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Last November, Aude Saldana, GSEF General Secretary, organized a visit to Brazil to strengthen existing partnerships and initiate new collaborations. The visit was structured around three key milestones, in Maricá, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with support from Leandro Morais, Professor at the University of Sao Paulo and SSE expert, member of the GSEF Advisory Committee.

Visit in Maricá City

The first leg of this visit was devoted to Maricá, where the main objective was to strengthen ties with the city, which has expressed its wish to join the GSEF after an initial meeting in June 2024 in Bordeaux. The signing of a letter of intent with the municipality of Maricá officially formalized this partnership between Mr. Washington Quaquá (who was re-elected to the town council in last October's elections), and Aude Saldana.

The visit also provided an opportunity to discover several emblematic projects led by CODEMAR (Marica's economic development company) and Banco Mumbuca, the bank that manages the city's local currency. Aude Saldana took part in the plenary session of the EGAPES conference on the Solidarity Economy, an opportunity to present the GSEF and the GSEF World Forums, the next edition being held in Bordeaux in October 2025, to emphasize the importance of international recognition of the SSE, and the commitment of local governments to developing innovative public policies.
The calendar for the partnership's next steps in 2025 is rich. Following the vote by the city council in February 2025 for Marica to join the GSEF, the GSEF and the local authorities will host a delegation in Bordeaux as part of the Latin America Weeks, scheduled for May 2025. This delegation will include political leaders from Marica and Banco Mumbuca, but also a cultural component. The idea is to organize visits to sites and projects, identified last June, around issues of urban agriculture, social food security, solar energy, the circular economy... and to strengthen bilateral ties. Other events are scheduled, such as the Utopia Forum in Marica in August 2025. The Mayor of Marica and his delegation will be invited to speak at the GSEF Global Forum in Bordeaux in October 2025.

URBAN 20 in Rio de Janeiro : a dialogue on SSE during G20

The declaration of the G20 Labor and Employment Ministers, adopted in Fortaleza in July 2024, stressed the importance of the SSE in reducing poverty and creating decent jobs, and pledged to support the development of public policies favorable to the SSE. The GSEF seized the opportunity to propose the organization of a plenary session on the SSE during the URBAN 20 SUMMIT, an event organized by UCLG and C40 within the framework of the G20.

During this session, a number of SSE experts and local government players shared their practices and public policies in favor of the development of SSE ecosystems. Speakers included M. Diego Zeidan, vice-prefect of Marica and Rio's SSE secretary, as well as Manuela Gomes de Souza e Mello, president of Banco Mumbuca, Leandro Morais, SSE expert, State University of San Paolo, UNESP (Brazil); - Camila Capacle, Coordinator of Labor and the Creative and Solidarity Economy, Department of Labor, Economic Development and Tourism, Municipality of Araraquara; member of the Brazilian Network of Public Policy Managers for the Solidarity Economy, Arildo Mota Lopes, President, UNISOL (Brazil) - Brazilian network of cooperatives and social enterprises).

Visits to San Paulo: new partnership horizons

The final phase of the visit was devoted to meetings with networks and organizations involved in the Social and Solidarity Economy in Sao Paulo. All the people we met stressed that if the GSEF Global Forum were to be organized in Brazil, they would support Marica's candidacy. Important meetings included the National Union of Metalworkers, specifically Mr. Caramelo Duarte, VP, UNISOL (network of cooperatives and social enterprises) Arildo Mota Lopes, its president, and the Paul Singer Institute, founder of the Solidarity Economy in Brazil, a major player in the development of the SSE in Brazil. with the exchange of ideas on how to strengthen cooperation.

Discussions focused on preparations for the National SSE Forum in Brazil, scheduled for August 2025, as well as partnerships around the themes of family farming, agricultural cooperatives and the fight against hunger. One of the highlights of the visit was a meeting with the metalworkers' trade union, who spoke of their shared history with President Lula, the first working-class metalworker to be elected president. The UNIFORJA cooperative, founded in 1997 after the German parent company filed for bankruptcy, was also an important meeting point.

Conclusion
The visit consolidated links between the GSEF and several SSE players in Brazil, while paving the way for cooperation projects in the years to come. The momentum generated by the city of Marica, in particular, shows real potential for making this city a player in the organization of the GSEF World Forum in 2027. The support of local authorities, combined with the strong involvement of SSE players, offers promising prospects for the development of innovative and inclusive public policies.

The GSEF warmly thanks all the organizations and individuals who made this visit a k