Only eight months ago, the Department of Gard launched its first plan for the social and solidarity economy (ESS), a sector which still brings together more than 24,000 people in nearly 2,300 structures. Tuesday, November 26, was therefore the opportunity to present to Pont-du-Gard the main progress of this plan which is mainly based on the “common call”.
« It’s a sort of reverse call for projects », Explains Hélène Meunier, Deputy Vice-President for Social and Solidarity Economy in Gard. “ The Department establishes a thematic framework for intervention, namely developing and pooling existing initiatives to give them a departmental scale or proposing action to cover, in rural areas, a need which is not covered, whether either on childhood, autonomy, disability ».
The first call for projects campaign will take place next spring. To benefit from community help, at least three contributors or three different structures must be involved in the project. “ The Department provides financial support, but also provides skills, premises, and why not equipment », continues Hélène Meunier. For now, while waiting to know the final budget for 2025, the community has managed to set aside 250,000 euros per year for this system without having yet decided on the number of projects supported.
At the same time, the Department also launched a Scheme to promote socially and environmentally responsible purchasing (Spaser) and created an open source platform for sharing knowledge in the social and solidarity economy.
