Charter
The strategic charter of the Centre for Social Economy is based on a definition of the social economy forged in 1990 by the Conseil Wallon de l'Economie Sociale thanks to the work of Professor Jacques Defourny (founder of the Centre for Social Economy) and which remains a major reference today:
The strategic charter of the Centre for Social Economy is based on a definition of the social economy forged in 1990 by the Conseil Wallon de l'Economie Sociale thanks to the work of Professor Jacques Defourny, founder of the Centre for Social Economy, which was included in a Walloon decree in 2008 and remains a major reference today:
To find out more about the social economy ecosystem in the Walloon region, visit economiesociale.be
OUR VISION
The vision of the Centre for Social Economy is a just transition towards an economic system that is compatible with planetary limits.
In a world where the capitalist market economy is leading to environmental and social dead-ends, the social economy is a field worth exploring:
1. It proposes a path of transition towards a sustainable economic system that,
- reduces power relations, fights inequality and exclusion,
- takes into account the collective interest and that of future generations,
- protects, or even restores, living conditions.
2. It gives practical expression to this alternative economic project and helps to make the transition possible through enterprises projects that are
- democratic,
- for which the mission is a priority,
- refusing to subject this mission to profit imperatives,
- linked to territories,
- involving workers, investors and citizens.
The vision of the Centre for Social Economy is to be - for both the scientific community and society as a whole - a reference research centre at HEC Liège for the social economy, alternative business models and the transition to a sustainable economic system.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Centre for Social Economy is to think about and provide tools for the transition of the economic system through the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge on :
- the project for a sustainable economic system promoted by the social economy,
- the alternative business models that underpin this project,
- the conditions for their deployment.
OUR ACTIVITIES
To support its mission, the Centre for Social Economy builds and develops :
1. Research projects that
- ask questions essential to supporting transition,
- adopt critical perspectives,
- nurture alternative business models,
- contribute to international literature (non profit and social enterprise field, ecological economics, business ethics, post-growth, transition studies, etc.),
- are rooted in field realities (from applied research to transdisciplinarity),
- mobilise interdisciplinary perspectives.
2. Training courses
- committed, because they aim to train people to serve the transition of the economic system,
- active, because they provide participants with the opportunity to experience real-life situations (project dissertations, internships, service learning),
- rigorous, because their content is inspired by the results of research,
- grounded, because they are based on links with the social economy ecosystem and realities on the ground,
- transformative, because they enrich and challenge existing management science programs and courses.
Discover our teaching programs
3. Close relations with the "transition/social economy" ecosystem
- via a sustained dialogue with key local and international players, facilitating the co-construction of knowledge,
- via a policy of "translating" productions to enable access and appropriability,
- via the individual commitment of its members within organisations,
- through participation in networks of researchers working on the same themes.
