. (Eds.), (2013). Take Back the Economy, An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 85-124.

McGreevy, S. R., Rupprecht, C. D., Niles, D., Wiek, A., Carolan, M., Kallis, G., ... & Tachikawa, M. (2022). Sustainable agrifood systems for a post-growth world. Nature sustainability, 5(12), 1011-1017.

Vincent, O., & Feola, G. (2020). A framework for recognising diversity beyond capitalism in agri-food systems. Journal of Rural Studies, 80, 302-313.

Sahan, E. (2021). How to build a social economy: Lessons from the Fair Trade movement.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the video “What is Fairtrade…” by the Belgian Member of Fairtrade International.
• Activity Step 6

Topic 7: Property relations in Social Economy - The Commons

Description: In this and the next session, we will explore how the diverse property ownership forms coexist and interact within SE organizations and how the commons, as a paradigm of governance and resource management by a community of people, are not restricted by different forms of property ownership.

Proposed Readings

Morgan, B. (2019). 'Transcending The Corporation: social enterprise, cooperatives, and commons-based governance', in Thomas Clarke, Justin O’Brien, and Charles R. T. O’Kelley (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Corporation, Oxford Handbooks.

Gibson-Graham, J.K. Cameron, J. Healy, S. (Eds.), (2013). Take Back the Economy, An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, pp. 125-158.

de Peuter, G. and Dyer-Withford, N. (2010) ‘Commons and co-operatives’, Affinities, 1(1), pp. 30–56. doi: 10.1177/0160449X09337903.

Williams (2017). Urban commons are more-than-property. Geographical forum 28(1).

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the video “How does the commons work” by the Next System Project.
• Activity Step 7

Topic 8: Commons-Based Peer Production

Description: Collaborative ventures in the field of IT (such as that of the free encyclopedia Wikipedia) have brought to light the issue of peer production, which is the cooperation of self-organized groups and individuals who participate on an equal basis with the aim of achieving a common goal. This session will present the concept of Commons-Based Peer Production, where both the means and the results are not objects of exclusive property. Instead, they are shared among participants within an institutional structure that allocates its resources equally to all.

Proposed Readings

Bauwens, M., & Pantazis, A. (2018). The ecosystem of commons-based peer production and its transformative dynamics. The Sociological Review, 66(2), 302–319.

Kostakis, V., Niaros, V., Dafermos, G. and Bauwens, M. (2015) ‘Design global, manufacture local: Exploring the contours of an emerging productive model’, Futures. Elsevier Ltd, 73, pp. 126–135. doi: 10.1016/j.futures.2015.09.001.

Kostakis, V., Vragoteris, V. and Lal Acharja, I. (2021). Can peer production democratize technology and society? A critical review of the critiques. Futures (131). 10.1016/j.futures.2021.102760

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the video “Cosmolocalism in a nutshell” by Vasilis Kostakis.
• Activity Step 8

Topic 9: Financing Social Economy organisations

Description: While access to capital is vital to the success of any enterprise, the participatory ownership model introduces unique features (principles of cooperation, democratic control by members, financial participation of members) that influence the selection of various forms of financing in SE organizations. This Session will focus on social finance providers as well as non-financial services that constitute an integral part of an adequate ecosystem which financially supports the development of the SE.

Proposed Readings

Gibson-Graham, J. K. Cameron, J. Healy, S. (Eds.), (2013), «Take Back Finance: Investing in Futures» in: Take Back the Economy, An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, pp.159-188.

Oudeniotis, N., & Tsobanoglou, G. (2020). Social financing as a driver for sustainable local development in EU Mediterranean countries. Spain, Portugal, and Greece in perspective. Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, 20(2), 26 - 40.

Rey-Martí A, Mohedano-Suanes A, Simón-Moya V. (2019). Crowdfunding and Social Entrepreneurship: Spotlight on Intermediaries. Sustainability. 11(4):1175.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the video about “Social Finance” by the SDGPlus.
• Activity Step 9

Learning outcomes

The aim of this module is to introduce students to all various types and forms of SE organisations running through a variety of business models, different modes of exchange (market), the commons (property relations) and several forms of financing. The module also aims to encourage students to think about how the various forms of organisation of the economy, seen in the light of the SE, contribute to the increase of people and planetary well-being. By the end of the module, students will be able to:

• Understand that the way people distribute their activities during their day has an impact on their individual and planetary well-being.
• Appreciate and handle the diversity of economic practices that are found in the multiple types and forms of SE organisations.
• Reflect on what would be the different impact on well-being, if each economic activity was organised in the conventional way.
• Critically evaluate on the various forms of business models, recognising the different ways that surplus can be produced, appropriated and distributed.
• Identify the alternative ways of transacting goods and services in the framework of SE, and focus on how the issues that arise with mainstream markets can be avoided.
• Clarify the relationship between commons and property to practice the concept of commoning.
• Get familiar with the diversity of financial arrangements and focus on how these can be directed to the interest of SE business activities.

Practical exercises

Learning in this module will mostly take place via oral presentations, videos and activities that simulate real scenarios of work, business, market, property and finance in the SE framework. Each session will consist of a short introduction to the relevant Types and Forms of SE organisations either by a short video, a  lecture and/or discussion.

For the needs of the activities, included in each topic, students form small groups, create a fictional character (avatar) per group, and are asked to think about how their avatar choices have an impact on his/her individual well-being, as well as the planetary well-being. Afterwards each group will work on their given scenario.

Assessment methods

• A group 6000 words essay (75%).
• An individual 10-minute oral examination, where the contribution of each student to the essay will be reflected (25%).

Instructions for trainers

This activity is based on the Gibson-Graham’s et al (2013) publication “Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming our Communities”. It will introduce students to all various types and forms of SE organisations running through a variety of business models, different modes of exchange (market), the commons (property relations) and several forms of financing.

In each part of the activity, students are asked to apply what they have learned in the relevant topic and think about how their avatar is acting in each component of the economy described. Thus, students can understand the way in which the various forms of organisation of the economy, seen in the light of the SE, contribute to the increase of well-being. Students are also asked to reflect on what would be the different impact on their avatar's well-being, if each economic activity was organised in the conventional way.

Part A (Steps 1 + 2)

The first part of the Activity focuses on recognising the ways in which diverse forms of work contribute to or undermine several dimensions of individual and planetary well-being. The overall aim is students to understand that the way people distribute their activities during their day has an impact on their individual and planetary well-being.

Part B (Steps 3 + 4 + 5)

Given the different forms of business organisation, students are asked to reflect on what is the impact on the avatar's well-being after the choice of business model. This way they practice on the various forms of business models, recognising the different ways that surplus can be produced, appropriated and distributed.

Part C (Step 6)

Guided by the key question “where goods and services come from?”, students are called to figure out not only the social and environmental conditions along the supply chain between the start of the production process and the end-consumer, but also how the way people act as consumers essentially affects the economy. As an outcome, they practice on the alternative ways of transacting goods and services in the framework of SE, and focus on how the issues that arise with mainstream markets can be avoided.

Part D (Steps 7 + 8)

How different forms of property can be the basis for commoning? Students are invited to think about the ways that all forms of property can be treated with a view to the long-term future of people and the planet. The overall aim is to clarify the relationship between commons and property to practice the concept of commoning.

Part E (Step 9)

Students are called to practice on the range of ways of investing in several forms of financial activities, so to get exposed to the diversity of financial arrangements and focus on how these can be directed to the interest of SE business activities.

Core Reading List

In addition to the theme-specific references listed above, we suggest the following core readings for the module:

Essential Reading

Bastida et al (2017) "Alliance success factors and performance in social economy enterprises", Management Decision, Vol. 55 Issue: 5, doi: 10.1108/MD-12-2016-0881

Bayir, B., Charles, A., Sekhari, A., & Ouzrout, Y. (2022). Issues and challenges in short food supply chains: A systematic literature review. Sustainability, 14(5), 3029.

Bretos, I., Errasti, A., & Soetens, A. (2021). ‘International Social Economy Organizations’. In: B. Gidron & A. Domaradzka (Eds.), The New Social and Impact Economy: An International Perspective (pp. 245–268). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing

Bollier D. and Helfrich S. (2019). Free, Fair, and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons. New Society Publishers. Available Online at https://freefairandalive.org/read-it/

Corsi, A., Barbera, F., Dansero, E., & Peano, C. (2018). Alternative food networks. McMillan, London.

Gibson-Graham, J.K., Cameron, J. & Healy, S. (2016) ‘Commoning as a postcapitalist politics’, Releasing the Commons: Rethinking the Futures of the Commons, (May), pp. 192–212. doi: 10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.

Gibson-Graham J.K. (2020). Reading for Difference in the Archives of Tropical Geography: Imagining An(Other) Economic Geography for Beyond the Anthropocene. Antipode Vol. 52 No. 1 2020 pp. 12–35.

Krlev et al (2021). Reconceptualizing the Social Economy. Standford Social Innivation Review.

Lapoutte, A. (2018). “Multi-stakeholder governance of the commons, a pragmatic approach / Chapter 12”. In: CIRIEC and BANCE, Philippe (dir.). Providing public goods and commons. Towards coproduction and new forms of governance for a revival of public action. Liège: CIRIEC, 2018. (CIRIEC Studies Series; 1), pp. 251-264.

Petrescu, D, Petcou, C, Safri, M, Gibson, K. Calculating the value of the commons: Generating resilient urban futures. Env Pol Gov. 2021; 31: 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1890

Rizzi  Francesco,  Pellegrini  Chiara,  Battaglia  Massimo  (2018)  “The  structuring  of  social  finance: Emerging  approaches  for  supporting environmentally  and  socially impactful projects”, Journal  of  Cleaner Production, Vol. 170, pp. 805-817.

Further Reading

Amanatidou, E., Gritzas, G. and Kavoulakos, K.I. (2015), "Time banks, co-production and foresight: intertwined towards an alternative future", Foresight, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 308-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/FS-05-2014-0035

CIRIEC (2017). Recent evolutions of the Social Economy in the European Union. European Economic and Social Committee, European Union.

Daskalaki, M., & Kokkinidis, G. (2017). Organizing solidarity initiatives: A socio-spatial conceptualization of resistance. Organization Studies, 38(9), 1303-1325. https://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/id/eprint/37848/1/Daskalaki-M-37848-AAM.pdf

ICA (2015). Guidance Notes to the Co-operative Principles. International Co-operative Alliance.

ILO (2022). Decent work and the social and solidarity economy. International Labour Conference, 110th Session, 2022.

European Commission (2021). Building an economy that works for people: An action plan for the social economy.

Fonteneau and Ignace Pollet (2019). The Contribution of the Social and Solidarity Economy and Social Finance to the Future of Work. International Labour Office, Geneva.

GECES (2017). Working Group 1: “Improving access to funding” Subject Paper.

Milotay (2020). What future for the social economy? European Parliamentary Research Service.

OECD (2020). Regional Strategies for the Social Economy. Examples from France, Spain, Sweden and Poland. OECD Publishing.

World Economic Forum and Schwab Foundation (2022). Unlocking the Social Economy Towards an inclusive and resilient society. Insight Report.

Total number of credits

15 ECTS

Module 2: SE theory

The aim of the module “SE Theory” is to introduce theories describing alternative approaches to the economy, to the organization of society, and to everyday life. It also aims to introduce alternative approaches of/ to development that resonate with the social economy. To do so, it begins with a critical view of dominant conceptions of the human being, nature, and the economy, continuing with the debate on alternative approaches to the economy that arose during the 19th century.  

These theoretical approaches are followed by less abstract conceptualizations of the social and solidarity economy that include a variety of approaches, policies, politics and expectations around SE that are created by different subjects.

Related to the above is the debate on alternative approaches of / to development that arose less than 40 years ago.  Post-development and degrowth are two prominent approaches in this debate, which promote an ontological, epistemological, cultural and institutional restructuring of economy and society, based on social justice, ecology, democracy and well-being.

The discussion around commons that follows, broadens and complements the understanding of social economy. Commons constitute an economic, social and political system. At the same time, the commons refer to resources that communities manage according to self-defined rules and standards. Thus, it can be said that commons consist of three interrelated elements:  resources, community, and a regulatory framework.

The unit concludes with a theoretical discussion on the transition processes from the current economy to a social economy democratically organized, at the service of society's needs, that respects the environment.

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Curriculum details

Topic 1: Critiques of the mainstream economy

Description: This session will try to establish why we need socioeconomic alternatives by focusing on critiques of the mainstream economy. To do so, it examines the repercussions of the endless pursuit of growth and profit on well-being, on social equality and on the environment. Drawing from their everyday life experience, the students will reflect on the way their needs are met in this context.

Proposed Readings

AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023, https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/

Brown, E., Cloke, J., Gent, D., Johnson, P. H., & Hill, C. (2014). Green growth or ecological commodification: debating the green economy in the global south. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 96(3), 245-259. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jon-Cloke/publication/267158048_Green_growth_or_ecological_commodification_debating_the_green_economy_in_the_global_South/links/5e073ccf4585159aa49fbe4c/Green-growth-or-ecological-commodification-debating-the-green-economy-in-the-global-South.pdf

Kerschner, C., O´Neill, D.W. (2015). Economic Growth and Sustainability. In: Kopnina, H., Shoreman-Ouimet, E. (eds.), Sustainability: Key Issues. Routledge, 243-276. https://gaiageld.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Economic_growth_and_sustainability.pdf

Oxfam (2023), Survival of the rich, https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621477/bp-survival-of-the-richest-160123-summ-en.pdf

Sekulova, F., Kallis, G., & Schneider, F. (2017). Climate change, happiness and income from a degrowth perspective. In Victor, P.A., Dolter, B. (eds.),  Handbook on growth and sustainability, Edward Elgar Publishing, 160-180. Available at: https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/54433241/Sekulova-et-al-Climate_change__happiness_and_income_from_a_degrowth_perspective-libre.pdf?1505400370=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DClimate_change_happiness_and_income_from.pdf&Expires=1693560789&Signature=FzalkdUMSKotGjpXQbHHdmxbGr1W9fYqdpfsOLHD1T65j5003BwqxsOLbpuzupir-d96Y1IABxaSPZnzvMCZcH2k1m6EW06bXT8krs2O5Di-6bwIOc9faD9Vb8oJdE5MmLyp4zI2FmC9hpJHtz8Maeok8kFKJGQedKKcl3RwReioKaXTXKWQkDuUSUvo6XxB676SDXsFMHTr2KaMWeYdXCDvIRTOmHqdJaVbRjDiqoZvVPc9Tv6VgmA-WO7Q6Dvxu0ojNCtjy1G9ookHiHZ8L4YyEtCx3QBG8XQ~7fBiY-6VTysTKU9b1rTywvQ-8VanhdLxsibUrlmIkYfm0iCtWg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Victor, P.A. (2-15) Growth. In D’alisa, G., Demaria, F., Kallis, G. (eds.), Degrowth: a vocabulary for a new era,  Routledge, 138-141.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

Discussion theme: Can (and should) the economy grow forever?

Can the economy grow forever? (video)

Lecture activity:

• Take 3-4’ mins to reflect individually in detail on what you did today until this very moment.
• Note the needs and desires that your actions aimed to cover and fulfill. Put the notes on a blackboard.
• Form groups of 3-4 people and choose one of the needs/desires in the blackboard.
• In your group draw a mind map or a table of the possible obstacles and the possible consequences of covering the need/desire the way (or the ways) you usually do. Discuss and take notes of how the covering of the need/desire usually makes you feel.
• Briefly present the mind map or the table to the classroom. When referring to the consequences, try to present them in a nonverbal way (eg via gestures or  drawings). The rest of the students can also add obstacles and consequences or challenge the ones already mentioned.
• After this discussion consider how you feel about covering the need/desire the way you usually do. Has anything changed?

