The Faculty of Law of the Universitat de València hosted the Fira ResilientES of Social Economy on Thursday 18, as part of the European project “ResilientES –Social Economy, driving force of the socioeconomic development of inland and non-urban areas of the SUDOE space” funded by the Interreg SUDOE programme.

The session was organised by the University Research Institute in Social Economy, Cooperativism, and Entrepreneurship (IUDESCOOP), with the collaboration of the Faculty of Law of the Universitat de València and CIRIEC-Spain. The activity is part of the Activity A1.5 – The comprehensive communication campaign “Social Economy and Rural Territories”, of the ResilientES project, aimed at raising awareness, mobilising and connecting social economy entities, public administrations, universities, students, young people, women and territorial stakeholders. The session was inaugurated by the dean of the Faculty of Law, Clara Viana, the secretary of IUDESCOOP, Antonio González, the president of the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Valencian Community, Emilio Sampedro, and the coordinator of the Project at IUDESCOOP, professor María José Vañó.

The fair provided an opportunity to exchange experiences in employment, entrepreneurship, care, cooperative housing, territorial innovation, and rural development, all sharing a common theme: social economy as a practical tool for strengthening territorial cohesion, retaining population, and generating opportunities in rural municipalities, inland areas and non-urban spaces.

The first discussion, dedicated to social economy and employment with a territorial impact, featured representatives from Consum, Caixa Popular, and Fundación Colisée. Caixa Popular presented its model as a Valencian cooperative bank, based on local reinvestment, close relationship with businesses, cooperatives and associations, and the generation of the social impact in the Valencian Community. The entity also highlighted its response after the DANA, including financial support, the elimination of commissions and assistance for affected people and companies. Consum explained that it is possible to grow while placing people and the generation of shared value at the centre, with employment acting as a lever for social and economic transformation. It also underlined the urban-rural connection as a process of mutual learning: urban areas provide infrastructure and opportunities, while rural areas contribute knowledge, proximity, and a more human relationship with the territory.

Fundación Colisée presented its social action programmes aimed at older people, with a particular focus on unwanted loneliness, social prescribing, community intervention in the Rincón de Ademuz and the psycho-emotional support following the DANA. Its contribution emphasised that the territorial recovery is not limited to material reconstruction, but it also requires preserving social ties and providing care, and emotional support.

The second discussion addressed good practices in the social economy, from urban environments to rural areas and from rural areas to urban environments, with the participation of FEVECTA, Economía Alternativa y Solidaria del País Valencià, Aras de los Olmos and UVEmprén. This discussion directly addressed one of the main objectives of the session: identifying transferable experiences, replicable models and opportunities for training and knowledge exchange between territories.

The mayor of Aras de los Olmos, Rafael Jiménez, presented the experience of the municipality as a territorial innovation laboratory. He explained its progress in energy sovereignty, water management, regenerative agriculture, and digital sovereignty, showing how a small municipality can develop pioneering based on its own resources and needs.

Ramón Rodríguez, president of FEVECTA, supported the role of the work cooperatives associated as enterprises based on economic democracy, stable employment and territorial impact. His presentation gave visibility to Valencian cooperative experiences in agroecology, rural tourism, care, industry, education, craft beer and incubation of new cooperative projects.

Alfredo Artigas –president of the Xarxa d’Economía Alternativa i Solidaria del País Valencià– offered a critical reflection on the need to communicating the social and solidarity economy more effectively, avoiding excessively abstract language, and bringing the discourse closer to the real practices and needs of the territory. He also argued that urban organisations should incorporate rural perspectives into spaces for political advocacy.

The Universitat de València participated through Rafael García, director of UVEmprén, who presented the role of the university in supporting entrepreneurship, transferring knowledge, and connecting research, students, and productive ecosystems. He particularly underlined the Incuba2 programme, which supports social economy projects.

The session also featured Francisco Pérez Caballero, president of FECOVI, who presented the role of housing cooperatives in transfer-of-use model and announced the recognition of Vacaciones Permanentes, a senior project and inter-generational cooperative project located in Alfara de la Baronia.

The final section took a practical approach with a workshop by Fundación Nova Feina, focused on how to develop an idea for a social entrepreneurship project. The entity explained its methodology for supporting people in vulnerable situations, highlighting that the starting point is not only an entrepreneurial idea, but also the personal, family, legal and economic circumstances of the person seeking to undertake a business project. This workshop belonged to the practical guidance included in the programme, aimed at students, young people, women, people interested in entrepreneurship, and professionals working in employment and local development.

The ResilientES fair showed that the Valencian social economy has a comprehensive and diverse ecosystem, comprising cooperatives, foundations, solidarity networks, financial entities, universities, local administrations and social inclusion organisations. The identified challenge is not only to create new initiatives, but also to strengthen the connections between them: between the university and the territory, between urban and rural environments, between large and micro-entities, and between funding, support, innovation and knowledge transfer.

The session ended with a networking space and an invitation to continue the activities in the afternoon with the closing ceremony of the IUDESCOOP Master’s Degree in Social Economics of the, strengthening the connection between university education, the social economy and territorial development.

• Website of the Master’s Degree in Social Economics [Cooperatives and Non-Profit Organisations]