The Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) is a viable strategy in dealing with some contemporary problems known both in industrial and developing countries. Addressed is how local populations could reach certain objectives and satisfy certain needs using techniques characteristic of SSE and, thus, carve out a social and economic space of their own vis-à-vis anonymous markets, global actors, local and national elites. Illustrated further is this strategy on the example of Urban Agriculture Basel, a unit of the Social Economy Basel. Within this self governed space, it is suggested, a path can be laid for the necessary transition towards local, social and ecological sustainability. The Social Economy Basel www.sozialeoekonomie.org (SEB, founded 1996) and Urban Agriculture Basel (founded 2010) serve as an example to suggest how SSE principles could be operationalized into organizational practice