Topic 2: Alternative economies

Description: The formation of an alternative economy presupposes a different than the dominant understanding of the concept economy. In this session we will try to establish a different view on the economy. To do so, we discuss the variety of motivations for economic action that go beyond a narrow cost-benefit conception, the position that economy is not a separate/autonomous sphere but is embedded in social relations, as well as the idea that economies are diverse and concern all human activities that contribute to well-being.

Proposed Readings:

Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2008). Diverse economies: performative practices for `other worlds’. Progress In Human Geography, 32(5), 613–632. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132508090821

Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006). A postcapitalist politics. University of Minnesota Press. (chapters 3,4)

Polanyi, K. (2018). The economy as instituted process. In The sociology of economic life, 3-21, Routledge.

Polanyi, Κ (1977). The Livelihood of Man. New Υork: Harry W. Pearson Academic Press (chapters 1,2,3)

Polanyi, K. (2001). The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, 2nd ed. Foreword by Joseph E. Stiglitz; introduction by Fred Block. Boston: Beacon Press (chapters 4,6,10)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions:

Lecture activity: Engaging with diversity

• In your group discuss and note other possible ways of covering this need/desire. Also discuss the motivation for each one of the ways you encountered. Is the maximization of utility the driving motive for all of them?
• Draw the diverse economies’ iceberg  for the different ways you encountered. Discuss among your group if you are all familiar with these different ways or if there are some that are place-specific or not so common in your places of origin.
• Now choose one of the ways mentioned in the diverse economies’ iceberg and discuss in which of the three categories it fits regarding each one of the five dimensions in the diverse economies’ table (labour, enterprise, transactions, property, finance).
• Present the iceberg and the table and discuss them with the rest of the class.
• Justify why you chose this particular way of covering the need/desire without using the words: state, capitalism, power, authority, usually, world.

Topic 3: Defining Social Economy

Description: In this section we will refer to the social economy (SE) and we will study the different approaches, policies, politics and expectations that are created by different subjects. More specifically, we will refer to the views of important international organizations (ΕU, UN, ILO), international networks of the social economy (RIPESS, ICA) and we will take a first glance at an academic definition of SE.

Proposed Readings:

European Commission, (2021). Commission presents Action Plan to boost the social economy and create jobs. https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=10117&furtherNews=yes#navItem-4

International Co-operative Alliance, (2015). Guidance Notes to the Co-operative Principles.https://ica.coop/sites/default/files/2021-11/ICA%20Guidance%20Notes%20EN.pdf

United Nations, (2022). Advancing the 2030 Agenda through the Social and Solidarity Economy. https://unsse.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Advancing-the-2030-Agenda-through-the-Social-and-Solidarity-Economy-UNTFSSE-2022.pdf

RIPESS, Why solidarity-based economic practices.  https://www.ripess.org/quest-ce-que-less-2/?lang=en

Moulaert, F. & Ailenei, O. (2005). Social Economy, Third Sector and Solidarity Relations: A Conceptual Synthesis from History to Present. Urban Studies, 42:11, 2037-2053. https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/faculty/pages/wright/Social%20Economy%20PDFs/Moulaert%20Ailenei%202005.pdf

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Watch the video “What is the social economy?”. Discuss how it frames the social economy, what is involved in this definition and if you agree with it.
• The coordinator presents to the class some texts referring to social economy by international organizations and/or national governments as well as by actors of the SE field (SE networks, SE initiatives), without referring to the source. Students should guess the source of the text (if it belongs to the first or the second category). Which are the points of convergence and divergence in these texts?

Topic 4: Exploring Social Economy

Description: This unit is the second one on the social economy. Here, we will introduce the relevant academic debate and study its various dimensions such as the history of SE, the theoretical framework of SE, SE as a social movement that can transform work and give a different direction to economic development, and SEs' prospects.

Proposed Readings:

Laville, J. L. (2010). The solidarity economy: an international movement. RCCS Annual Review. A selection from the Portuguese journal Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, (2). https://journals.openedition.org/rccsar/202

Borowiak, C. (2015). Mapping social and solidarity economy: The Local and Translocal Evolution of a Concept. In Ngai, P., Hok Bun, K., Hairong, Y. & Koo, A. (eds.), Routledge, Social economy in China and the world, 17.

Dacheux, E., & Goujon, D. (2011). The solidarity economy: An alternative development strategy?. International Social Science Journal, 62(203-204), 205-215. https://base.socioeco.org/docs/issj1804.pdf

Utting, P., Van Dijk, N., & Matheï, M. A. (2014). Social and solidarity economy: Is there a new economy in the making? (No. 10). UNRISD Occasional Paper: Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy. https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/148793/1/862654920.pdf

Laville, J. L. (2015). Social and solidarity economy in historical perspective. In Utting, P. (ed), Social and solidarity economy: Beyond the fringe, 41-56, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Borzaga, C., Salvatori, G., & Bodini, R. (2019). Social and solidarity economy and the future of work. Journal of Entrepreneurship and innovation in emerging economies, 5(1), 37-57. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2393957518815300

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Each group considers if and which of the alternative ways mentioned in its' diverse economies iceberg of covering the chosen need/desire (topic 2) relate to SE and discuss it with the rest of the classroom.
• Students present their individual assignment on the historical evolution of SE in each students’ country or place of origin. After the presentations discuss among the class the different pathways that SE has followed in different places and how they have shaped its form, characteristics, main values and main challenges.

Topic 5: Rethinking development: Critical Development Studies and Post-development

Description: This session will first focus on the construction and evolution of the development idea and its roots. We will become familiar with the currents of thought in critical development studies. Particular emphasis will be given to post-development, as an umbrella term of alternatives to/of development, and its connection to alternative economies. The session will also prompt students to think about issues that relate directly to the development paradigm and process, focusing on social, cultural, economic and environmental implications. Through the exercise, students will begin to connect the notion of development to their everyday life experience and social economy.

Proposed Readings

Frank, A. G. (2013). The development of underdevelopment. In: Sanderson, S.K. (ed.), Sociological worlds: comparative and historical readings on society. Routledge, 135-141.

Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2007). Surplus possibilities: Post-development and community economies. In: Ziai, A. (ed.), Exploring post-development: theory and practice, problems and perspectives. 1st ed. London, New York: Routledge, 145-162. https://handoutset.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Exploring-Post-Development-Theory-and-Practice-Problems-and-Perspectives-Aram-Ziai.pdf#page=156

Kaul, S., Akbulut, B., Demaria, F., & Gerber, J.F. (2022). Alternatives to sustainable development: what can we learn from the pluriverse in practice?. Sustainability Science, 17(4), 1149-1158. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01210-2

Sachs, W. (2019). Foreword: The development dictionary revisited. In: Kothari, A., Salleh, A., Escobar, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta A. (eds.),  Pluriverse: a post-development dictionary. New Delhi: Tulika Books, xi-xvi.

Veltmeyer, H., & Wise, R.D. (2018). Critical development studies: An introduction. In: Veltmeyer, H., & Bowles, P. (eds.), The essential guide to critical development studies. Oxford, New York: Routledge, 1-28.

Ziai, A. (2017). Post-development 25 years after The Development Dictionary. Third World Quarterly, 38(12), 2547-2558. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01436597.2017.1383853

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity (part 1):  
  • Step 1: Choose as a group one of the alternative ways you presented for covering the need/desire in the second session/course (preferable one that relates to social economy practices).  Then, each group is assigned a subject of discussion (social, environmental, economic), e.g. via a lottery, so that all subjects are covered. Now, discuss in your group how it would change the socio-economic structure and relationships if it was to be adopted on a large scale. In order to do so, you can try to answer questions like the following ones, depending on the chosen subject.
    • Social
      • Would it affect income or other inequalities (e.g. ethnicity, disability, education), and if so, how? Who would benefit (groups of people) and who would not?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) the gap between the North and the South?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) the gender gap?
    • Environmental
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) the amount of energy we use?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) the amount of waste we produce?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) the other living organisms and nature?
    • Economic
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) our time balance between work and leisure?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) productivity and efficiency?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) the amount and the quality of our consumption?
      • Would it affect (and if so, how) employment?
  • Step 2: What kind of socio-economic restructuring (if any) would it need to be applied? Are the existing national and international institutions suitable or would it need new institutions and how should these be? Would it require some kind of change in the way we usually think?
  • Step 3: After all, what would be the positive and the negative outcomes of such a change in the way the need/desire is covered? Would it be a sustainable way to cover our need/desire, in social, economic or environmental terms?

During the discussion in their group, students should keep notes so that they make a summary of their discussion and present it to the rest of the class in the next topic.

Topic 6: Rethinking development: Degrowth, Buen Vivir, Ubuntu and (Eco-) Swaraj

Description: This session will focus on alternatives to/of development coming from both the Global North and the Global South (or the Minority and Majority World respectively), as well as on the relationship between the development paradigm and the civilizational model and traditions. We will examine Degrowth, a European origin academic and social movement, Buen Vivir (Sumak Kawsay) formulated in Ecuador and Bolivia, Ubuntu, an African concept of well-being and development, and Swaraj, an Indian concept of self-governance which constitutes the base for Eco-Swaraj, a political project of radical ecological democracy. Students will also continue the lecture activity of the previous course.

Proposed Readings

Chuji, M., Rengifo, G., & Gudynas, E. (2019). Buen Vivir. In Kothari, A., Salleh, A., Escobar, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta A. (eds.),  Pluriverse: a post-development dictionary. New Delhi: Tulika Books, 111-113.

D’Alisa, G. (2019). Degrowth. In: de Sousa Santos, B., Meneses, M.P., Bicas M., de Noronha, S., & Ramírez, R. (eds.), Dicionário Alice. https://alice.ces.uc.pt/dictionary/?id=23838&pag=23918&id_lingua=2&entry=24248.

Escobar, A. (2015). Degrowth, postdevelopment, and transitions: a preliminary conversation. Sustainability science, 10, 451-462. https://www.degrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ESCOBARDegrowth-postdevelopment-and-transitions_Escobar-2015.pdf

Kallis, G., Demaria, F., & D’Alisa, G., (2015). Introduction: Degrowth.  In: D’Alisa, G., Demaria, F., & Kallis, G. (eds.), Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era. Routledge,1-17.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312967823_Introduction_to_Degrowth_A_Vocabulary_for_a_New_Era_2015_PDF

Ewuoso, C., & Hall, S. (2019). Core aspects of ubuntu: A systematic review. South African Journal of Bioethics and Law, 12(2), 93-103. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.7196/SAJBL.2019.v12i2.679

Kothari, A. (2019). Radical Ecological Democracy. In: Kothari, A., Salleh, A., Escobar, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta A. (eds.),  Pluriverse: a post-development dictionary. New Delhi: Tulika Books, 289-292.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity (part 2): Each group presents a summary of its discussion (in the form of a ppt) where they will refer to the changes that this different way of meeting a need/desire implies, without referring to the chosen way. The rest of the class should guess by looking at their diverse economies’ iceberg which was the way they have chosen. Afterwards, the class discusses the presentation and they can add other positive and negative outcomes or other prerequisites, regarding the subject in consideration (social, environmental or economic)  as well as regarding the other two subjects.

Topic 7: Introduction to Commons

Description: This section is an introduction to the commons debate. More specifically, we will refer to the beginning of the relevant academic dialogue. The discussion is introduced as an answer to the logic of privatization and enclosures and attempts to highlight a different economic, social and political model. More specifically, it highlights various practices of creating and managing a variety of commons that aim to serve the needs of a democratically participating community. We will also refer to the variety of commons throughout history.

Proposed Readings

Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162(3859): 1243–1248.

Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge university press, (chapters 1,2,3).

Bollier, D. (2014). Think like a commoner: A short introduction to the life of the commons. New Society Publishers (chapters 1,9,10).

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

Lecture activity:

• Each group tries to answer 3 questions regarding the case when the chosen need is met in the typical way and when it is met by the way they chose in topic 5.

a) What is the main resource that is used for covering the need/desire? Who owns it?

b) Who is responsible for producing, managing and maintaining this resource?

c) Who is responsible for setting the rules relative to the use of this resource?

d) Can we find any commons in the above?

• Each group should develop a non-verbal way to present the found commons to the rest of the class and then they can discuss their answers with the rest of the class.

Topic 8: The Commons and SE

Description: This is the second section where we will deal with commons. Based on what we learned in the previous section, we will refer to the different theoretical approaches of commons as well as to the processes of establishing and governing a common, connecting these to SE practices.

Proposed Readings:

Dietz, T., Ostrom, E., & Stern, P. C. (2003). The struggle to govern the commons. Science, 302(5652), 1907-1912. https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.1091015?casa_token=gIdLXQSXL1oAAAAA%3Ap8gSCc59MTYuxKLWKnVSBL0FblnHLrhsUSkZGZRcc1GQSaeBwQW4PTSaWSzEKNxAsfrnQ66-uVbvPZ8

Bollier, D. (2014). The commons as a template for transformation. Great Transition Initiative, 1-14. https://greattransition.org/publication/the-commons-as-a-template-for-transformation

De Angelis, M., & Harvie, D. (2014). The commons. In The Routledge companion to alternative organization, 280-294), Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203725351-23/commons-massimo-de-angelis-david-harvie

Linebaugh, P. (2010). Some Principles of the Commons. https://www.counterpunch.org/2010/01/08/some-principles-of-the-commons/

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Each group revisits its diverse economies’ iceberg and tries to find which of the ways to cover the need/desire is or are the best to enlarge the commons. They can choose one of the ways that are already mentioned or even find a new one.
• Each group presents its line of thought in choosing this way as the best to enlarge the commons and then there is discussion among the class regarding if this is indeed the best way to enlarge the commons and what are the possible consequences, difficulties and challenges of this way.

Topic 9: Promoting transition

Description: During this module we have discussed the problems of today's mainstream economy and we have presented a series of alternative perspectives of the economy. In the final section we will refer to the academic approaches to transition strategies. The questions that we will try answering here are the following: Is a transition to a different economic model possible?, What should be the individual and collective actions in this direction?, What could be the role of politics and the state?, How will we secure the needed resources?.

Proposed Readings:

Bauwens, M., Kostakis, V., & Pazaitis, A. (2019). Peer to peer: The commons manifesto. University of Westminster Press. (chapter 5). https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/2e3f561d-b1f5-4e7c-8da3-ccab0f00501d/UWP-033-REVISED.pdf

Holloway, J. (2010). Crack capitalism. Pluto Press (part 1-4 and 7-8).

Wright, E. O. (2020). Envisioning real utopias. Verso Books. (chapters 4-7). https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2143-envisioning-real-utopias

Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006). A postcapitalist politics. University of Minnesota Press. (chapter 7)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Each group takes on one of the above authors and draws on a piece of paper the path they propose for transition. The drawing must include the way of organizing, the ways of individual and collective action and the role of the local or national state. Τhen the different drawings are presented to the class. The discussion will include the differences of the approaches and the problems, difficulties and contradictions of each path to transition.

