Background paper on Social Economy and Cohesion Policy in Italy

common good, protecting the general interest and increasing individual and community welfare . All in all, SSE organizations are among the main actors which prove to be of critical importance in the process of keeping together the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) at the local level.

STC aims at ensuring the welfare and basic human capabilities for all members and social groups within a country, reducing the disparities among better-off and lagging territories that are hampering access to rights for all, opportunities for personal development and upward social mobility. This is particularly evident and relevant in the current pandemic times, as inequalities, different forms of exclusions, power imbalances and vulnerabilities are most immediately experienced by people in the local communities and territories where they live. All in all, social and territorial cohesion is both a desirable end and a fundamental means to Sustainable Human Development at the local level.

SSE and STC can be combined and interlinked to effectively enhance SDG localization as part of a territorial ecosystem, and particularly to counter the effects of exclusionary and unsustainable development outcomes that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Taken together, they shape not only the provision of goods and services but also the achievement of territorial functionings in the four pillars of Sustainable Human Development (SHD): Equity and cohesion; Participation and empowerment; Sustainability; Productivity and efficiency. Moreover, they can enhance the transformative resilience of local systems and entail a real process of institutional change, which involves reshaping political incentives to continuously nurture collective action and agency for SDG localization. In other words, SSE and STC together act as catalysts of a circular virtuous process through which – grounding on the creation and re-creation of socioeconomic value, as well as on the enhancement of people’s agency and empowerment – they are capable of transforming territorial inputs (e.g., resources, capacities, relations) into final SHD outcomes.

Participatory governance mechanisms and strategic integrated planning can further enhance this virtuous process, by strengthening the connections and interlinkages between SSE initiatives and STC policies through information sharing, partnerships to harness new or underused (local and external) endowments and resources, and identification of joint solutions to local needs.

The Italian approach to social economy and cohesion policy In this regard, Italy has a long-lasting experience both in fostering social economy as well as implementing cohesion policy in its own territories in order to foster Sustainable Human Development at the local level.

Indeed, Italy is nowadays globally recognized as one of the countries where SSE is more developed, thanks to i) an outstanding number and array of SSE organizations, ii) the gradual introduction of a solid legal and policy framework, iii) a strong connection with local communities reinforced by multi-stakeholder governance processes, and iv) a rich enabling ecosystem that plays a key role in strengthening and innovating SSE contribution to social, economic and human development. Such key distinctive features enhance the potential for the SSE sector in Italy to contribute to the localization of the SDGs by understanding the needs of the local community and interacting with the different actors of the territory to cocreate a shared vision of Sustainable Human Development and concrete actions to implement it.

Also, Italy has a relevant tradition in designing and implementing cohesion strategies, policies and initiatives, due to the presence of strong social and regional disparities and an enduring North-South divide. Indeed, 4