History | GSEF

The creation of the SSE Youth Hub

The SSE Youth Hub was officially launched on April 12, 2024, during a webinar gathering more than 150 participants from 37 countries across 5 continents.

This launch embodies both the culmination of a historic commitment by the GSEF to youth, and the beginning of a new dynamic: a structured space for international cooperation, designed to coordinate youth-led initiatives, strengthen their visibility, and assert their driving role in the future of the SSE.

The creation of the SSE Youth Hub, supported by the GSEF and the continental co-pilots, was approved during the 2023 Dakar General Assembly as the outcome of the momentum initiated by the Youth and SSE Pre-Forum, organized as a preamble to DakarGSEF2023 by the young people of the Consortium Jeunesse Sénégal. These two days of discussions and debates aimed to shine a light on and initiate dialogue between Youth SSE initiatives worldwide, and to co-construct a common advocacy, the Call of the Youth.

The participation of more than 2000 young people from 30 countries to the DakarGSEF2023 Forum demonstrated the driving role of youth in the response to major contemporary social and environmental challenges and in the implementation of the UNO’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To support and highlight youth mobilization in favor of the SSE, the GSEF and its members have decided to create a dedicated youth space in the network, the SSE Youth Hub.

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The GSEF Youth SSE Declarations

Since its creation in 2013, the GSEF has consistently recognized the importance of youth engagement and inclusion in the Social and Solidarity Economy, particularly by supporting the co-construction and adoption of SSE Youth declarations during the different editions of the GSEF’s Global Forum.

Global Youth Camp for SSE - Seoul 2017

At the initiative of GSEF, 100 young people from 25 countries laid the foundation for a global movement toward an economy that serves both people and the planet. This first declaration asserted that SSE is a concrete lever for achieving the SDGs, transforming territories, and renewing economic democracy. Participants championed a vision based on cooperation, solidarity, equality, and shared governance.

In response to dominant models, they called for ambitious alternatives driven by youth. SSE was embraced as a space of engagement and collective action, where everyone can contribute to a fairer society. The declaration emphasized the need to create spaces for empowerment, knowledge sharing, and collective leadership.

Four priorities were highlighted: decent work as a tool for emancipation; local communities built on collective action; housing as a pillar of sustainable human development; and solidarity finance rooted in social justice.

The message was clear: “Just do it and smile.” The change starts here, with us.

Read the declaration More about Global Youth Camp for SSE 2017

BilbaoGSEF2018

In Bilbao, youth called for SSE to become a truly inclusive space, where their voices are heard, acknowledged, and structurally integrated. Faced with crises and precarity, young people affirmed that decent work is a gateway to a more equal and solidarity-based economy. They promoted a vision grounded in participation, collaboration, social justice, and environmental impact.

They firmly rejected symbolic participation and called for meaningful involvement in the governance of SSE events, networks, and structures. The challenge is not about “talking about youth,” but making space for a generation that is active, legitimate, and committed.

Three levers were proposed: set a clear participation goal of at least 35% of under-35s in international events; support the creation of an international youth network for SSE; and ensure active representation of youth from the Global South, too often excluded from global dynamics.

Youth are ready to build the future of SSE alongside historic actors. The time for structured and contributing youth has come.

Read the declaration More about BilbaoGSEF2018

MexicoGSEF2021

With over 1,000 young people from 25 countries taking part, youth from Latin America and around the world affirmed the centrality of SSE for achieving the SDGs. Driven by a spirit of convergence, the declaration called for increased visibility of SSE, recognized it as a space for collective action, and advocated for embedding its principles in education and public policies.

Young people defended an SSE that is localized, inclusive, cooperative, and intergenerational. They called for the creation of an independent international youth network and the expansion of spaces for training, dialogue, and knowledge sharing.

Three main areas of work were identified: raising the visibility of SSE through media, education, and civic mobilization ; building community around cooperation, self-management of knowledge and the circular economy ; and fully integrating SSE into youth policies aligned with the SDGs.

Their powerful conclusion: SSE is a lever for social and climate transformation. Youth are committed to it so that “no one is left behind.”

Read the declaration More about MexicoGSEF2021

DakarGSEF2023

At the close of the Youth & SSE Pre-Forum of the 6th edition of the Global Forum on SSE in Dakar, which brought together 3,000 people from over 30 countries, youth from Africa and beyond issued a powerful call : SSE entrepreneurship means transforming the world. Organized by and for youth, this gathering highlighted initiatives, created spaces for expression, and collectively built a political advocacy.

Young people called for an SSE centered on life, solidarity and sustainability, and asked for a change of scale. To achieve this, they urged governments, GSEF, and partners to co-build a fairer, more inclusive, and more accessible ecosystem.

Among the priorities raised: create a support fund for youth projects, coordinated by a permanent SSE Youth Commission; establish the SSE Youth Hub and integrate youth into SSE public policies; enhance youth mobility, strengthen training, and develop tailored financial tools.

Their strong conclusion: youth want to be part of the decision-making process, both locally and in international institutions. They called for intergenerational justice and gender equality to be treated as central and cross-cutting priorities at future Forums.

Read the declaration More about DakarGSEF2023

On the road to BordeauxGSEF2025

The 7th edition of the GSEF’s Global Forum, which will be held in Bordeaux, France, from October 29 to 31, 2025, represents a key moment of the mobilization and assertion of the role of youth in the SSE. After a youth campaign implemented to collect views and recommendations, an advocacy has been co-constructed for each continent with the support of the GSEF and its members.

During the Forum, youth delegations of the whole world will play the role of ambassadors to represent their country and carry their continental advocacy. A dense and varied program of activities will be offered, to strengthen their feeling of legitimacy, facilitate interculturality and develop collaborations between youth worldwide, so that youth is recognized as a key player in economic, social and environmental transformations.

A place, the Cité Bleue, will be dedicated to young people during the Forum, to enable them to play an active role in the event and highlight the key moments of the Youth SSE mobilization. Workshops will be organized to converge continental advocacies in an International Youth Declaration for SSE, presented during the official closing ceremony, before all participants and international decision-makers. The Youth SSE ambassadors and participants will at their return share the Forum’s results, but also spread and raise awareness of SSE on their territory.

Beyond BordeauxGSEF2025, the SSE Youth Hub aims to establish as a sustainable organization that continues to support youth mobilization for the SSE and the fulfilment of the SDGs.

More about the Youth & SSE dynamics for BordeauxGSEF2025

Attachments:

EN_ Declaration 1st Global Youth Camp for SSE_Seoul_2017.pdf

EN_Youth Declaration_Bilbao_2018.pdf

EN_Youth positioning_Mexico_2021.pdf

EN_Call from the Youth_Dakar_2023.pdf