Learning outcomes

The aim of the module is to introduce students to the concept of social economy and the relative and interconnected theoretical approaches. It also aims to familiarize them with the debate on mainstream economy vs alternative economies and its implications for social, environmental and economic well-being. More specifically, by the end of the module, students will be able to:

• Explain the current major social and environmental problems and challenges and justify how they relate to the mainstream economic model.
• Recognize and classify the diverse economic activities that contribute to well-being.
• Demonstrate understanding of the theoretical framework of social economy and of its historical evolution, as well as recognize the different views regarding social economy held by different stakeholders.
• Become aware of the different place-based paths of SEs' historical ecolution.
• Define what is social economy and what constitutes a common.
• Demonstrate understanding of the theoretical approaches and the historical evolution of the commons.
• Develop a way of thinking regarding the establishing and governing of a common.
• Critically evaluate how the current development paradigm affects sustainability and recognize alternative development approaches that can assist the flourishing of alternative economies.
• Understand, propose and critically evaluate transition strategies that can promote alternative economies’ flourishing.  
• Accounting for diversity in development theory, SE and the commons.
• Reflect on how the way of covering our needs and desires in our everyday life relates to the economic model as well as to the development paradigm.

Assessment methods

Students' assessment will be based on the following:

• A 10-minute group presentation (during Topic 6) of the changes that the chosen different way of meeting a need/desire implies (25%). (See above the Proposed Lecture Activities in Topics 5 and 6).
• An individual 7-8 minute presentation of the historical evolution of the social economy in each students’ country or place of origin (25%). The presentation should include data on the framing, forms, main values and main challenges of SE in each place (See above the Proposed Lecture Activities in Topic 4).
• An individual 3000 words essay on how the chosen different way of meeting a need/desire answers to the urgent challenges facing the world today (50%).

Instructions for trainers

The main activities in this module focus on making students aware of the different possible ways to cover their needs and desires and critically evaluate them. Below, you can find some tips and instructions categorized by topic.

Topic 1:

• The instructor should encourage students to form international groups and avoid grouping among students with the same nationality, in order to facilitate networking and exchanging of different experiences.
• Instead of letting each group choose one of the needs/desires in the blackboard for further elaboration, the instructor can guide the groups in the choice of topics/needs (eg food, waste management, clothing, energy) so as to ensure that it is a topic that indeed can serve the purpose of the activities and it connects to social economy and the commons.

Topic 2:

• The activity here aims to present the diversity of alternative economic practices, while also connecting these practices with their driving motives. This is crucial in dissolving the main hypothesis behind neoclassical economics about the maximization of utility as the driving force behind all human behavior.
• Avoiding mentioning the referred words (state, capitalism, power, authority, usually, world) in the last step of the activity aims to help students deviate from the capitalocentric point of view in accordance with the theory of diverse economies.
• Encourage the groups to share with the rest of the class if they ecnoucountered any non-so-usual and/or place-specific ways of covering the needs. Students that are familiar with these kind of practices can share their knowledge on them with the rest of the class.

Topic 3:

• It is highly encouraged to co-teach this topic in collaboration with a SE practicioner who is familiar with the different views on SE (e.g. e member of a SE supportive or umbrella organization).
• If the class consists of international students, it makes more sense for the trainer to use texts of international organizations. If, on the other hand, the class consists of people sharing the same nationality, texts coming from the national and/or regional and local government can also be used.

Topic 4:

• Regarding the assignment on the historical evolution of SE, again, if the class consists of international students, it should focus on the national level and if it consists of people sharing the same nationality, it should focus on a regional or local level (depending on which makes more sense for the particular national context and government structure).
• This topic can be split into two meetings, one meeting involving the lecture and the first activity and asecond meeting in the form of workshop dedicated to the individual presentations and the relevant discussion.

Topic 5:

• This topic can also be splitted into two meetings, one lecture and one workshop dedicated to the activity.
• The groups can proceed in this activity with the alternative way they chose in the second topic or go for a different one.
• Again, the instructor can guide the groups in choosing an alternative way that serves the purpose of the activity and relates to social economy and/or the commons. The instructor, having in mind the alternative way that each group will have to elaborate on, can also assign a subject of discussion (social, economic, environmental) to each group instead of assigning them via lottery. This can help promoting interesting presentations and discussions as well as keeping a balance regarding the difficulty of each assignment (since presenting the results of the discussion is one of the three assignments in this module).
• During this activity and its presentation during the next topic, students might be confused, as the boundaries regarding the dimensions under study (especially between economic and social) are blurred. This doesn’t constitute an obstacle in any case, and it is rather an opportunity for the instructor to underline the interconnection between the three dimensions which are used for analytical purposes.
• When referring to the question about the needed socio-economic and institutional restructuring the instructor should give some examples to make it easier for the students to understand (eg. international environmental organizations, international development agencies, national legal context, educational and research institutions). If students still find it difficult to deal with this question the instructor can offer each group some particular guidance regarding the institutions they can consider in each case.

Topic 7:

• Some examples of nonverbal ways to present the found commons can include drawings, collages, gestures and pantomime.

Topic 8:

• It is highly encouraged to co-teach this topic in collaboration with a commons practicioner who can provide a practical example on the process of establishing and governing a common and its challenges.
• The trainer(s) should keep in mind to invoke conversation on the challenges and difficulties in the process of commoning, if this doesn’t happen organically during the discussion in the class.

Core Reading List

In addition to the theme-specific references listed above, we suggest the following core readings for the module:

Essential Reading

D'Alisa, G., Demaria, F., & Kallis, G. (Eds.). (2014). Degrowth: a vocabulary for a new era. Routledge.

Fournier V. (2008). Escaping from the economy: The politics of degrowth. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 28, 528-545.

Gibson-Graham, J. K., & Dombroski, K. (Eds.). (2020). The handbook of diverse economies. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Ghosh, B., Ramos-Mejía, M., Machado, R. C., Yuana, S. L., & Schiller, K. (2021). Decolonising transitions in the Global South: Towards more epistemic diversity in transitions research. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 41, 106-109. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/74920507/Ghosh_et_al_2021_Decolonising_transitions_research-libre.pdf?1637407530=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DDecolonising_transitions_in_the_Global_S.pdf&Expires=1701940680&Signature=PYYf5SsGwHnse4Ow1aOrYSxVJSL4TUfUhNca5FlZn9BvIflGJR1z5TeV6EPw5R9vmbhHGZ5VG~c1v~OkDYdZ-o-9U-EK1vcOH7bfZoY~ZAk7IfbjN8yq57KwdUdzNBnF7BzpMZZyeun-ig2ogoivXI9aJ9-maZpwcNNT~S4B2QtKNT0EmijPU3jojh-jbCqqjSzQu6dR15JgscX2MC-CbFW8xj0lQh9x1W3DwqZN8bQBvM5Vki1GX6~ZWb42ILPvoyuPkK2tVOTB-6IbZwmBrLQYu0DBXQbyImLOP0PflDLsruaqQ-CsPjIgbLybk8jkyltm3Lh1F8y-8pNo5puS8Q__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

Harvey, D. (2011). The future of the commons. Radical history review, 109, 101-107.

Kothari, A., Salleh, A., Escobar, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta, A. (2019). Pluriverse. A Post-Development Dictionary. Tulika Books.

Laville, J. L. (2023). The solidarity economy. University of Minnesota Press.

Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge university press.

Polanyi, K. (2001). The great transformation: The political and economic origins of our time. Beacon press.

Schmelzer, M. (2016). The Hegemony of Growth: The OECD and the Making of the Economic Growth Paradigm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781316452035

Utting, P. (ed.) (2015). Social and Solidarity Economy: Beyond the Fringe. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Further Reading

Amin, A., Cameron, A., & Hudson, R. (2002). Placing the social economy. Routledge.

Amin, A. (Ed.). (2009). The social economy: International perspectives on economic solidarity. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Bakker, K. (2007). The “commons” versus the “commodity”: Alter‐globalization, anti‐privatization and the human right to water in the global south. Antipode, 39(3), 430-455. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=f7a49ef00825ec9885a2761a0c0005694c5b7dac

Čajka, A., & Novotný, J. (2022). Let us expand this Western project by admitting diversity and enhancing rigor: A systematic review of empirical research on alternative economies. Ecological Economics, 196, 107416.

Demaria, F., Schneider, F., Sekulova, F. and Martinez-Alier, J. (2013). What is Degrowth? From an Activist Slogan to a Social Movement. Environmental Values, 22(2), 191-215.

Escobar, A. (1992). Imagining a Post-Development Era? Critical Thought, Development and Social Movements. Social Text, (31/32), 20-56.

Escobar, A. (2010). Latin America at a Crossroads. Cultural Studies, 24(1), 1-65.

Gibson-Graham, J.K. (2006a). A Postcapitalist Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Gibson-Graham, J.K. (2006b). The End Of Capitalism (As We Knew It). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Jackson, T. (2009). Prosperity without growth: Economics for a finite planet. Routledge.

Kallis, G. (2018). Degrowth (The Economy: Key Ideas) (1st ed.). Agenda Publishing.

Kallis, G., Paulson, S., D'Alisa, G., & Demaria, F. (2021). The case for degrowth. Polity Press.

Nelson, A., & Schneider, F. (Eds.). (2018). Housing for degrowth: Principles, models, challenges and opportunities. Routledge.

North, P., & Scott Cato, M. (Eds.). (2017). Towards just and sustainable economies: The social and solidarity economy North and South. Policy Press.

Ostrom, E., Burger, J., Field, C. B., Norgaard, R. B., & Policansky, D. (1999). Revisiting the commons: local lessons, global challenges. Science, 284(5412), 278-282.

Quarter, J., Mook, L., & Armstrong, A. (2017). Understanding the social economy: A Canadian perspective. University of Toronto Press.

Santos, B. de. (2004). The World Social Forum: Toward a Counter-hegemonic Globalisation (Part I). In J. Sen, A. Anand, A. Escobar, and P. Waterman, eds.,The World Social Forum: Challenging Empires, New Delhi: Viveka Foundation, pp.235–245.

Stavrides, S. (2016). Common space: The city as commons. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Ziai, A. (ed.) (2007). Exploring post-development: theory and practice, problems and perspectives. 1st ed. London, New York: Routledge.

Total number of credits

15 ECTS

Module 3: Skills and governance

Motivations and incentives are not enough to set up and run SE organizations. One of the most important ingredients to set up and succesfully run any type of SE organization is skills and competences. Skills can include either hard skills, namely those which are usually (though not exclusively) obtained through formal education/training, such as business management, accounting, marketing etc. or soft skills, namely those which are usually (though not exclusively) acquired through non formal and informal education and which are linked to social competences and personality traits, abilities and mentality, such as team building, active listening, conflict resolution, etc.

Both hard and soft skills are much needed in the context of a SE organization, even more so than in the case of a capitalist enterprise. This is because a SE organization is not mainly motivated by profit maximization, but by a set of social, environmental and economic goals. Serving all these goals simultaneously, makes running a SE organization a quite complex process, which demands a wide range of both hard and soft skills.

The current module focuses on soft skills as hard skills are mainly covered in module 5. Since soft skills cannot be easily taught in theory, but mainly in practice and especially group practice, the module includes a wide range of activities and discussion questions to booster interaction among the students and the collective development of these skills.

Curriculum details

Topic 1: Introduction to skills

Description: Introduction to the distinction between hard and soft skills, emphasizing the importance of soft skills for SE organizations in addition to hard skills. This session also aims to raise a discussion among students around how skills are acquired through formal, non formal and informal education and introduce them to the basic project each team will work throughout the module.

Proposed readings

Cinque, M. (2016). Lost in translation. Soft skills development in European countries. Tuning Journal for Higher Education, 3(2), 389-427.

Schulz, B. (2008). The importance of soft skills: Education beyond academic knowledge. NAWA Journal of Language & Communication, 2(1).

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220727-soft-skills-the-intangible-qualities-companies-crave

https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1517&langId=en

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Discussion theme 1: Hard and soft skills

-Can you mention other examples of hard and soft skills?

-Note the ones that you possess and the ones that you would like/find important to develop.

Students form groups of 6-7 people and each group chooses or is assigned a different type of SE organization by the trainer/educator. Then each group discusses among itself the following questions and presents the results of the discusssion to the rest of the class.

-Which of the skills mentioned in the previous step do you consider as most important for your assigned SE organization?Why? Note them in a skills' matrix.

-Are they mostly hard or soft skills? Why is that?

• Discussion theme 2:  How are skills acquired?

Each group discusses the following themes and presents the results of the discussion to the rest of the class.

-Check on the skills’ matrix you created as a group for your SE organization and refer to how these skills are usually acquired.

-Can you think of any other ways of acquiring these skills, apart from the usual ones?

• Lecture activities: Recognizing and assessing the skills that a particular SE organization needs.

Lecture activity 1:SSE profiles cardgame

Lecture activity 2: ISSE online game

Topic 2: Boosting creativity and visionary thinking

Description: The session focuses on creativity, out of the box thinking and visionary thinking. These are fundamental skills for promoting an organizations’ economic as well as social and environmental goals. Furthermore, they can foster social innovation which is closely related to the SE. The session encourages the development of creative, out of the box and visionary thinking through team games.

Proposed readings

Haber, P. (2010). Progressive leadership: Models and perspectives for effective leadership. In K. A. Agard (ed.), Leadership in nonprofit organizations: A reference handbook, vol. 1 (pp. 312-320). Sage Publications.

Jackson, B., Nicoll, M., & Roy, M. J. (2018). The distinctive challenges and opportunities for creating leadership within social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 14(1), 71-91.

Rothauer, D. (2018). Vision & Strategy. Birkhäuser.

Weisberg, R. W., & Markman, A. (2009). On “out-of-the-box” thinking in creativity. Tools for innovation, 23-47.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity 1: Bad idea brainstorm
• Lecture activity 2: One word method
• Lecture activity 3: Cover story

Topic 3: Communication skills

Description: This session focuses on the development of active listening, empathy, non-violent communication and flexibility. These are fundamental skills for democratic governance as well as conflict management in all types and forms of SE organizations. Through the use of videos and games students have the opportunity to familiarize with and practice these skills.

Proposed readings

Leonardo, N. (2020). Active listening techniques: 30 practical tools to hone your communication skills. Callisto Media, Inc.

Rosenberg, M. B., & Chopra, D. (2015). Nonviolent communication: A language of life: Life-changing tools for healthy relationships. PuddleDancer Press.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Discussion theme 1: Watch the following videos: Brené Brown on Empathy  and  Carl Rogers Defines Empathy and discuss what empathy is, how it can be manifested through finding examples in everyday life and why should it matter for SE initiatives.
• Lecture activity 1: The Three-Chairs exercise
• Lecture activity 2: The Empathy Cards Time required: 10-15 minutes Have everyone write anonymously on index cards one thing that worries them about their work (paid or voluntary, inside or outside of the SE) or that causes them anxiety–something they feel like they can’t share with many people. Shuffle them thoroughly and place a card at each seat at the table. Ideally everyone receives someone else’s card, and can see that everyone else has fears and vulnerabilities just like them. It generates a ton of empathy and goodwill at the start of the conversation, and opens up candid sharing much earlier. Examples of things people have written on such cards: ·       “I feel like I’m everyone else’s cheerleader, but no one is mine”. ·       “I’m thinking of giving up” ·       “Every time I pitch poorly, I feel like I’m letting my entire team down” Have participants read out the card they received, so they could see around the room how many people clearly agreed or felt the same way. What did they observe and how they felt while writing and while reading the cards?

Topic 4: Engaging with diversity and team building

Description: The first part of the fourth session explores diversity awareness and how this matters to SE. Students discsuss and reflect on how privileges or the lack of them might influence our stances and views, can create power relations within an organization and in turn affect collective decision-making. The session also focuses on openness to critique to promote a fruitful dialogue as a prerequisite of collective decision-making. During this second part, students examine tools and methods to foster team building and embrace equality within diversity, which can also promote smooth collective decision-making. So, in this session the focus is on how we can operate as a team, not by trying to “hide” or eliminate our differences but by acknowledging them and working with them.

