Social and Solidarity Economy, Sustainable Development Goals, and Community Development: The Mission of Adult Education & Training

A utopia of sustainable development is becoming established on the international stage. To get there, varied and complementary strategies must come into play—among them education. This trend is turning to the “Social and Solidarity Economy” (SSE), especially since the approval by the United Nations (UN) of the 2030 Agenda; the fulfilment of which demands adult education strategies and programs in line with the principles and values of sustainability. This article offers a response to that demand. It aims to carry out a reflective analysis that reveals the similarities between the principles and values of the SSE and those guiding the UN’s 2030 Agenda, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on the results of this analysis, we will argue that training in the competencies for sustainability, essential in achieving the SDGs, is among the main functions of education within the SSE framework. Further, in order to make educational programs more sustainable, such training must be included in their operating objectives. The work uses a hermeneutic methodology based on the existing literature and gives particular attention to UNESCO’s directives on training in key competencies for sustainability. The significant contribution the results make is to show: (a) the emphases of each approach and their similarities; (b) how the two are complementary; and (c) the potential, and need, for creating synergies based on their respective strengths. A further original contribution is a proposed basic guide for the design of training activities geared towards gaining the normative competency that UNESCO has identified as key to sustainability. This innovative proposal will be useful for improving the quality of adult training programs, thereby contributing to the achievement of the SDGs in communities

Economía social y solidaria en la educación superior: un espacio para la innovación

This first volume of the collection Social and Solidarity Economy in Higher Education: a space for innovation is made up of articles that account for the powerful link that is generated by introducing the reality, theory, and practice of the social and solidarity economy in the curriculum of universities in the United Kingdom, Colombia, Argentina, Canada, France, Spain, and Brazil. The authors present experiences that contribute to the improvement of institutional pedagogical models, to the development of competences for teachers and to the empowerment of young people from the classroom to influence their local realities. This is done through examples of curricular developments that lead to the management of cooperatives and the promotion of public policies in alliance with national governments. Also, experiences of dialogue of knowledge are exposed and it is shown how the link with agroecological markets can be a scenario of social appropriation of knowledge that stimulates citizen participation. In the last chapters, the importance of university ecosystems supporting the social and solidarity economy and the experience of incubators to tune the academic community with the territory are highlighted. Thus, how this strategy allows proposing effective solutions to social, economic and environmental problems or needs is highlighted through solidarity entrepreneurship and social innovation. As in the other volumes, it is evident that the experience of education in social and solidarity economy can not only respond to the demands of a changing world, it can also inspire the appropriation of the future for the achievement of the global common good.Este primer tomo de la colección Economía social y solidaria en la educación superior: un espacio para la innovación está conformado por artículos que dan cuenta del poderoso vínculo que se genera al introducir la realidad, la teoría y la práctica de la economía social y solidaria en el currículo de universidades del Reino Unido, Colombia, Argentina, Canadá, Francia, España y Brasil. Los autores exponen experiencias que aportan al mejoramiento de los modelos pedagógicos institucionales, al desarrollo de competencias para los profesores y al empoderamiento de los jóvenes desde el aula para incidir en sus realidades locales. Esto se hace a través de ejemplos de desarrollos curriculares que derivan en la gestión de cooperativas y en la promoción de políticas públicas en alianza con los gobiernos nacionales. Además, se exponen experiencias de diálogo de saberes y se muestra cómo el vínculo con los mercados agroecológicos puede ser un escenario de apropiación social del conocimiento que favorece la participación ciudadana. En los últimos capítulos, se resalta la importancia de los ecosistemas universitarios de apoyo a la economía social y solidaria y la experiencia de las incubadoras para sintonizar a la comunidad académica con el territorio. De esta forma, se destaca la manera en que dicha estrategia permite proponer soluciones efectivas a problemas o necesidades sociales, económicas y ambientales, a través del emprendimiento solidario y la innovación social. Al igual que en los demás tomos, se hace evidente que la experiencia de educación en economía social y solidaria no solo puede responder a las demandas de un mundo cambiante, también puede inspirar la apropiación de futuro para el logro del bien común mundial