1st Edition, 2004

The meetings provide an opportunity for exchanging information about ongoing work and identifying possible new avenues for joint projects by the social economy on the international level.

Leaders from the social economy, academics and researchers from India, Japan, Brazil, Africa, Canada, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Poland, etc. gathered together in Morzine from April 29th to May 1st.   Also attending were Paul Singer, Under-Secretary for the Solidarity Economy in Brazil; Gérard Sarracanie, head of the Inter-departmental Office for Social Innovation and the Social Economy in France; Emmanuel Kamdem, advisor at the International Labour Office; and Henri Lourdelle, advisor at the European Trade Union Confederation. 

Initiated by Macif, Chèque Déjeuner, Crédit Coopératif and Esfin-Ides, the forum was a first for cooperatives, mutual societies and nonprofit organizations on the international level.  The participants wanted to show that the social economy could set the agenda in a changing world and provide structural and sustainable responses to the issues of today and tomorrow.  The social economy offers concrete, ethical solutions to the challenges of the century: poverty, social exclusion, unemployment, social cohesion, development, etc.  The social economy especially wants to keep innovating and providing ever more people with access to goods and services.

The participants of the Mont Blanc Meetings wanted to increase the social economy’s visibility on the international scene and make it better known.  They decided to begin developing new joint projects between organizations in the North and the South, West and East, while strengthening the ties with labor unions, local government, women’s movements, etc.

They decided to work together on several areas internationally (healthcare, complementary currencies, corporate asset management, pensions, financial instruments, social auditing, etc.) and use cross-sector resources (an international center for innovation, information and analysis; an international forum on management systems in the social economy; communications, etc.)

To further these aims, the participants of the Mont Blanc Meetings agreed to set up an international steering committee to prepare a second forum in 2005.

A stronger and more active international social economy

The social economy provides structural and sustainable responses to the issues of today and tomorrow.  It is capable of responding to constantly changing expectations and aspirations including in the market economy.

The participants highlighted several issues that the social economy helps provide solutions to:

- the fight against poverty and social exclusion, the fight for social cohesion, and the respect of fundamental and human rights

- access to jobs for the greatest number of people

- access to quality, innovative goods and services for the greatest number of people and under the best conditions

The social economy has to set the agenda through political action and communications.

The social economy has to increase its visibility on the international scene and on every continent (an enlarged Europe, Asia, Africa, etc.) and gain greater recognition.

The participants of the Mont Blanc Meetings want to develop new approaches and new ways of thinking:

- activism and cooperation to have a mass effect

- international projects that cross boundaries (as opposed to approaches that are often vertical, regulatory, national or by organizational form)

- greater diversity of organizations for responding to issues and joining up projects (educational support).  Appropriate solutions based on needs and issues (healthcare in developing countries)

- systematizing experiments, developing mentoring and training, organizing transfers (expertise, skills, personnel)

The social economy has to form new partnerships and renovate old ones:

- internal partnerships among different parts of the social economy working on concrete projects: working together, each part working at its own capacity and in its own way, yet participating in a joint project

- external partnerships with labor unions, local government, women’s movements, etc.  The synergies from our combined effort and knowledge will help us find new ways of moving forward.

The participants of the Mont Blanc Meetings decided to work together on several areas internationally: healthcare (particularly in developing countries), complementary currencies, financial instruments, financial management (corporate assets, pension funds), employment, and enterprise assessment (social auditing, comparative metrics, etc.).

They also decided to create cross-sector resources:

- an international center for innovation, information and analysis

- an international forum on management systems and entrepreneurship in the social economy

- a permanent forum for sharing information on best practices and experiences (transposing innovations to launch new national projects)

- a system for fostering permanent cooperation (joint work on personal services)

- communications and NICT for a global presence

A system for following up the Mont Blanc Meetings and mutual commitments will be set up by the steering committee and presented to participants.  The objectives are to follow up the projects chosen and to prepare the next meetings in 2005.