INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

In the Covid19 and post-Covid19 era, the capacity of local and national systems to face the intersection between vulnerability, inequalities, and unsustainability will define the future course of development (UNDP, 2020a). The current state of emergency offers the opportunity to place transformative resilience, social cohesion and environmental consciousness firmly at the centre stage of decision-making processes. In this scenario, the centrality of initiatives of social and solidarity economy (SSE) and the relevance of policies for social and territorial cohesion (STC) have gained momentum as driving forces for more sustainable and inclusive recovery processes in the framework of SDG implementation. Indeed, they contribute to reconciling value-generation and innovation with inclusiveness and environmental protection, in order to achieve shared prosperity and human flourishing leaving no one behind. The general objective of the paper is to frame and systematize the most relevant experiences, policies and initiatives in Italy on both SSE and STC. In particular, our analysis aims at providing concrete policy insights and guidance to local and regional governments and actors in partner countries – as well as to UN and UNDP Country Offices – to implement similar initiatives in their territories, in order to foster social cohesion and promote inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic development.

This paper is structured as follows. The first section introduces a brief overview of the challenges that have been exacerbated by Covid19 in a SDG localization perspective, based on the current international debate on post-Covid19 scenarios. The second section describes our conceptual and interpretative framework on the relations between SDG localization, STC policies and SSE experiences as part of a territorial ecosystem. The third section provides an overview/mapping of the Italian approaches and experiences in fostering STC and SSE, by presenting both the main policies and actors, as well as the distinctive features and core models, that make the Italian experience significantly valuable for its adaptation in other contexts. The fourth section describes the selection process based have led to identify 6 Italian experiences as illustrative casestudies, followed by their analysis to inform similar experiences in partner countries. Finally, the last section concludes with final remarks and implications for the subsequent elaboration of detailed Policy Guidelines.