Presentation of the UNESCO chair on the social and solidarity economy

On April 27, the first Chair in the world on the social and solidarity economy was presented in the city of Santa Marta, Colombia. This Chair is sponsored by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as part of its UNITWIN program.

At the beginning of the presentation of the Chair, the UNESCO representative took the floor, joined online by the Rectors of the four universities participating in the project, including Mondragon University Rector Vicente Atxa. Next, Maritza Rondon, Rector of the Cooperative University of Colombia (CUC) presented the Chair, accompanied by the President of the International Cooperative Alliance, Ariel Guarco, and the international advisors who proposed the creation of the Chair in 2019. Furthermore, the action plan for the next four years was announced by video. This plan includes actions such as the creation and development of a training program on the social and solidarity economy and the SDGs, the co-creation of a MOOC on that topic, the organization of international meetings, the development of awards for associative solidarity entrepreneurship, and the consolidation of a virtual community about the social economy.

The objective of the UNESCO Chair is to promote training, research, and university student exchanges to share information and work on interdisciplinary projects related to the social and solidarity economy.

The UNESCO Chair on the Social and Solidarity Economy is the first Chair in the world on the social and solidarity economy. The following universities will take part in the Chair, led by the Cooperative University of Colombia:Cooperative University of Colombia.

• National University of Quilmes (Argentina).
• Ibero-American University Puebla (Mexico).
• Complutense University of Madrid (Madrid).
• Mondragon University.

LANKI Institute of Cooperative Research of Mondragon University

Mondragon University’s participation in the UNESCO Chair on the Social and Solidarity Economy will be carried out under the direction of the LANKI Institute of Cooperative Research. This institute, a leader in the study and promotion of Basque cooperativism, is headquartered in the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences, on the Eskoriatza campus. There were three main objectives that inspired the creation of this research center in 2001:

• Research in the field of cooperativism, and specifically, analysis of the Mondragon cooperative experience.
• The design and development of training programs in the field of cooperativism (from Master’s degree programs to continuing education and proposals designed in company).
• The creation of materials and publications for the dissemination of and training in cooperativism.

UNESCO: UNITWIN program

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, an organization that seeks to establish peace through international cooperation in education, science and culture. UNESCO programs contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals defined in the 2030 Agenda approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.

The UNITWIN and UNESCO Chairs program was launched in 1992. The program brings together more than 850 institutions in 117 countries, and fosters interuniversity cooperation and connections on a global scale with the aim of strengthening institutional capacities through knowledge exchange and collaboration.

Through this program, institutions of higher education and research around the world pool their resources, both human and material, to meet the most urgent challenges and contribute to the development of their societies.