In Québec, over 60% of new cooperatives are in the form of solidarity cooperatives. One of their defining characteristics is their capacity to associate different stakeholders rather than having a single status of members, like in the case of consumer cooperatives, making this organizational model extremely appealing for local service providers requiring the mobilization of the civil society. In Québec, municipalities are forbidden to become members of a cooperative, except for cooperatives in the wind energy sector. However, this constraint does not prevent municipalities from collaborating with these cooperatives.
The case of the Coopérative de Solidarité les 4 Pôles, with corporative and individual members, will be presented. Finally, is it possible to identify ways to improve governance and to create organizational innovations for these cooperatives?

This presentation will allow for a better understanding of the potential and the limits of Community Interest Companies (CIC) in France as a means for municipal-civil society collaborations. There are currently more than 500 CICs and they are spreading through all sectors. All types of society actors can become members, including the public sector. Local governments therefore have the chance to address a social need, collectively. Although CIC status allows a municipality to become a member, only 30% of CICs have territorial communities among their members. CIC Solidarité Versailles Grand âge, which will be presented, is a service platform for elderly people. It was started by the city and includes different categories of members: employees, beneficiaries, public institutions and  natural or legal persons (i.e. the City hospital).

In Italy, more than 10,000 social cooperatives provide work-integration and socio-sanitary services. Membership of a municipality in a cooperative might give rise to questions concerning governance, i.e. regarding contract allocation (potential conflicts of interest) or the functioning of the board of directors. Italy proves that other means of collaboration are possible, such as co-programming in order to regulate partnership relationships and to implement the social function of public authorities. The Consorzio Sol.Co Città Aperta, which will be presented, is a consortium of cooperatives in the Province of Bergamo. The Consortium invests in services related to different areas and target groups (families/children/youth, mental health, job opportunities, environment, etc.). These services can be offered through public contracts or on the basis of private initiatives.

The Chantier de l’économie sociale is committed to building a plural economy that aims to produce returns for the community and protect the common good, in accordance with communities’ needs and aspirations. Social economy enterprises are collectively controlled, and contribute to ensuring the ongoing economic, social and cultural vitality of communities.

The mission of the Chantier de l’économie sociale is to promote the social economy as an integral part of Québec’s plural economy, and in so doing, contribute to the democratization of the economy and the emergence of a development model based on the values of solidarity, equity, and transparency.

The organization has multiple mandates: To bring together the various stakeholders and partners of the social economy movement at the regional and national levels, promote social economy as a vector of social and economic change, create conditions and development tools that promote consolidation, experimentation and the development of new niches and projects, and participate in building new alliances with other socio-economic movement stakeholders to promote this development model, including at the international level.