Proposed readings

Carter, G. (2011). Over 600 Icebreakers & Games: Hundreds of ice breaker questions, team building games and warm-up activities for your small group or team. Hope Books.

Forsyth, D. (2010). Group Dynamics. (Chapter 12 - Teams, pp. 351-378). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.  

Miranda-Wolff, A. (2022). Cultures of Belonging: Building Inclusive Organizations that Last. HarperCollins Leadership.

Pynes, J. E. (2008). Human resources management for public and nonprofit organizations: A strategic approach (Vol. 30). John Wiley & Sons, pp.88-114 (Managing a Diverse Workforce).

Rogers, M. G. (2017). You are the Team: 6 simple ways teammates can go from good to great.

Scannell, M., & Scannell, E. E. (2009). The big book of team-motivating games: spirit-building, problem-solving and communication games for every group. McGraw Hill Professional.

Whitney, D., Cherney, J., Trosten-Bloom, A., & Fry, R. (2004). Appreciative team building: Positive questions to bring out the best of your team. iUniverse.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity 1: X and Y game (p.9-10)
• Lecture activity 2: Diversity awareness exercise -The groups already formed in topic 1 are given a hypothetical scenario fitting for their assigned SE organization. It is suggested that these scenarions draw from real experiences of SE organizations. E.g.1:We have a cooperative grocery store which, due to poor financial management, has accumulated a debt of 20,000 euros in bills and suppliers. How do we deal with it? , E.g.2: We have a 300-member urban cooperative, which requires at least 10% attendance in order to make a decision through the General Assembly. However, very few memebers have been attending the last few General Assemblies and we are barely reaching quorum, so we need to find a solution to increase participation in the General Assemblies. E.g.3: We have a cooperative café and one person of us is permanently late for her/his shift, which results in burdening thei co-workers on the shift with more workload. How do we collectively deal with this? -Now, each person in the group has to draw one card from a pool of cards, created by the educator/instructor, that describe a different character. Each card describes the characteristics and multiple identitities of a person in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, family obligations etc. E.g. Martha is a native woman  of middle income with two underaged children, Romero is a 2nd generation immigrant from Peru etc. -The group deals with the assigned scenario for their SE organization, trying to reach a decision and each person adopts a position fitting to the given character.

Topic 5: Conflict management

Description: This session addresses pitfalls and opportunities that arise when dealing with a conflict within a SE organization, which is one of the biggest problems SE organizations face, according to their members.  It offers a set of tools and methods to deal with a conflict and make use of earlier developed skills, such as empathy and active listening, in order to facilitate conflict management. It also focuses on the development of facilitation skills.

Proposed readings

Arbinger, T. (2015) The Anatomy of Peace. 2nd edn. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/116311/the-anatomy-of-peace-resolving-the-heart-of-conflict-pdf.

Forsyth, D. (2010). Group Dynamics. (Chapter 13 - Conflict, pp. 379-409). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.  

Runde, C. E., & Flanagan, T. A. (2008). Building conflict competent teams (Vol. 116). John Wiley & Sons. Available at: http://www.untag-smd.ac.id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_1/CONFLICT%20MANAGEMENT%20%20Building%20Conflict%20Competent%20Teams.pdf

Smith, W. K., Gonin, M., & Besharov, M. L. (2013). Managing social-business tensions: A review and research agenda for social enterprise. Business Ethics Quarterly, 23(3), 407-442.

Stone, D., Patton, B., & Heen, S. (2010). Difficult conversations: How to discuss what matters most. Penguin.

Facilitating for Gender Balance

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Discussion theme 1: Discuss students’ conflict experiences in their SE organizations (or in their workplace or social groups if they do not have any experience as SE organization members).
• Discussion theme 2: Definition-Negatives-Positives. Each group discusses among itself a) the definition of “conflict management”, b) the problems and negative outcomes  that might be caused by a conflict in their assigned SE organizations, c) the positive outcomes that might result from the conflict, and notes them down. Then, one person from each team presents to the classroom the results of the groups’ discussion.
• Lecture activity 1: Watch the following video: Resolving Conflict. Then the students try to apply the steps for conflict resolution in a hypothetical scenario given by the trainer/educator. One person assumes the role of facilitator. E.g. We are running a cooperative bookstore with X members, 6 of whom work in the store and the rest volunteer in administrative and financial management and promotion. A member of the cooperative denounces one of the workers for promoting the books of a publishing house with which she has worked in the past and proposes to fire her and suspend her membership, as it affects the integrity and transparency of the cooperative. The co-operative is divided into 2 groups, one of which supports the dismissal of the worker and the other is not.
• Lecture activity 2: “Two sides to every story” exercise

Demanding coworkers, irritable customers, and unreasonable clients. While not something we typically remember fondly, those experiences do offer an opportunity for learning. The idea of this exercise is to try to defend some of the more unreasonable or absurd demands we’ve experienced. To do this, we have to truly put ourselves in the shoes of the person making the demand. The goal isn’t necessarily to agree with what they’re asking but to begin understanding it.

2 persons needed/Time required: 15-20 minutes

How to do the exercise: Have everyone recall a time in which they felt someone was being unreasonable. Break the group into pairs.

Divide the class in pairs of 2. Start with one participant telling the story about the situation from their point of view. The other person is to listen closely (this is a great opportunity to use active listening skills if you’ve already completed that activity) and make mental note of the key details.

The second person should try to imagine what the “irrational” person’s position was. As they’re hearing the story, try to imagine:

• Why the person was making this request

• How they felt

• What the impact of the situation was on them

• Reasons why it may not be so unreasonable

When the story ends, the listener should attempt to play devil’s advocate and explain why they understand the “unreasonable” party’s position.

Why it works: Everyone has a point of view, and often, they differ. Instead of siding with the person telling the story, this exercise forces the listener to closely examine the circumstances around the scenario and imagine why the other party felt a certain way. This can highlight points of view that weren’t considered and create a greater sense of understanding.

Topic 6: Democratic decision-making

Description: This session addresses the challenges of democratic decision-making and offers tools and methods to resolve potential pitfalls when engaging with democratic decision-making. Democratic decision-making is in the core of any SE organization but can be a quite challenging process. After engaging with what democratic decision-making concerns and how it can be performed, students will make use of already developed skills, as well as tools and methods, to practice democratic decision-making and reflect on the possible shortcomings in this process.

Proposed readings

Forsyth, D. (2010). Group Dynamics. (Chapter 11 - Decision Making, pp. 313-350). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.  

Rothschild, J. (2018). Creating participatory democratic decision-making in local organizations. In R. A. Cnaan & C. Milofsky (Eds.), Handbook of community movements and local organizations in the 21st Century (pp. 127-140). Springer International Publishing.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity 1: Simulation of collective decision-making in a SE organization.

Each group revisits the scenarion given in topic 4, during the diversity awareness exercise, and tries to reach a final decision as well as draw an action plan to implement the decision. Then, the group presents the decision to the rest of the class with a small theater act. After the 1st presentation it repeats the theater act but this time, the audience can intervene, assume a role of a person of the presenting group in the act and propose other solutions. At the end of the 2nd act the class reflects on and discusses what worked and what didn’t, if things could be different in practice, what other challenges might arise etc.

The above activity is based on the "theatre of the oppressed" technique. Apart from offering an interactive method to collectively reflect on democratic decision-making methods it aims to familiarize students with this technique, as a way of offerring insights to a SE organizations' challenges and relative decision-making processes as an external observer.

Topic 7: Organizational skills

Description: Introduction to organizational and time-management apps (eg loomio, doodle) and methods that assist organization and coordination within a democratic governance context.

Proposed readings

What is Loomio?

How to use Doodle

How to get started: monday.com

Starhawk, S. (2011). The empowerment manual: a guide for collaborative groups. New Society Publishers. Available at: https://sustainabilitypopulareducation.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/the-empowerment-manual_nodrm.pdf

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity 1: Organize your next assembly, using an online meeting scheduling tool, taking into consideration the action plan you developed in the previous session to form the agenda and assign roles and duties.
• Lecture activity 2: The Vision Board Exercise. A vision board is essentially a visual manifestation of our goals. Ask from the fellow students to create their team’s vision board envisioning they are part of a SE organization.  The team should record their team’s primary aim and sub-goals. This will work as a GPS for the team. With this physical layout of the goals, the team will be able to constantly see their  vision and be motivated to stick with the plans and tools needed that will enable them to perform efficiently.  Having to choose pictures and words that speak to the team, gives you a crystal clear vision of what the team wishes to achieve and remain consistent in their pursuit. The instructor will ask participants to project on a A4 sheet their goals and endeavors related to the operation of their SE organization. Participants are free to draw, use words and phrases that depict their thoughts and record quotes that enhance their team’s soft skills to enable the achievement of their goals (e.g. together we can make it=boost of team spirit). Participants are invited to use these boards as an empowerment tool and could further enrich them by copying-pasting photos that helps their goals being reflected, by describing ideal co-workers profile, by envisaging superior work products/services (colorful post-its or colorful markers would make the result of the vision board more interesting).

Topic 8: Networking

Description: Networking is crucial for a SE organizations’ viability as well as for its innovativeness. “Cooperation among cooperatives” constitutes the 6th cooperative principle. This session examines why networking matters and focuses on tools, methods and skills (eg public speaking, advocacy) that promote networking.

Proposed readings

Amanatidou, E., Tzekou, E. E., & Gritzas, G. (2021). Successful Niche Building by Social Innovation in Social Economy Networks and the Potential for Societal Transformation. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 1-30.

Levkoe, C. Z. (2015). Strategies for forging and sustaining social movement networks: A case study of provincial food networking organizations in Canada. Geoforum, 58, 174-183.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lecture activity 1: Validation of partnerships in a case study
• Lecture acitivity 2: Public speaking exercise

Each member of the groups assumes a different scenario (relative to their initiatives’ form) where they have to make a short (3min) public presentation (e.g. representing the organization in a public event, representing the organization in a public consultation process, make a presentation to the local or to the public authorities to place a request, representing the organization in a SE networking event). The rest of the classroom acts as the audience which can place questions. The presenter gothers all the questions and has another 3 min to answer them. Each presentation is video-taped (if agreed) and made available to the person videotaped for future reference and reflection.

Topic 9: Connecting skills to value

Description: This session focuses on the relationship between skills and value. Which of the already examined skills and to what extent can serve profit maximization as well as the economic, social and environmental goals of a SE organization? Who benefits in each case from the development of these skills? How soft skills can promote implementing and maintaining the core values of a SE organization and what problems can arise in serving these values when some soft skills are missing?

Proposed readings

Didier, V. B., Henninger, M. C. & Akremi, Α. (2012). The relationship between members’ trust and participation in the governance of cooperatives: The role of organizational commitment. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 15(1), 1-24.

Doherty, B., Foster, G., Mason, C., Meehan, J., Meehan, K., Rotheroe, N., & Royce, M. (2009). Management for Social Enterprise (Chapter 8). SAGE.

Freeman, J. (1972). The tyranny of structurelessness. Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 151-164.

Lacan A. (2022). Value-Based Governance as a Performance Element in Social and Solidarity Economy Organizations: A French Sustainable Post-Modern Proposal. Sustainability. 14(4):2153. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042153

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Discussion theme 1: Revisit the already examined soft skills and discuss which of them and to what extent can serve profit maximization in a capitalist enterprise as well as the economic, social and environmental goals of a SE organization. Who benefits in each case from the development of these skills?
• Discussion theme 1: Each group revisits the decisions made in courses 4 and 6 and the suggestions made by the rest of the class. In each case, what values are promoted and what values may be negatively affected? Which soft and hard skills can serve these values?
• Lecture activity 1: Play the Social Economy Video Game

Learning outcomes

The aim of the module is to make students aware of the importance of skills, particularly soft skills, for running a SE organization and familiarize them with the classification between hard, soft and cultural skills. It also aims to help them develop a range of soft skills, such as creative thinking, communication skills, diversity awareness, team spirit, conflict management skills, organizational and democratic governance skills, as well as networking skills. More specifically, by the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Distinguish between types of skills and provide relevant examples.
• Identify and describe ways through which someone can obtain and develop skills.
• Understand the importance of soft skills for setting up and running any type of SE organization.
• Gain understanding of the EU’s current and future approach to skills.
• Use educational tools for a better understanding of the importance of skills and their upskilling process.
• Think creatively on how to plan activities and overcome problems in a SE organization.
• Effectively communicate in a group.
• Boost team spirit and teamwork in the organization while being aware of the teams’ diversity.
• Make use of different skills and tools to deal with a conflict in a SE organization.
• Organize an assembly and reach a collective decision.
• Plan and create networks.

Practical exercises

This module is heavily based on practical activities, many of which simulate real scenarios of running a SE organization. Each session consists of a short introduction to the relevant skill(s) either by a short video, a lecture and/or discussion, followed by practical exercises. More specifically, in the beginning of the module, students will form groups of 6-7 people, choose or are assigned a different SE organization, and work during the sessions on the scenarios arising from the real experiences of these SE organizations (Project A).  Furthermore, around the middle of the module, students will again form groups of 4-5 people, each of which will be assigned a scenario of a SE organization with detailed information regarding its type, legal form, number of participants, scale of operation etc. At the end of the module, each group will present a plan of an educational program on democratic governance, suitable for that particular SE organization (Project B).

Assessment methods

Students’ assessment will be based on the two projects they have to fulfill throughout the module (Project A and Project B). The final grade of the module will be calculated as follows: a) Participation and presentations relative to Project A (50%), b) Project B presentation  (40%), c) Self-assessment of Project B (10%) → each group will be graded by the other groups via a standardized questionnaire.

Instructions for trainers

Online meetings, virtual workshops and remote courses have not consisted the usual educational method until only recently, and especially once the COVID-19 situation occurred. As we have almost forcibly entered the digital era, we have to adapt to the changes in order to be able to efficiently perform our activities in an online environment.

While the virtual educational environment might have its challenges, it might also be an opportunity for interaction, playfulness, imagination and innovation, without any geographical restrictions involved in the process.

Online courses can be different than the offline ones in certain points, for sure. Nevertheless, like in the case of an offline classroom, they require rules which can keep the audience in alert mode.

Below one may find a set of guidelines which can facilitate the learning process for the instructor in case of an online delivery of the module, but are well intended to keep participants switched-on.

Note: Regarding the delivery of the suggested exercises of this Module, one may find more specific instructions in the Curriculum details of the Module under the Proposed Lecture activities.

Tip #1: Have a good understanding of the online rules and set a clear structure for your course.

The technicalities behind a virtual course can be demanding in several stages of the participation, ranging from the connection point until the conclusion point and everything that is involved throughout the process in between.  Therefore, the instructor should be well prepared in terms of time management and clear goal-setting of the course’s purposes. As someone might encounter technical connection issues or might not be familiar with the virtual classroom’s technicalities, the use of chat, microphone and headphone issues, instructors should be able to provide guidance right from the start to and keep in mind the possibility for disturbances which might occur at this level. In order to make this happen, they should be familiar with the online environment and online platforms such as zoom or Webex themselves first and the basic rules of an online meeting. By following simple steps, like the following, the risk of failure is eliminated. Such steps can be the following;

• Test if your connection is up and running and if your camera and mic function properly.
• Provide technical clarifications such as the use of cameras, mic, breakout rooms, time for Q&As from the start of the course.
• Insist the cameras are turned on and the mics are muted. The “raise hand” option is helpful when someone needs to take the floor.
• Create space for breaks and inform people in advance about their duration.
• Explain the use of any tool which might be used during the class, right before and not during its implementation.
• Make room for participants to actively participate and be heard either on chat or by raising their hand. Give the floor to the audience and ask for their feedback.
• If possible, appoint a moderator-facilitator to deal with the technical part so that you are more focused on the content.
• Even if all is set-up, embrace the fact that unexpected situations like power failure or connectivity outage might sometimes occur and this is OK. Things might go off-track but this is not the end of the world.
• Have a plan B in case something does not go according to the plan. For example, “I will have e-mailed my students in advance about a “short and amusing assignment”, so, in case my Wi-Fi connection fails, they will not be left in a void or will not lose interest.

