September 11 — September 14
2023The 9th edition of the EMES International Research Conference is about inspiring, re-envisioning our work and sharing stories from scholars, practitioners and policymakers worldwide involved in the ‘SE field’ ( social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, social economy, solidarity economy and social innovation). Below we announce the first confirmed #9EMESconf plenary speakers.
Join us in Frankfurt to continue to inspire each other!
Sarah de Heusch is the Director of Social Economy Europe (SEE) and a Board Member of la Coop de Communs since 2017. Previously she was the Institutional Affairs Officer and Chair of Smart‘s ethical committee. In the past, she has chaired the International Cooperative Entrepreneurship Think Tank working group on the Future of work and Cecop‘s working group on non-standard employment and cooperative solutions. She has worked at the crossroads of research, networking and advocacy on freelancing, digital labour, access to social protection, cooperatives, social economy, democracy at work and the commons. She holds a Masters in Political Sociology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
“In a world of multiple and diverse crises, we need to rethink structurally the way we produce and consume, as well as the place given to communities and environment in our economic system. Social and Solidarity economy is part of the solution towards a sustainable world, and we need data and research that demonstrates that, and mostly, that shows how legal and administrative frameworks can support, or on the contrary hinder, the development of such type of economy.“
Maja Göpel is a German political economist, transformation researcher, and sustainability scientist focusing on transdisciplinary work. As a speaker and author, she has increasingly specialised in science communication since 2019, when she co-founded the Scientists for Future initiative. Göpel is an honorary professor at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg.
“Sustainable futures are created through collaborative learning processes, binding rules and trusting cooperation. Approaching this with reverence for life, clarity of thought and a focus on self-efficacy is the goal of my work in theory and practice.
Especially in times of transformation like today, an eye for the essentials and courageous humanity help. We all have that within us.”
Sven Giegold is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens. He has been serving as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action since 2021. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2021.
“EMES aims to bring together people from different fields: Researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers. This is a very important aspect. The challenges our societies are currently facing are enormous. Hence, we need to leverage all the good ideas put forward by social entrepreneurs to address the challenges of climate change, migration, demographic change and so on. But in order to fully develop their impact, social enterprises need an environment that does not hinder and paralyse them but encourages and enables them. This is where researchers can help identifying success factors for business, provide knowledge and insights to aspiring entrepreneurs, and policy makers can use the input from conferences like this one to develop better informed policies.”
Zarah Bruhn is the founder & CEO of socialbee, commissioner for social innovation, and European thought leader for diversity, female & social entrepreneurship and new leadership. As commissioner for social innovation, she is supporting the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in promoting the creation of space and networks for social innovation and its implementation.
“Conferences like the EMES are the ideal platform for professional development and, more importantly, for networking with other scientists and practitioners. Where do we get our ideas? We sometimes need a nudge when we need a light to shine – for our own company as well as in politics when dealing with current major challenges.
As Commissioner for Social Innovation, I have already been able to meet different European representatives and the good impulses from other countries are a great enrichment for my work, for Germany. Social innovations need to be firmly placed on the international agenda.”
Mario Diani has been president of Euricse since June 2022. He is a full professor of Sociology at the University of Trento since 2001. The results of his studies on collective action have appeared in leading publications and journals, including those by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, American Sociological Review and American Journal of Sociology.
“ One important task of research conferences like EMES is to create the conditions for the forging of broader alliances between those who value the primacy of people over capital and acknowledge the need to urgently change the predominant production and consumption models. These include different actors of the social economy but also researchers across different fields.”
Giulio Pasi is a Scientific Officer at the European Commission, where he works on social innovation, new financial engineering and the relationships between public policy and new markets or industries, as well as the social and institutional consequences of digital transformation. During his career, he achieved extensive expertise also on policy evaluation, regulatory impact assessment techniques, strategic foresight and future studies. Graduated in law, Giulio holds a PhD in Economics and Social Sciences (Institute for Advanced Study of Pavia). His main interests are at the crossroads of finance, technology and society. He has published in several peer-reviewed journals and is regularly invited as a speaker at different events across Europe.
Luciane Lucas dos Santos is associate researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra. She integrates the academic staff of the PhD Programme in Human Rights in the Contemporary Society (CES/IIIUC) and co-coordinates two Study Groups – one related to Solidarity Economy and the other focused on religion, gender and politics. From 2016 to 2018, she was a Visiting Associate Professor at the Federal University of Southern Bahia (Brazil). She holds a PhD in Communication and Culture from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2004) and a Master’s Degree from the same institution (1999), having had part of her long academic career as a professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ/Brazil). She moved to Sociology 15 years ago, being focused on economic sociology. Her main research and lecturing interests are economic sociology, solidarity economy, feminist economics, postcolonial feminisms, poverty and social asymmetries (race, gender and class), European identities and the Otherness.
Ilcheong Yi is Senior Research Coordinator at UNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development) in Geneva, Switzerland. Born in the Republic of Korea, he was trained as a political scientist (B.A. and M.A. from the Dept. of Political Science, Seoul National University, the Republic of Korea) and social policy analyst (D.Phil from Oxford University, the UK). He has been researching various issues of alternative economies, social policy, and international development cooperation, particularly the Social and Solidarity Economy, measurement of sustainable development performance, and transformative social policy. Before joining UNRISD, he was an Associate Professor at Kyushu University, Japan (2004-2008), Korean Foundation Visiting Professor, Dept. of East Asian Studies of Malaya University, Malaysia (2003-2004) and Visiting Research Fellow of the Stein Rokkan Centre, Bergen University, Norway (2002-2003).
“Enriching discussions on how social enterprises and cooperatives should connect themselves with various economic alternatives to market fundamentalism at local, national and global levels and in economic, social and political dimensions.”
Susanne Westhausen has been the CEO of the Danish apex organisation for cooperatives since 2007 and the president of Cooperatives Europe. One other main interest has been to explore and share the fantastic powers of the cooperative movement and the ability of the model to be a positive and real game-changer for ordinary people in times of need.
“In the continuing debate about how to end poverty and build prosperity, economists have put forward powerful, often conflicting ideas. The impact of such ideas as central planning, Keynesianism and naïve cost-benefit analysis defined the wealth and fate of nations over the twentieth century. The ongoing battle of ideas will continue to shape our lives and society in this century. But the cooperative movement, as part of the social economy, must stand out as a viable business model in these dire straits.”
