Social Solidarity Economy represents an alternative vision of economy and a response to the unrestrained globalisation and the mainstream economy that focuses exclusively on profit and economic growth. Development of different SSE initiatives both in Europe and worldwide, especially after the economic and fi-nancial crises in 2008 clearly demonstrate that more and more alternatives are possible and that they really work. Sustainable living, working and determining solutions collectively has become a way to live better for many people who refuse the concepts of individual entrepreneurship and competition.
So if you are interested in founding an SSE initiative or you are part of an organisation or collective that you would like to transform and help it to become a more solidary and democratic one, this booklet and especially this first chapter will be a useful source of ideas, inspiration or resources to support you in your efforts. The following pages give you a glimpse of the topic and help you find out a few things that might be important to deal with at the beginning, and also what to consider when running an SSE.