Tip #2: Be creative

While some instructors might not feel very comfortable using online toοls at first, it is essential that they familiarise themselves and students with such instruments. This is not as hard as it sounds! Introducing your audience to a variety of tools, can ignite interest and commitment to the course. Tools such as Jamboard, Miro, Mural, online pooling or simple tasks through screen/sound sharing and break-out rooms, can help boost creativity, visual thinking, imagination, cooperation.  If students are not already familiar with these tools, take a few minutes to explain how they work.

Tip #3: Ask for feedback

While applying exercises, make sure that you take the time to explain how they work beforehand and ask for feedback throughout the process and right afterwards. This way you will know what goes well and what doesn’t, what needs improvement and what kind of improvement. Plus, it will let the students know their opinion matters and that they are valued.

As most of the learning activities and a great deal of the educational material are not traditionally used in academic education and more specifically in SE education, it is strongly suggested that the trainer/educator takes 5-10 minutes at the end of each topic to ask students' feedback both on educational material and activities. It is also suggested to prepare a more extensive questionnaire, that will be distributed at the end of the module, to get feedback on the module as whole. This can include questions regarding, for example, the adequacy of the educational material and methods, the delivery of the module, the sequence of the topics and the suitability and clarity of assesment methods.

Tip #4: Stay out of the center

Although you will be either moderating or leading the course, remember that the protagonists of the classroom and the recipients of the knowledge are the students. They are the ones who need to stay engaged, curious and alert. It is important to lead the orchestra so that everyone and everything work fine but it is also crucial to create space for students to work together and contribute to the process of a successful learning experience from beginning to end.

Total number of credits

15 ECTS

Module 4: Support structures in SE

Social, solidarity, and community economies do not operate in silos. Instead, they develop in real geographical contexts where local conditions define to a great extent the type, scale and amplitude of the social economy organizations that can emerge and sustain over time. In contrast to mainstream capitalist enterprises, whose level of success is measured by economic performance alone, thus creating structural inequalities, social economies can only thrive in an ecosystem made up of social structures that support their development. What is more, the level of this embeddedness ultimately defines whether the social economy will flourish or perish over mainstream economies.

Support structures are locally defined but they are produced in various scales, from local neighbourhoods all the way to the international level. They also vary in type, ranging from tangible assets like specific infrastructure, financial support instruments, or physical geographic advantages, to more intangible conditions, such as favourable institutional frameworks or local traditions. In addition, support structures are weaved through both gradual long-lasting historical processes and exceptional breakthrough events triggered by social movements or natural disasters.

Through the use of theoretical inputs and the practical application using the innovative educational board game UPSTREAM, in parallel, the current module will present the plurality of support structures necessary for the emergence and reinforcement of social economy.

Curriculum details

Topic 1: An analytical framework for SE support structures

Description

Introduction to the analytical framework used to categorise and assess the main SE support structures. This session will introduce the framework, and the three pillars of support structures, as well as introduce and initiate the board game UPSTREAM.

Proposed Readings

EC 2014, A map of social enterprises and their eco-systems. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/b556d0e5-8907-11e5-b8b7-01aa75ed71a1/language-en

SSE Knowledge Hub. UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy. (Very useful knowledge hub, also for topics 2-4 below, structured around the SDGs). https://knowledgehub.unsse.org/

Topic 2: Top-down supporting mechanisms

Description

The first pillar of support structures refers all those actors and institutions that support the social economy from a position outside the field, i.e. the state and the national supportive legislation, local and regional authorities with their supportive schemes, private foundations and other civic (non-SE) private institutions and organizations that offer financial support as well as other forms of aid, and ultimately, international institutions such as EU that create a series of supportive tools and mechanisms at the international and even the global level.

Proposed Readings

National Legislation

Adam, S., & Kavoulakos, K. I. (2020). State and Social Solidarity Economy: Friends or foes? The potential for co-construction of public policies for Social Solidarity Economy in Greece. The Greek Review of Social Research, 155, 121–150. https://doi.org/10.12681/grsr.24829

Poirier Y. et al (2018) Legislation and Public Policies in support of Social Solidarity Economy (SSE). First steps and Elements of a Practical Guide. (Available at: https://www.socioeco.org/bdf_fiche-document-5931_en.html).

Villalba-Eguiluz, U., Arcos-Alonso, A., Pérez de Mendiguren, J.C. and Urretabizkaia, L., 2020. Social and Solidarity Economy in Ecuador: Fostering an Alternative Development Model?. Sustainability, 12(17), p.6876.

Local/Regional

Bro, A., Gunnarsson, C. and Westin, O., 2013. (2013) On the road towards reinforced cooperation: Emerging structures for co-production between the public sector and the social economy, CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy, October 24-26 Antwerp.

Eizaguirre Anglada, S. (2021). Challenges in strategies for socioeconomic democratization. Assessing solidarity economy policies in Barcelona. European Planning Studies, 1–19.

Preston City Council, What is Preston Model? https://www.preston.gov.uk/article/1339/What-is-Preston-Model-

EU & International legislation

Chaves-Avila, R. and Gallego-Bono, J.R., 2020. Transformative policies for the social and solidarity economy: The new generation of public policies fostering the social economy in order to achieve sustainable development goals. The European and Spanish cases. Sustainability, 12(10), p.4059.

Laville, J.L., 2009. Supporting the social and solidarity economy in the European Union. The Social Economy: International Perspectives on Economic Solidarity, pp.232-252. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350223530.ch-011.

Private Foundations

García, M.R. and González, L.I.Á., 2011. Foundations and social economy: conceptual approaches and socio-economic relevance. CIRIEC-España, Revista de Economía Pública, Social y Cooperativa, (73), pp.61-80.

Birkhölzer, K., 2015. Social Enterprise in Germany: A Typology of Models (No. 15). Liege: ICSEM Working Papers. https://base.socioeco.org/docs/social_enterprise_models_in_germany.pdf

Rupert Scofield - Building an ecosystem of social enterprises | TEDxCambridgeUniversity

Higher Education Institutions

Nichols, N., Phipps, D., Hewitt, A. and Provencal, J., 2013. Knowledge mobilization, collaboration, and social innovation: Leveraging investments in higher education. Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research Vol. 4, No 1 Spring / Printemps, pp. 25-42

Topic 3: Support structures from the bottom-up

Description

The second pillar includes all supportive structures that are being created from the bottom up, from the SE organizations for the development and strengthening of the social economy. In this category, we can include all the local networks that operate with horizontal structures and democratic processes, the umbrella organizations, the networks and confederations of local economy actors, the various incubators and accelerators for social economy, cooperative and ethical banking initiatives, informal solidarity hubs, crowdfunding campaigns and schemes, or mutuals.

Proposed Readings

Local and regional Networks

Guarascio, C., 2022. Networks of solidarity economy, tools for local development and social innovation. International Review of Economics, 69(3), pp.383-400.

Menzani, T. and Zamagni, V., 2010. Cooperative networks in the Italian economy. Enterprise & Society, 11(1), pp.98-127.

Amanatidou, E., Tzekou, E.E. and Gritzas, G., 2021. Successful Niche Building by Social Innovation in Social Economy Networks and the Potential for Societal Transformation. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, pp.1-30.

Manrique P. (2012) From Critique to Construction: The Integrated Cooperative in Catalonia. Diagonal. 26 Agosto 2012. https://www.diagonalperiodico.net/blogs/diagonal-english/from-critique-to-construction-the-integrated-cooperative-in-catalonia.html

Xarxa d’Economia Social de Catalunya: https://xes.cat/es/

Catalan Integral Cooperative: https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Catalan_Integral_Cooperative

Incubators

Casasnovas G. and A.V. Bruno (2013). Scaling social ventures an Exploratory Study of Social incubators and accelerators. Journal of Management for Global Sustainability, 1(2), pp.1-1.

Cooperative and ethical banking

Kalmi, P., 2012. Cooperative banking. In Handbook of critical issues in finance (pp. 56-65). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Climent, F., 2018. Ethical versus conventional banking: a case study. Sustainability, 10(7), p.2152.

Ordoñez-Peralta L. A (2022), Collaboration networks as a boost to the popular and solidarity economy. Case of the savings and credit cooperatives of the Cuenca Canton. Polo Del Conocimiento (Edición núm. 68) Vol. 7, No 3. pp. 748-767

Informal solidarity hubs

Kalogeraki, S., 2019. The informal social solidarity civil society sector in Greece at times of crisis. Voluntary Sector Review, 10(2), pp.103-127.

Mutuals

Casasnovas G. and A.V. Bruno (2013). Scaling social ventures an Exploratory Study of Social incubators and accelerators. Journal of Management for Global Sustainability, 1(2), pp.1-1

Dueck, R., 2007. Laying a foundation for mutuals in Canada.

Crowdfunding campaigns and schemes

Bassi, A. and Fabbri, A., 2019. Crowdfunding: Threat or opportunity for social economy? Third sector organisations and social enterprises facing the challenge of ICT funding strategies. 7^th EMES International Research Conference on Social Enterprise.

Paoloni, P., Paoloni, N. and Modaffari, G., 2019. Crowdfunding as a new collaborative process in the knowledge economy: A literature review. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems.

Borrero Domínguez, C.R., Cordón-Lagares, E. and Hernández-Garrido, R., 2022. Crowdfunding for Social Economy organisations: success factors. REVESCO. Revista de Estudios Cooperativos, 140, 1-13.

Topic 4: Local Conditions

Description

The third pillar includes all those elements that can be termed “local conditions”, i.e. the context-specific physical or cultural conditions that have developed historically in a place that can support or hinder the development of the social economy. Such conditions usually involve traditional forms of cooperative provisioning, local imaginaries of sharing and co-producing, elements of physical geography that can, under certain circumstances, foster a spirit of cooperation (e.g. insularity), cultural norms of gift sharing and caring for the elders, imaginaries of wellbeing without profit-seeking and economic growth, crises, natural disasters and other forms of social deregulation that can potentially enact alternative practices, and other forms of social rupture and unrest such as social movements and mobilizations. All these factors have historically contributed to the fabrication of unique context-specific support structures that have given birth to enduring and diverse forms of the social economy such as in Catalonia or the Basque Country in Spain and elsewhere.

Proposed Readings

Traditional forms of cooperative provisioning

Ortmann, G.F. and King, R.P., 2007. Agricultural cooperatives I: History, theory and problems. Agrekon, 46(1), pp.40-68.

Vargas-Cetina, Gabriela. 2005. “Anthropology and Cooperatives: From the Community Paradigm to the Ephemeral Association in Chiapas, Mexico.” Critique of Anthropology 25 (3): 229–51

Locally embedded commons

Mestres, S.G. and Lien, M.E., 2017. Recovering food commons in post industrial Europe: cooperation networks in organic food provisioning in Catalonia and Norway. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 30(5), pp.625-643.

Imaginaries of frugal abundance

Latouche, S., 2015. Disaster, pedagogy of. Degrowth. A vocabulary for a new era, New York and London, pp.94-96.

Demaria, F., Kallis, G. and Bakker, K., 2019. Geographies of degrowth: Nowtopias, resurgences and the decolonization of imaginaries and places. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2(3), pp.431-450.

Gift-exchanging customs

Yan, Y., 2012. The gift and gift economy. In A Handbook of Economic Anthropology, Second Edition. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Santillo, M., 2012. Gift Economy-Civil Economy-non Profit. Perspectives to Relaunch the Southern Italy. Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, (4), pp.987-1022.

Physical geography

Kallis, G., Varvarousis, A. and Petridis, P., 2022. Southern thought, islandness and real-existing degrowth in the Mediterranean. World Development, 157, p.105957.

Crises

Arampatzi, A. (2020). Social solidarity economy and urban commoning in post-crisis contexts: Madrid and Athens in a comparative perspective. Journal of Urban Affairs, 1-16.

Bosi L. & Zamponi L., (2015), “Direct social actions and economic crises: the relationship between forms of action and socio-economic context in Italy”, PArtecipazione e COnflitto, 8(2), pp.367-391

Social movements

Giovannini, M. (2020). Solidarity economy and political mobilisation: Insights from Barcelona. Business Ethics: A European Review, 29(3), 497-509

Varvarousis, A., Asara, V., & Akbulut, B. (2021). Commons: A social outcome of the movement of the squares. Social Movement Studies, 20(3), 292-31

Kouki, H. (2019). From Claims-Based Protests to Solidarity Initiatives. Tracing Transformations of Collective Action in Athens, 2010-2017. Sharing Society, 603

Topic 5: Connections and relationships

Description

After outlining in detail the different categories, and having advanced with the first phase of the board game, we will try to bring those threads together, by focusing on the connections between the individual structures and policies, highlighting that SE structures cannot be simply viewed as a sum of distinct entities but as an emerging whole with multiple, and at times even contradictory dynamics.

Topic 6: Looking ahead

Description

Finally, using real case examples, we will move beyond the pure description of a present situation, into exploring the transgressive dynamics of reshaping the future, using backcasting technique (i.e. framing future goals, and outline the gradual steps to achieve those).

Proposed Readings

Vergragt, P.J. and Quist, J., 2011. Backcasting for sustainability: Introduction to the special issue. Technological forecasting and social change, 78(5), pp.747-755.

Learning outcomes

The main aim of the module is to provide a comprehensive outline to the students about the broad constellation of factors that may determine the environment in which social economy organizations emerge and thrive or perish. More specifically, after completing the module the students should be able to:

• Understand the multiple levels and layers of Social Economy as well as the multiple factors that either foster or hinder its development in particular contexts.
• Show good knowledge and familiarity about the main pillars of the support structures needed to support social economy.
• Show understanding of the analytical framework used to categorise and assess those pillars, including the several subcategories, and can feel comfortable presenting examples for a selected number of those cases.
• Using real life examples, to able to critically evaluate the strong points and shortcomings of existing support structure.
• Be in a position to begin identifying the connections between structures and policies that were previously presented as isolated from each other, and therefore understand the structure of SE not simply as a sum of distinct entities but as a living organism that involves different and often contradictory dynamics.
• Critically evaluate how to use the knowledge gained in practical situations, and move beyond the description and understanding of a present situation, into exploring the transgressive dynamics of reshaping the future.

Practical exercises

This module is a combination between a series of lectures, and an innovative experiential board game (UPSTREAM) that will run parallel throughout the course. The idea is that the board game will start right after an initial introduction to the module, and will run in parallel with the development of the theoretical lectures, concluding in a final synthesis session. UPSTREAM is designed as an experiential educational material to assist students to understand the multiple levels and layers of Social Economy (SE) as well as the multiple factors that either foster or hinder its development in a given geography, and is explained below in detail.

Assessment methods

The student assignment for this course on social economy support structures includes the finalisation of the three boards, including a group presentation in class.

Instructions for trainers

The board game is designed as a hybrid product that can be played either online or in class. It consists of four phases, each with its own board, and a set of cards.

