The Institute of Social Economy, part of the Civil Society Development Foundation is pleased to invite you to Bucharest, Romania, to attend the conference “The role of social economy actors - cooperatives and social enterprises in combating rural poverty Europe” on 24^th August 2017. The conference will be held at Marshal Garden Hotel, (Bd. Dorobanti, nr.50, sector 1), Panoramic 1 room.

The event is organized within the framework of the project New Crops - Social entrepreneurship to create new opportunities for socially excluded people in rural areas, funded through the Erasmus + program.

Starting from good practices from Italy, Spain, Sweden and Romania, the event will address recent evolutions at European level in terms of social economy policies and will highlight key steps to be followed in order to make social entrepreneurship more visible and have more impact in reducing poverty in rural areas. Some of the specific topics addressed will be:

• Social economy realities and growth potential for the future action - from practices to national and EU policies
• Efficient business models and capacity building tools and services relevant to rural areas
• Connecting the national practices to policy making at national and EU level
• Start-up and management of cooperatives - challenges and recommendations for capacity building and policy actions  
• Local Action Groups - drivers in developing rural economy

The preliminary agenda of the event is available at this link.

To register, please contact Irina Opincaru – irina.opincaru@fdsc.ro, 004.0758.231.014

The deadline for registration is 16^th August 2017.

International participants will have the transportation costs refunded by CSDF in a limit of 200 Euro/person and will have the accommodation ensured for the night before the conference (23-24^th August 2017). Please let us know of any difficulties you might have regarding the travel costs.

The New Crops project aims to provide the necessary knowledge and skills for trainers, managers and future managers of cooperatives and social enterprises that are at the beginning of their road to set up and develop successful social business organizations that produce social and economic results for their members and generate jobs in rural areas.

Up to now, partner organizations have identified and promoted over 40 best practices in the countries in which they operate and 16 detailed case studies used in training materials to be promoted and distributed to all those interested.

The project partners are: Federazione Trentina Della Cooperazione (Italy), Universidad De Almeria (Spain), Asociacion De Organizaciones De Productores De Frutas Y Hortalizas Dealmeria – Coexphal (Spain) and Coompanion Kooperativ Utveckling Skaraborg (Sweden).

All project results are available for consultation at www.ies.org.ro/erasmus.

For more information please contact us:

Irina Opincaru – irina.opincaru@fdsc.ro, 004.0758.231.014

We are looking forward to welcome you in Bucharest!