The beginning

It is not possible to understand what led to the creation of the INEES without delving into the history of the Objectif Plein Emploi network (cf. www.ope.lu/fileadmin/files/livre_8.pdf , in Fr.). Without wishing to go into too much detail, it should be noted that this Luxembourg-based network was created out of the desire to pool the ambitions and the knowhow of a body known as the “Action Sociale pour Jeunes” which, since 1984, at the time of major industrial restructuring in the country, had been working alongside young people, helping them to plan their future careers, and of the OGB-L trade union which was looking to go beyond its traditional vocation of defending workers’ interests and had decided to explore new ground and to invest its efforts in seeking out new solutions for people that did not have a job.

 

The European dimension came very quickly to the fore (in 1988) and was given concrete expression through OPE’s active participation in the EGLEI network (European Group for Local Employment Initiatives) and this allowed for many exchanges on local development and employment initiatives.

 

Because the OPE was particularly keen to pursue and develop the cross-border dimension of its work, it decided, when the EGLEI network became less active, to set up the INEES in 1998 with researchers and/or practitioners from the solidarity-based economy from Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium and France, as well as from Switzerland.

Development and consolidation

The OPE network expanded rapidly during this period, increasing its staffing level six-fold between 1996 and 2003, to reach a total number of 650. The staff were divided between the OPE itself (created in 1999) and the 30 different Centres d’Initiative et de Gestion Locaux (which were either regional or sectoral – otherwise known as the CIGL/R/S), that were gradually established to respond to local needs in terms of community-based, cultural, tourism, environmental and other similar services.

 

It is impossible to refer to all of the activities carried out by these Centres, but the CIG in Esch/Alzette, for example, operates a multi-media training area, a video production centre, a cyber café, a crèche facility, a bike lending scheme, an “environmental” team that looks after green areas, a “community-based services” team that carries out housework, DIY, and other services for the elderly in particular, a “highways” maintenance team, a socio-ecological team that works in a cross-border park (maintenance work, marking out paths, looking after outdoor furniture, etc.). In other words, close to 40 people are employed at this site.

 

In 1999, France took the innovatory step of creating a Secretariat of State for the Solidarity-based Economy, thereby inspiring a more dynamic approach at European level. For its part, INEES organised a European seminar on “Local development, an effective instrument of the solidarity-based economy”, which was held in Longwy in April of the same year.

The strengthening of partnerships and involvement at the European level

Having firmly established its roots at a local level, the OPE then collaborated with the INEES to put together a training course specifically for local development agents in the entire region (Interreg 3A funding obtained in 2003), organised its first national conference for the network’s volunteers in 2001 and commissioned CRIDA (Centre de Recerche et d’Information sur la Démocratie et l’Economie), which was certainly the first body to conceptualise the solidarity-based economy in France, to carry out an in-depth audit of its activities. In keeping with this idea of comparing its own impressions and feelings with other European experiences, the OPE became involved in the OECD’s LEED Programme (Local Economic and Employment Development), set up its own Local Action Plans (LAPs) that fit within the European Employment Strategy (EES) and became a member of the European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy (REVES), that works in the field of partnerships between local authorities and the social economy. At a national level, the OPE played an important role in initiating the efforts to create the platform for the social and solidarity-based economy. This platform brings together 12 socio-economic organisations that all share in the same desire to build a coherent, global political model and to be a credible discussion partner for the government. In March 2005, together with LEED and CEP-CMAF (European Standing Conference of Co-operatives, Mutual Societies, Associations and Foundations), the network organised a European Conference with the title “The social and solidarity-based economy, a central actor in social cohesion and the Lisbon strategy”, under the auspices of the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Union.

A decidedly forward thinking approach

The Objectif Emploi network has decided to invest more heavily in INEES at the beginning of 2006. Its intentions in doing so are quite clear. Its 20 years of activity are an excellent demonstration of its capacity for social innovation and the establishment of partnerships with local authorities and citizens’ networks.

 

However, this is a network that is both fragile and strong at the same time. The winds of liberal policies that are currently blowing across EU countries would like to reduce the solidarity based economy to playing the role of a second-class economy (to include all of those that have been excluded from the dominant system) and to restrict its activities to the provision of cheap public services (community-based services). The OPE could subscribe to this approach and negotiate the best possible form of support from the local authorities in order to guarantee its own development. However, it has different ambitions: to establish its activities on a long-term, sustainable basis, between the public sector economy (with its traditional activities) and the conventional private sector economy (with its capital-based, wealth-generating companies), as part of a new social contract that is shared in by all of the stakeholders at all levels and underpinned by mixed methods of financing (private, public and voluntary resources). The dogma according to which “the only thing we can redistribute to make good the damage caused by the market economy is the wealth generated”, has great resonance in today’s world. INEES is being urged to draw strength from its networks and to argue the case in favour of the social, economic, cultural and environmental “productivity” of its achievements and to display the relevance of “working in a different way”, which is worn as a badge of honour by all of the actors in the social and solidarity-based economy (together with the co-operatives, the mutuals, community associations and everyone that is able to identify with this set of values). To those that hold only certainties, we will oppose not only our questions and doubts, but also our convictions…