Phase A

In the first phase, the students are divided into groups of 4-8 people and are invited to choose an area of research, which can be of various scales but, ideally, larger than a neighbourhood and smaller than an entire region. Then they are provided with a pdf file of the first board that can either be printed or modified online since it has interactive features and is editable. This first board consists of three areas that are demarcated on it with different colours and symbols. The three areas represent the three subcategories of support structures as defined above (Top-down Supporting Mechanisms, Support Structures from the bottom-up, and Local Conditions). The students are also provided with a series of cards (printable or editable online) with guiding questions to assist them in the “treasure hunting” of the different elements that make up the three above-mentioned fields in their research area. This initial stage aims to help the students to understand how support structures unfold in distinct fields (policy, grassroots, historically) in a certain place.

Phase B  

In the second phase of the game, the students are provided with a second board (printable or editable online) as well as some connecting tools (lines, arrows, bars and barriers, etc.). The board in the middle has an empty slot in which the students should put a printed (or screenshot) map of their actual area of research. Then, they put on the map all the elements they found in phase A of their exploration and subsequently they take the above-mentioned connecting tools with which they seek to understand which elements of this supporting structure work synergistically and which are antagonistic. In this way, students can understand the supporting structure for SE not simply as a sum of distinct entities but as a living organism that involves different and often contradictory dynamics. Phase B concludes with a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis.

Phase C

By now the main support structures have been identified, and a first effort in connecting those have been achieved. Phase 3 invites participants to evaluate the map by taking on different roles and assessing the resulting map from the position of different ideal-type citizens that are part of the ecosystem. Board 3 represents a modern Agora and provides the space for public deliberation. Students pick up a card from the set of role cards, and use some time to reflect on the local ecosystem as having emerged from the previous phases, from the position of the chosen role. Roles cards include a wide range of local stakeholders, such as the mayor, the care provider, the activist, the homeless, etc. Through this role play students are encouraged to identify further connections between structures and policies. Phase C facilitates the co-development of a community-led plan/roadmap to create territorial connections and relationships between existing structures and agencies to strengthen the SSE ecosystem.

Phase D   

In the last phase of the board game, the students are provided with a board that is snail shaped and represents the pathway towards the future, in which Social Economy and its supporting structures will be substantially stronger and widespread. The students are invited to use the richness of the dialogues between the different actors as it happened in the previous phase, as well as igniting a visionary process and describe the steps that should be followed in the next 20 years in order to complete the board of phase B with more elements and connections. The steps are represented with different names and icons on the snail-shaped board. The scope of this phase is to move beyond the description and understanding of the present and explore the transgressive dynamics of reshaping the future.

Total number of credits

15 ECTS  

Module 5: Running a SE organisation

The module "Running a SE organisation" explores the dynamics of participating in or establishing a social economy organization or enterprise. It delves into the motivations propelling individuals, including workers and volunteers, towards engagement in the social economy sector. This exploration aids readers in comprehending the driving forces behind involvement in SE and offers insights on methods to inspire others to take an interest in this field. A comprehensive range of resources is provided, covering various aspects of the social economy to afford readers a holistic understanding of the components integral to SE entities.

The decision to initiate or join a social economy organization or social enterprise is frequently rooted in the imperative to address pressing societal issues. The compelling needs—social, environmental, and economic—of the locality and community serve as robust incentives for individuals to embrace social economy activities.

The crux of successfully launching and managing SE organizations or social enterprises lies in the unwavering belief of founders, volunteers, and workers in the organization's core mission. Intrinsic motivation propels them to devise innovative and pragmatic solutions to challenges. The operational milieu within SE organizations is characterized by open dialogue and collaboration, fostering an environment where professionals are encouraged to propose and articulate ideas to reach consensus. Negotiation is inherent in SE organizations due to continuous engagement with diverse stakeholders with varying interests.

However, it is essential to acknowledge the existence of individuals with unfavorable experiences in SE organizations. These experiences often feature easy member withdrawals, internal conflicts, burnout, low visibility, protracted decision-making processes, and limited income. Recognizing these challenges is crucial for the collection of this material. The pursuit of innovative and alternative educational resources becomes pivotal in enhancing the knowledge and competencies of individuals operating in the SE sector, with the hope of mitigating the negative aspects associated with working and volunteering in such organizations.

The analysis highlights the interdisciplinary nature of competencies required for a thriving SE organization, emphasizing cross-disciplinary interactions. Key subjects include Governance, Strategy and Human Resources Management; Law and Public-Private-Partnerships; Marketing and Fundraising; Accountability; Social Impact Assessment; Finance; and Social Entrepreneurship and Business Planning. Additionally, it is observed that SE principles can be applied across various sectors, such as CSR, green initiatives, social services, health, migration, and more.

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Curriculum details

Topic 1: Business Planning

Description: The objective of the module ‘running a social economy organization or a social enterprise’, whose character is mainly applied, is to provide the tools for the preparation of a business plan suitable for the development of a new entrepreneurial activity, a new branch of enterprise or a new business idea. The development of the BP is a group activity.

Proposed readings

1. Parolini C.,Business planning. Dall'idea al progetto imprenditoriale, Pearson, 2011
2. Kotler P., Keller K, Ancarani F. Costabile M., Marketing Manager, Pearson ed.2014
3. Di Marco, Come redigere un business plan. Manuale operativo, Editore Martina, Rimini, 2007
4. Caso Norgan Theatre Ivey School of business

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

Phase 1: Students will be presented with a real community need to answer by creating a SE organization.

Phase 2: Students will be offered training on theoretical aspects of management, finance, marketing and entrepreneurship.

Phase 3: Students will also be provided with practical experiences and laboratories on such topics, adopting innovative methodology co-created within SE4Ces project..

Phase 4: in the meantime, students will keep developing their business plan to develop an answer to the need identified and will take the rest of the course to finalize it.

The whole module consists of preparing a business plan for a new business venture, launching a new product and/or market, or a new line of business.

Topic 2: Management in social economy organizations

Description: The objective of teaching is, after identifying the business characteristics of social economy organizations and social enterprises, to delve into the topic of strategic management and strategic orientation (mission, vision and values). Students will analyze the competitive formula and competitive environments in which the social enterprise operates, and identify new strategic perspectives for development.

Proposed Readings

Bandini F. (2013) Economia e management delle aziende non profit e delle imprese sociali, Wolsters Kluwer Italia Padova

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

Interviews with SE organizations:

• What are the corporate welfare policies of this SE organisation?
• What are the peculiarities of the job placement path of this SE organization?
• What are the most used contact types in your SE organisation?

Topic 3: Management Accounting in social economy organizations

Description: This section discusses the implementation of management control systems in social economy organizations and social enterprises.

Content:

1. Full Cost Accounting and Pricing
2. Activity-Based Costing (ABC)
3. Cost Behavior and Differential Cost
4. Cost Behavior and Differential Cost (continued)
5. Reporting and action

Proposed Readings

Padovani E., Young D. W., Managing Local Governments. Designing Management Control Systems that Deliver Value. London: Routledge, 2011, chapters 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Active teaching methods such as case discussions and exercises will be developed alongside classroom lectures.
• Qualified testimonies from the world of Social Enterprises and Cooperation
• Role-playing on decision making
• Gamification on organizational aspects

Topic 4: Finance for social economy organizations

Description: The objective of the course is to analyze the financial market in all its aspects: banking, financial and public management.

Content

• Financial market economics
• Finance for innovation
• Finance for sustainability: socially responsible funds
• Impact investing: Microfinance, Social impact bonds, Venture philanthropy, Crowdfunding
• Public financing: PPP and private-public agreement for welfare services
• Not only public funding: self-financing, community financing

Proposed Readings

• Rin M. e Hellmann T., Fundamentals of Entrepreneurial Finance, 2020, Oxford University Press
• Metrick e Yasuda, Venture Capital & The Finance of Innovation, 2021, Wiley
• Brealey, Myers, Allen, Sandri, Principi di Finanza Aziendale

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

Students will take part in a role-play, simulating co-design between different actors (public bodies, social economy organisations, businesses, umbrella organisations, social actors) to satisfy specific social needs. The workshop will take place in different phases, as follows:

• Start of the simulation: the Public Administration will present the notice of interest in co-planning and will start the discussion. In particular, the Public Administration will explain what has been done up to that point in the previous co-planning tables.
• Students will present the SE organizations they impersonate and the role they play in that organization (1 minute each, approximately 10 minutes total).
• The SE organizations will present their proposals in relation to the notice of interest and debate (1 hour and 30 minutes).
• The Public Administration will give a final to the co-planning table: what solution is found? How is the economic issue managed?

The SE host organizations will have the role of making this process difficult, staging typical problems encountered in co-planning, both by the Public Administration and by the SE organizations. In this way, students will be able to experiment with different styles of co-planning (e.g. hostile/collaborative public administration; SE parasitic/convincing organizations). Furthermore, students will be able to explore the possible scenarios that will open up after the co-planning (establishment of a company, return to tender mode, PPP) and will be able to address the economic topic.

Topic 5: Fundraising

The objective of the teaching is to transmit to the student the basics and main tools of fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

Content:

1. Models and techniques for fundraising
2. Main approaches that can be adopted by management to devise effective fundraising strategies
3. Techniques to ensure effective implementation of fundraising.

Proposed Readings

• Melandri V., Fundraising, Maggioli Editore, Rimini 2017

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Lectures that will introduce the concepts of Fundraising to students.
• SE organisations testimonials and small group work that will allow students to explore and apply the concepts learned during the lessons.
• Presentation of an Annual Fundraising Plan in the classroom

Learning outcomes

(Business Plan)

At the end of the module, students are able to:

• carry out the preliminary analysis necessary for the preparation of the plan;
• structure the different stages of the plan (from the analysis of competitors to positioning choices);
• evaluate the alternatives of choice in economic terms
• consider management and governance aspects in the definition of the business plan.

(Management in SE)

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• recognize the characters and problems of the different typologies of SE organizations;
• recognize the typical management modes of social enterprise in different competitive environments;
• evaluate the options for expansion/reduction of the enterprise's range of activities and the different strategies of relationship with the territory;
• hypothesize cooperative strategies in the global era.

(Accounting)

Students will know about:

• Which are the main organizations' key success factors, why they vary among different types of organizations, and how they influence decision-making processes and, thus, management control systems;
• Ways that organizations can account for their costs and how the cost accounting effort can help SE organizations' decision-making processes;
• How to measure performance in SE organizations.

(Finance)

At the end of the course the student is able to:

• know the dangers and peculiarities involved in financial activity;
• know the innovative ways of financing the social economy;
• have an overview of the reflections that have matured on the subject of the public financial management;
• analyze the future challenges that contemporary society poses in the area of financial relations in the broadest sense.

(Fundraising)

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: -

• know and apply the strategies, sources, tools, methodologies and management of fundraising;
• analyze and use the different techniques to ensure the economic, organizational and strategic sustainability of nonprofit organizations.

Practical exercises

These practical activities are designed to provide students with hands-on experiences and real-world insights into managing and operating social economy organizations and enterprises. They cover a range of topics including needs assessment, strategic management, financial control, and fundraising strategies.

Topic 1: Business Planning

Activity:

• (group activity) preparing a business plan for a new business venture, launching a new product and/or market, or a new line of business

Topic 2: Management in SE

Activity:

• Interviews with SE Organizations

Topic 3: Management Accounting in Social Economy Organizations

Activity:

• Case Discussions and Exercises

Testimonies: Qualified testimonies from the world of Social Enterprises and Cooperation.

Topic 4: Finance for Social Economy Organizations

Activity:

• Role-playing and gamification

Topic 5: Fundraising

Activity:

1. Creation of a Portfolio consisting of 4 assignments (work to be done in groups)
2. Presentation of an Annual Fundraising Plan in the classroom (work to be done in groups)
3. Oral exam (oral exam is individual).

Assessment methods

Topic 1: Business Planning

• Preparation of a Business Plan for a new entrepreneurial initiative, the launch of a new product and/or market or a new business branch. The business plan created in the group will be evaluated. The evaluation will concern the degree of originality, depth and detail that the Business plan presented will have.

Topic 2: Management in SE

• Alongside the classroom lessons, active teaching methods will be developed, such as case discussions and exercises. Qualified testimonies from the world of social enterprises and cooperation are also expected. There is also a written exam.

Topic 3: Management Accounting in Social Economy Organizations

• Assessment will be based on a combination of readings, interactive lectures and case discussions. The assessment of learning takes place on the basis of a combination of intermediate evaluation, the analysis of a case and a final individual question. The final evaluation results from the sum of the scores obtained in the various parts.

Topic 4: Finance for Social Economy Organizations

• The students' preparation will be assessed through a written exam.

Topic 5: Fundraising

• A mandatory project work. Project work is group work that concerns the application of fundraising techniques to concrete cases. It will be presented by the students at the end of the course. (20%).
• A mandatory oral exam. The interview is aimed at ascertaining the theoretical knowledge and ability to critically analyze the topics and cases covered in class. (80%).

Instructions for trainers

The module will be taught through a combination of lectures, case discussions, exercises and testimonials from industry professionals. The lectures will include the use of case studies to illustrate the various topics covered. More specifically, the module will cover:

Topic 1: Business Planning

Weekly provision of 10 lessons of 3 hours each. There will be meetings with industry professionals who will bring challenges into the classroom on which the students will devise their business plan.

Topic 2: Management in SE

Weekly provision of 10 lessons of 3 hours each. In addition to the lectures, there will be discussions and classroom exercises conducted by professionals from the non-profit world.

Topic 3: Management Accounting in Social Economy Organizations

Weekly provision of 10 lessons of 3 hours each. The lessons will be based on a combination of readings, interactive lectures and case discussions

Topic 4: Finance for Social Economy Organizations

Weekly provision of 10 lessons of 3 hours each. The course program is explored in depth during lecture hours. The lessons will be accompanied by the organization of some specific seminars.

Topic 5: Fundraising

Weekly provision of 10 lessons of 3 hours each. The course program is explored through lectures. The following activities are also planned: Case discussion, Group work; Company testimonials; A guest lecture.

Total number of credits

15 ECTS

Module 6: Creating and Assessing Value

The Social Economy raises essential questions about the sort of value we want to create, and challenges the way value is conceptualised in orthodox economics and conventional enterprises. In the Social Economy, value extends beyond financial return and encompasses economic, social and environmental objectives. Social economy organisations are driven by a social mission, broadly understood, which includes a set of principles such as solidarity, the primacy of people over capital, democratic governance, and environmental sustainability. So they aim to contribute in some ways to people and the planet’s well-being. This suggests that not only the ‘value’ they create differs markedly from that of conventional business, but also that this value is meant to benefit a range of diverse stakeholders beyond shareholders. In addition, if this ‘value’ is different from conventional understanding, it will be difficult to capture it through the traditional methods of accounting such as profit and loss account; it will call for different methods of assessment addressing different purposes. So the issue of ‘value’ in the Social Economy raises questions about what constitutes value (e.g. economic, social, environmental), for whom it is created (e.g. local producers, users, the wider community, disadvantaged groups seeking job opportunities or affordable housing and so on), how it can be assessed (e.g. using a range of qualitative or quantitative indicators), and why it is assessed (e.g. for fundraising purpose, to account to users, to mobilise internal support). This module will draw on both theoretical and practical material to consider these questions.

Curriculum details

Topic 1: Economic Value

Description: This session examines and challenges the conventional economic understanding of value and its articulation around growth, productivity and profits, or shareholder value.  It raises questions about the relationships between value, values and what we consider valuable. Using case studies, we’ll also illustrate what and who get silenced or harmed in an economic-centric view of value.

Proposed Readings

Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2008) Diverse economies: performative practices for ‘other worlds’. Progress in Human Geography, 32(5): 613-632.

Patel, R. and Moore J. (2018) A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature and the Future of the Planet. London: Verso.

Stiglitz, J. Fitoussi, J. and Durand, M. (2018) Beyond GDP:  Measuring what counts for economic and social performance. OECD Publishing, Paris.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Discussion theme 1: Is cheap food value for money?
  • The True Cost of Cheap Food

• Discussion theme 2: What is the true cost of fast fashion?
  • The True cost of fast fashion (video)
  • The True Cost: The Bitter Truth behind Fast Fashion

Topic 2: The multiple dimensions of value

Description: This session will draw upon different valuation frameworks to ask, ‘what do we want to value?’. This question helps broaden up ‘value’ to different dimensions and leads us to consider the multiple ways in which we can attribute worth or value to things, activities or relations. We’ll use various examples (e.g. related to the environment, social or economic ‘goods’) to explore the different bases on which we can value things.

Proposed Readings

Gibson-Graham, J.K. and Roelvink, G. (2010) An Economic Ethics for the Anthropocene. Antipode, 41(1): 320-346.  

Fourcade, M. (2011) Cents and sensibility: economic valuation of the nature of ‘nature’. American Journal of Sociology, 116(6): 1721-1777.

Kallis, G., Gomez, E. and Zografos, C. (2013) To value or not to value? This is not the question. Ecological Economics, 94(C): 97-105.

Miller, E. (2013) Community Economy: Ontology, Ethics, and Politics for Radically Democratic Economic Organizing. Rethinking Marxism, 25(4): 518-533.

North, P., Nowak, V., Southern, A. and Thompson, M. (2020) Generative Anger: From Social Enterprise to Antagonistic Economies. Rethinking Marxism, 32(3): 330-347.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• The Common Good Matrix outlines 4 dimensions of value: Human Dignity; Solidarity and Social Justice, Environmental Sustainability, and Transparency and Co-determination. Do you feel that these 4 dimensions offer a comprehensive overview of the multidimensional nature of value? Would you add anything else?
• How would you define each of these dimensions (you may want to think of a particular organisation you are familiar with to help illustrate your definitions)?

Topic 3: Value Conflict

Description: This session will focus on acknowledging the different dimensions of value suggests that there can be conflicts between them; for example, pursuing environmental value such as the promotion of organic agriculture could be at the expense of social value such as inclusivity. Another long-standing debate concerns whether social economy organisations can remain true to their social missions and be economically viable. We’ll explore how these various value conflicts emerge and are negotiated.

Proposed Readings

Atzeni, M. and Vieta, M. (2014) ‘Between class and the market: Self-management in theory and in the practice of worker-recuperated enterprises in Argentina’, in M. Parker, G. Cheney, V. Fournier and C. Land (Eds.) Routledge Companion to Alternative Organisation. London: Routledge.

Cornforth, C (2014) Understanding and combating mission drift in social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal 10: 3-20.

Jaspers, S. (2021) A Conceptual Model for Individual Coping with Value Conflicts. Perspectives on Public Management and Governance, 4(3): 277–290.

Pansera, M. and Rizzi, F. (2020) Furbish or perish: Italian social cooperatives at a crossroads. Organization, 27(1): 17–35.

Skarli, J.B. (2023) Responsibilization and value conflicts in healthcare co-creation: a public service logic perspective. Public Management Review, 25(7): 1238-1259.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Do social economy organisations always depart from their original values as they develop?
• Identify some examples of organisations which you feel have remained true to their values; what do you think has facilitated this enduring commitment?

Topic 4: Organising for value creation: the relationship between means and ends

Description: This session will try to address a range of questions: How does a social enterprise organise itself to create value? Are the values it aims to promote also reflected in the value creation process? To address these questions, we’ll consider the relationships between means and ends, and with the notion of prefiguration, we’ll explore whether the ways in which a social enterprise organises itself (the means) are in line with its mission and values (ends). In particular, we’ll look at how social economy values of democracy and inclusivity can be embedded in organisational governance structure and decision-making processes.

Proposed Readings

Kokkinidis, G. (2015) Spaces of possibilities: workers’ self-management in Greece. Organization, 22 (6): 847-871.

Schiller-Merkens, S. (2022) Prefiguring an alternative economy: Understanding prefigurative organizing and its struggles. Organization, 00(0): 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084221124189

Vieta, M. (2014) The stream of self-determination and autogestión: Prefiguring alternative economic realities. Ephemera, 14(4): 781-809.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Practice democratic organising and decision-making with a simple task. For example, in small groups, decide how you would organise the provision of lunch and coffee for the class.
• Watch the following video: Negotiating and Cooperating in Food Cooperatives and discuss the challenges of cooperative practices and decision-making.  

Topic 5: Value for whom?

Description: Social Economy organisations aim to benefit a broader or even different constituency than ‘shareholders’. In this session we’ll use stakeholder analysis to explore who are the main beneficiaries of an organisation, but also who else is impacted, positively or negatively, intentionally or unintentionally, by its activities. This will lead us to consider the notion of externalities, but also to go back to the idea of value conflict, and its manifestation between various stakeholder groups.

Proposed Readings

Economy for the Common Good, The Common Good Matrix

Gao, S.S. and Zhang, J.J. (2006) Stakeholder engagement, social auditing and corporate sustainability. Business Process Management Journal, 12(6): 722-740.

Willis, P. (2015) Public relations, passive aggression and critical social auditing: reflections on organisational inaction in stakeholder engagement. Journal of Public Affairs, 15(2): 220-226.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Conduct a stakeholder analysis for a set project (examples: This Master’s programme or The setting up of a Fair-Trade coffee shop on campus).
  • Map the key stakeholders (who cares?)
  • Identify their objectives in the project or the ways they will be affected (why do they care?)
  • Identify areas of potential tensions between stakeholders.

Topic 6: The Valuation process - Pricing and valuing

Description: In this session we’ll move from the questions of what is value and whom it is for, to the question of how to assess or capture it. This will take us to the area of valuation studies which consider not only the ways in which we ascribe value (e.g. the norms and criteria we use), but also the effects that this valuation process has on the things we are valuing. In particular we’ll examine the relationships between pricing and valuing, and use examples to explore how putting a market price on something (e.g. the environment, our health) can affect our understanding of and relationship with the objects of valuation.

Proposed Readings

Reinecke J. (2010) Beyond a subjective theory of value and towards a “fair price”: An organizational perspective on Fairtrade minimum price setting. Organization, 17(5): 563-581.

Pohler, N. (2020) Evaluation and the tension between generalization and particularity: The negotiation of supplementary child allowance in a collective firm. Ephemera, 20(3): 123-152.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Design a framework for evaluating the worth of a particular project (could be the same as the one used in session 5).
  • What forms of justification do you think would be most relevant in this valuation process, and what criteria would you use to define them in this case?

Topic 7: Valuation Methods

Description: In this session, the focus will shift to a more concrete level of analysis, and we will review the different methods and frameworks available to assess value, from quantitative to more qualitative ones. We’ll introduce the notion of impact and impact assessment which have attracted growing interest among Social Economy practitioners and scholars. And we’ll explore and compare different assessment models such as the Economy for Common Good framework, social auditing or Social Return on Investment.

Proposed Readings

Arena, M., Azzone, G. and Bengo, I. (2015) Performance Measurement for Social Enterprises. Voluntas, 26(2): 649-672.

OECD (2021), "Social impact measurement for the Social and Solidarity Economy: OECD Global Action Promoting Social & Solidarity Economy Ecosystems", OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2021/05, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/d20a57ac-en.

Michaelson, J., Mahony, S. and Schifferes, J. (2012) Measuring Well-Being. London: New Economic Foundation. Available at: https://neweconomics.org/uploads/files/measuring-wellbeing.pdf

Shinwell, M. and Shamir, E. (2018) Measuring the impact of businesses on people’s well-being and sustainability: Taking stock of existing frameworks and initiatives. OECD Statistics Working Papers, No. 2018/08, OECD Publishing: Paris.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Evaluate the impact of this Master’s programme for students.
  • Group discussion around: What methods would you use (e.g. qualitative or quantitative) and how would you design it (e.g. outline of a questionnaire or interview schedule)?

• Taking inspiration from the NEF report referenced above (Michaelson et al, 2012), discuss how you would evaluate ‘well-being’: what methods would you use, how would you collect information to assess it.  

Topic 8: Measuring Value - Social Return on Investment

Description: This session will focus on one of the most commonly used tools for measuring value and go through its various steps with illustrative case studies. This will lead us to revisit the questions explored earlier in the module in a more concrete way: what value does the organisation want to create, how does it aim to create it, and who are the stakeholders.

Proposed Readings

Arvidson, M., Lyon, F., McKay, S. and Moro, D. (2013) Valuing the social? The nature and controversies of measuring social return on investment (SROI). Voluntary Sector Review, 4(1): 3-18.

Nicholls, J., Lawlor, E., Neitzert, E. and Goodspeed, T. (2012) A guide to Social Return on Investment. London: The SROI Network. https://socialvalueuk.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/03/The%20Guide%20to%20Social%20Return%20on%20Investment%202015.pdf

Measuring Real Value: A DIY Guide to Social Return on Investment, NEF https://www.nefconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/sroi-valuing-what-matters.pdf

Pathak, P. and Dattani, P. (2014) Social return on investment: three technical challenges. Social Enterprise Journal, 10(2): 91-104.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Group Discussion on Measuring your impact with Social Return on Investment. A video on SROI for an educational programme ‘Tutoring for tomorrow’

Topic 9: Sustainable Value

Description: In this and the next session, we’ll go back to a broader level of analysis and explore how the question of value in the social economy can address contemporary environmental and social challenges. Here we’ll discuss how the current ecological crisis (the climate emergency, the threat of extinction of multiple species) challenges the way we create and assess value. We’ll explore how alternative models of economic development, and in particular the idea of degrowth, can deliver sustainable value.

Proposed Readings

Chertkovskaya E., Paulsson, A., Kallis, G., Barca, S. and D’Alisa Giacomo (2017) The vocabulary of degrowth: A roundtable debate. Ephemera, 17(1): 189-208.

Edlinger, G., Ungericht, B. and Deimling, D. (2021) Enoughness: Exploring the potentialities of having and being enough. Ephemera, 21(3): 159-173.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Using Edlinger et al. (2021) ideas on ‘the tyranny of ‘more’ and the value of ‘enough’’, discuss the following questions:
  • How do you understand this phrase?
  • How does it apply to your own life?
  • Can you list areas where you experience ‘the tyranny of more’? and/or areas where you experience the ‘value of enough’?

Topic 10: Reclaiming Commons Value

Description: In this final session we ask: what it would mean to create value in common and for the commons? The ideas of the common and commoning are useful to interrogate what we value, how we produce value, and for whom. For example, we may start to consider taken for granted resources such as clean air, or public space, as valuable commons resources, but also as things that are co-produced through use. The commons also offer a very inclusive vision of ownership, governance and use, and as such provide a promising model for challenging the rampaging inequalities in the production and distribution of value in the ‘conventional economy’.

Proposed Readings

Diprose, G. and Lee, L. (2022) Food rescue as collective care. Area, 54(1): 144– 151.

Fournier V. (2013/14), Commoning: on the social organisation of the commons. M@n@gement, 16 (4): 433-453.

Kostakis, V., Latoufis, K., Liarokapis, M. and Bauwens, M. (2018) The Convergence of Digital Commons with Local Manufacturing from a Degrowth Perspective: Two Illustrative Cases. Journal of Cleaner Production, 197(2): 1684–1693.

Petrescu, D., Petcou, C., Safri, M. and Gibson, K. (2021) Calculating the value of the commons: Generating resilient urban futures. Environmental Policy and Governance, 31(3): 159–174.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Play Commonspoly game
• Discuss the creation of commons value in the Food rescue case study presented at Diprose et al. (2022) paper listed above.

Learning Outcomes

The aim of the module is to familiarise students with the multidimensional and political nature of value creation, and to challenge the economic-centric logic dominant in mainstream economics and business. The module also aims to encourage students to think creatively about how to create value and to run a business with a social and ethical compass. More specifically, by the end of the module, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate understanding of the different dimensions of value and the different logics at play for attributing value.
• Demonstrate understanding of the political nature of value creation and the potential conflicts between different values and stakeholder groups.
• Critically evaluate the principles of organisational design (e.g. ownership, organisation of work, decision-making) and the ways it can be made to serve social value creation.
• Identify the various facets of a social economy organisation’s ecosystem and support network.
• Describe and compare the different methods of value or impact assessment.
• Critically evaluate how value creation in the social economy can address contemporary environmental and social challenges, and in particular how it can be articulated around the concepts of degrowth and the commons.
• Demonstrate effective use of the Value Creation Framework to define a value proposition and planning the critical activities required to deliver it, including mapping of support network, estimation of cost and identification of key financial streams.
• Critically evaluate the process of collaboration in groups, and identify potential problems and ways of addressing them.

Teaching Methods

The module will be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Lectures will include the use of case studies and videos to illustrate the various issues discussed. The seminars will be articulated around an interactive activity that will run through the course of the module. More specifically, the module will involve:

• The weekly delivery of 10 x 2-hour lectures.
• 5 x 2-hour seminars taking place every two weeks.

The series of seminars will be based on action learning groups of around 8 students (with 2 to 4 action learning groups per seminar class) working on a value creation project using the Value Creation Framework designed for this purpose. The aim of the activity is to make students reflect on the complex and political nature of value creation and of the various stages involved. At the end of these seminars, groups will need to have produced a 15-minute video presentation of their value proposition for an organisation of their choice (one they design, or an existing one). This presentation will be aimed at a potential funding body. As they work on the various stages of value creation, students will also be asked to reflect on the process of collaborating in groups (e.g. how are decisions made? Is everyone participating equally? Do leaders emerge?).

Seminar Activities

Seminar	Description
1	This seminar has two key tasks: Thinking about collaboration versus competition: each group is asked to define and contrast collaboration and competition (by providing a brief description of each as well as some examples). All groups are then given a simple task or game, some are asked to do it collaboratively, others competitively; this is followed by a comparative discussion. Introduction to the Value Creation activity: You will be introduced to the Value Creation Framework and its various stages. Action Learning Groups to start discussing what sort of ‘value’ they want their organisation to produce.
2	In this seminar, you will work on the first step of the Value Creation Framework and define the ‘value’ you want to produce and identify: What needs do you want to address, for whom, what sort of products / services would help address these needs.
3	This seminar has two key activities: Work on the second stage of the Value Creation Framework and think about how the structure of their organisation can be designed to facilitate the delivery of value. In particular, you will be asked to think about decision-making processes, and the nature of the relationships between different parts of the organisations (e.g. horizontal versus vertical). Reflect on the way decisions are taken in your own groups (e.g. have some leaders emerged? On what bases is it established? Are some voices silenced?)
4	In this seminar, you will work through the last 2 stages of the framework, namely map the supportive ecosystem (e.g. financial service providers, public bodies, social movements, training and educational providers), and plan the implementation process (list all critical activities for achieving the set value proposition, what resources -financial or otherwise- are needed to achieve the set objectives).
5	Prior to this final seminar, all groups’ video presentations will have been shared and viewed online. The seminar will be dedicated to discussing the different groups’ value propositions, as well as their experience of the collaborative process throughout the project.  The work in these seminars would be linked to the assessment based on Group Work (25%)

For the purpose of the Seminar Activities please use the Value Creation Framework. The attached file contains guidelines for Students, Educators and SE practitioners. It is a versatile tool that can be used both in class as well as by practitioners to develop a value proposition, map internal and external assets and relations, reflect on existing practices and processes and set the foundation for a workable action plan/strategy to achieve their objectives.

Assessment Methods

There are two elements of assessment linked to the seminar activities:

    Assessment 1: A 15-minute group video presentation and a supporting poster on value proposition (25%)

    Assessment 2: An individual 2000-words essay reflecting on the process of collaboration in their group (75%)

Core Reading List

In addition to the theme-specific references listed above, we suggest the following core readings for the module:

Essential Reading

Bauwens, M., & Niaros, V. (2017) Value in the commons economy: Developments in open and contributory value accounting. Heinrich Boell Foundation. Available at: https://www.boell.de/en/2017/02/01/value-commons-economy-developments-open-and-contributory-value-accounting

North, P. and Cato, MS (Eds) (2018) Towards Just and Sustainable Economies: The Social and Solidarity Economy North and South. Bristol: The Policy Press. 

Mazzucato, M. (2018) The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. London: Allen Lane.

Further Reading

Bollier, D. (2016a) Re-imagining Value: Insights from the Care Economy, Commons, Cyberspace and Nature. Berlin: Heinrich Böll Stiftung

Boltanski, L. and Thevenot, L. (2006) On Justification: Economies of Worth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Felber C. (2015) Change Everything: Creating an Economy for the Common Good. London: Zed Books.

Graeber, D. (2001) Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams. New York: Palgrave.

Harvie, D. and Milburn, K. (2010) Speaking out: How Organizations Value and How Value Organizes. Organization, 17(5): 631–636.

Helgesson, C-F. and F. Muniesa (2013) ‘For what it’s worth: An introduction to valuation studies’, Valuation Studies,1(1): 1-10.

Jackson T. (2016) Prosperity Without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow. London: Routledge

McMurtry, J. (2002) Value Wars: The Global Market Versus the Life Economy. London: Pluto Press.

Teasdale, S. and Dey, P. (2019) Neoliberal governing through social enterprise. Public Administration, 97(2): 325-338.

Patel, R. (2010) The Value of Nothing: How to Reclaim Market Society and Redefine Democracy. New York.Picador.

Pitts, F.H. (2021) Value. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Other Useful Databases and Journals

The New Economic Foundation’s website contains many reports and example of valuing in the social economy. https://neweconomics.org/

Valuation Studies:  A journal with many relevant articles

Total number of credits

15 ECTS  

Module 7: Social Economy Research Project

Your dissertation module is the culmination of the entire Masters programme on the Social Economy, where you will be given the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained throughout the course and produce an independent piece of work. It will allow you to familiarise yourself with methodological and ethical questions in doing research, to apply theoretical and practical knowledge to manage a social economy organisation or initiative, and to promote social economy principles and practices.

Once you start this module, you will be assigned a supervisor who will work with you during the full duration of the project. Your supervisor will assist you in generating a research project idea, identify and analyse the relevant literature,  and produce a coherent argument that demonstrates your ability to relate theory to practice. Your research project will help you develop vital skills for the workplace, as well as the ability to analyse real problems through an academic lens.

To complete the module, it is expected that you will undertake an independent research project working closely with a social economy organisation or community initiative of your choice. You will actively use the knowledge and skills developed throughout the course to inform your research project, and more specifically to identify, analyse and address a particular issue or challenge experienced by your chosen social economy organisation or community initiative.

Learning Outcomes

As a student and practitioner of social economy, you will need to demonstrate an ability to propose, design and execute a research project that addresses a specific organisational issue or challenge faced by the social economy organisation or community of your choice. This module is therefore designed to equip you with essential skills in qualitative and quantitative methodologies, which are essential to Social Economy consultancy and research.

The aim of the module is to provide you with the ability and relevant skills to undertake independent research in the field of social economy. It will enable you to build on the knowledge you have acquired in the programme so far by putting it into practice in the form of developing your own independent research project. You will have the opportunity to further strengthen your analytical skills as well as to develop a range of transferable skills from effective teamwork and public presentations to designing and delivering your own independent projects. 

By the end of this module, you should be able to demonstrate:

• The ability to identify, plan and undertake a substantial piece of independent research.
• The capacity to exercise a range of research skills and methods in order to produce relevant research in the field of social economy.
• An in-depth understanding of specific areas within the field of social economy based on your chosen focus of specialisation.

Analytical and synthetic thinking skills in relation to social economy theories.

Curriculum Details

Topic 1: Introduction to Dissertation

Description: This session will offer an introduction to the module and familiarise students with the process of working collaboratively with a social economy organisation or community initiative of their choice and the process of working on an independent research project. This session will address the following themes:

• Introduction to Social Economy research and why is it important.
• Key considerations in social economy research methods.
• Relevance to practice.
• The process of doing research in Social Economy, briefly covering
  • Literature review
  • Concepts and theories
  • Research questions
  • Sampling
  • Data collection
  • Data analysis

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 1)

Denscombe, M. (2010) The Good Research Guide for Small Scale Research Projects (4th ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

Denscombe (2010) suggests that there are 7 types of research questions:

1. Predicting an outcome: does y happen under circumstances a and/or  b?

2. Explaining causes and consequences of a phenomenon: is y affected by x or is y a consequence of x?

3. Evaluating a phenomenon: does y produce the benefits that it claimed to have?

4. Describing a phenomenon: what is y like or what forms does it take?

5. Developing good practice: how can we improve y?

6. Empowerment: how can we enhance the lives of those we research?

7. Comparison: do a and b differ in respect of x?

• Which of these types of questions best describe the research you want to pursue?

Topic 2: Research Strategies and Design for Social Economy

Description: This session will offer an introduction to research strategies and the processes of research design as well as familiarise students with key ontological and epistemological questions that guide their research strategies. It will cover the following themes:

• Introduction to Philosophical Paradigms in social economy research
• Positivism and Interpretivism
• Ontology and Epistemology
• Inductive-Deductive Research
• Stages in Research Design
• Formulating Research Objectives
• Developing a social economy Research Proposal

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 2)

Morgan, G. and Smircich, L. (1980) "The case for qualitative research". Academy of Management Review, 5 (4), pp. 491-500.

Žukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J. and Andriukaitienė, R. (2018) Management Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility. London: IntechOpen. (Chapter 6)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Considering the type(s) of research questions you want to pursue (as identified in the previous session), which do you think are the most appropriate research paradigm and research?

Topic 3: Literature Review and Secondary Data Analysis

Description: This session will focus on the process of conducting a literature review and secondary research covering the following themes:

• Doing a Literature Review
  • What is a Literature review and why is it important?
  • Key considerations when reviewing the literature
  • Searching existing databases

• Doing secondary data analysis
  • How to use secondary data
  • Advantages and limitations
  • Accessing secondary datasets

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 5 & 14)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Ardelaine is a French worker owned and managed wool mill started in the 1970s by 5 friends and now counting over 60 worker members (https://www.ardelaine.fr/). You want to understand the extent to which and ways in which the cooperative has managed to retained its cooperative principles whilst growing. What literature would you look at to embark on this project?

Topic 4: Qualitative Methods for Data Collection

Description: This session aims to familiarise students with the most frequently used qualitative methods for data collection as well as open up the discussion and address some key concerns and criticisms around qualitative methodologies by covering the following areas:

• Introduction to qualitative research
• Sampling in qualitative research
• Doing focus group
• Managing group dynamics
• Unstructured and Semi-Structured Interview
• The critique of qualitative research
• Similarities and Differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 17-21)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Going back to the Ardelaine example mentioned in the previous session, what qualitative methods do you think would be best suited to your project? How would you select participants for your research and what sort of questions would you ask?

Topic 5: Qualitative Methods for Data Analysis

Description: This session will focus on the most frequently used methods for analysing qualitative data by covering the following areas:

• Thematic Analysis
• Discourse analysis
• Grounded Theory
• Secondary analysis
• Using data analysis software

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 25)

Alvesson, M. and Karreman, D. (2000) Varieties of Discourse: On the Study of Organization Through Discourse Analysis. Human Relations, 53(9): 1125-1149.

Tuckett, A. (2005) Applying thematic analysis theory to practice: A researcher’s experience. Contemporary Nurse, 19(1-2): 75-87.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion question

• What would you say are the main pitfalls of qualitative analysis and how do you think they can be mitigated against?

Topic 6: Quantitative Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

Description: This session will allow students to familiarise with some of the most frequently used quantitative methods for data collection and analysis as well as key assumptions and considerations that researchers of a more quantitative orientation should be aware of. The session will cover the following themes:

• What is qualitative research: Key advantages and disadvantages
• Structured Interviews
• Structured Observations
• Sampling for quantitative research
• Designing questionnaires – issues of theory, variables, reliability and validity
• Designing questions – things to avoid, Marker questions and questions flow
• Content Analysis
• Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 11-13 & 15-16)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• You have been asked to identify the main community groups that would benefit from the creation of a green space in the neighbourhood and how they will benefit from this intervention, using a survey of 1,000 participants. Write some of the exact questions you would include in the survey.

Topic 7: Doing Ethnography and Participant Observation

Description: This session aims to familiarise students with the different types, aspects, and processes for undertaking ethnographic research as well as outline the key decisions and contingencies that ethnographers are frequently confront with.  The session will cover the following themes:

• Types of Ethnographic research
  • Organisational ethnography
    • The role of the ethnographer
    • Issues of Accessibility
  • Feminist ethnography
  • Digital ethnography
  • Field notes and Writing ethnography
  • Exiting the field

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 19)

Bell, E., Meriläinen, S., Tienari, J. and Taylor, S. (2020) Dangerous Knowledge? The Political, Personal and Epistemological Promise of Feminist Research in Management and Organization Studies, International Journal of Management Reviews, 22(2): 177–92.

Dingwall, R. (1980) Ethics and Ethnography, Sociological Review, 28: 871–91.

Manning, J. (2018) Becoming a Decolonial Feminist Ethnographer: Addressing the Complexities of Positionality and Representation, Management Learning, 49(3): 311–26.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• If you were conducting an ethnography of a feminist health centre, what personal factors would you need to consider and how do you think these would affect your ethnography?

Topic 8: Mixed Methods research

Description: Having covered all the basic aspects across qualitative and quantitative methods, this session focuses on combining quantitative and qualitative research methods as well as familiarise students with the debates surrounding this method. The session will cover the following themes:

• Why mixed methods are important?
• The debates surrounding mixed methods
• Design types for mixed methods research
• Approaches to mixed method research
• Quality issues and other important considerations

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 26 & 27)

Almeida, F. (2018) Strategies to perform a mixed methods study, European Journal of Education Studies, 5(1): 137-51.

Denscombe, M. (2008) Communities of Practice: A Research Paradigm for the Mixed Methods Approach, Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 2(3): 270–83.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• You have been asked to draw a map of assets for mental health and wellbeing in your local community. Once complete share with your group and reflect on your choice.

Topic 9: Visual and Art Methods in Social Economy Research

Description: This session will focus on the use of creative arts and visual approaches as methods for data collection and analysis. Creative art and visual data can take many forms from photographs and artistic images to creative writing and visual artefacts (e.g. buildings and objects). This session will thus familiarise students with the importance of visual and art methodologies in qualitative research by covering the following themes:

• Collecting Visual Data
• Visual Diary, Photography, Video
• Drawing, Creative Writing and Storytelling
• Sensory Data
• Visual Analysis

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 24)

Bell, E. and Warren, S. and Schroeder, J., (2014) The Routledge companion to visual organization. New York: Routledge. (Chapter 12, 14 & 16)

Calvo, S. and Morales, A. (2017) A Video-Based Case Study Research Methodology for Studying the Social and Solidarity Economy. In Zikidis, Y. (ed.) Social and Solidarity Economy: The World’s Economy with a Social Face. New York: Routledge. pp. 7-54.

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Considering your own research project, what sort of visual data or other artistic approaches do you think would be useful (if any)?

Topic 10: Ethics in Doing Research

Description: This session has been designed to allow students to familiarise themselves with the main issues and debates about research ethics, and the key ethical considerations when undertaking a research project. The session will focus on the following themes:

• Ethical Principles and code of conduct
• Other Ethical considerations
• Research ethics in visual methods
• Ethics in online research
• The politics of social economy research

Proposed Readings

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press. (Chapter 6)

Chelli, M., and Cunliffe, A. (2020) Anticipating and Addressing the Politicization of Research. Organizational Research Methods, 25(1): 88-113.

Žukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J. and Andriukaitienė, R. (2018) Management Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility. London: IntechOpen. (Chapter 7)

Proposed Lecture Activity / Discussion questions

• Going back to the ethnography of a feminist health centre discussed in session 7, outline the main ethical considerations you would need to take into account whilst conducting and writing up the research

Learning and Teaching Methods

The Lecture and seminar sessions of the module will be delivered in a three-week intensive teaching period to allow students to build the relevant skills to embark on their independent research project. From week four onwards, they will work closely with their assigned project supervisor. The purpose of the lecture sessions will be to help students familiarise themselves with the range of research methods they can apply for the successful completion of their research project while the seminar sessions will offer more practical sessions covering a range of issues from how to write a literature review to referencing. More specifically, the module will be delivered as follows:

• 10 x 2-hour Lecture Sessions taking place during the first 3 weeks. Four lecture sessions will be delivered in week 1, followed by 3 lectures across the other 2 weeks
• 5 x 2-hour Seminar Sessions taking place during week 2 & 3.
• Monthly Supervision Meetings (from week 4 onwards)
• Work collaboratively with SE practitioners and/or Community Action Groups (from week 4 onwards)

The seminar sessions will be structured around action learning groups of about 20 students (with 4 action learning groups per seminar class) working on a group Capstone project. The aim of these seminars is to help students familiarise themselves with all the tasks for producing an independent research project tailored to the specific social economy organisation or community initiative of their choice.

Seminar Activities

Seminar	Description
1	Writing a Literature review. This session will aim to: Familiarise students with the different processes of reviewing existing literature. Assist students in getting started with their literature review. Help students define the boundaries and purpose of their own literature review.
2	Developing Research Questions. In this session, students will have the opportunity to: Familiarise themselves with the process of developing research questions. Formulate research questions for their independent research project. Develop interview or survey questions in line to their set Research Questions
3	Choosing your Research Methods. This interactive session will aim to: Allow students to reflect on the different methods they could use for data collection. Help students to choose the most appropriate method to address their research objectives.
4	Analysing your Data. In this session, students will have the opportunity to: Reflect on possible methods of analysis for their independent research project. Choose a method that is most suitable to address the purpose and objectives of their independent project.
5	Referencing. This final session will aim to familiarise students with: The importance of properly referencing their work and how to avoid plagiarism. Available software they can use for referencing their work.

Assessment Methods

There are two elements of assessment:

    Assessment 1: A 20-minute group presentation on a research proposal for addressing a challenge identified for a specific Social Economy organisation (20%)

    Assessment 2: A 6000-words independent research project (80%)

For the purpose of the Group presentation, we propose using the attached Template.

Core Reading List

In addition to the theme-specific references listed above, we suggest the following core textbooks for the module:

Essential Reading

Bell, E., Harley, B. and Bryman, A. (2022) Business Research methods. Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Further Reading

Burrell, G., and Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological Paradigms and Organisational Analysis. Aldershot: Gower.

Saunders, M, Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2023) Research Methods for Business Students, Pearson: London.

Total number of credits

30 ECTS  

Program Details

Short description, aims and objectives, duration, delivery method (in-person, online, hybrid), etc.

Admission Requirements

Clearly defined criteria for student admission, including necessary academic background, language proficiency, work experience, etc.

Overall learning Outcomes

Detailed list of what students are expected to know and be able to do upon completion of the program. These should be aligned with the program's mission and objectives.