Succeeding in the ecological transition of associations: A look back at the final conference

Succeeding in the ecological transition of associations in Europe: this is the name of the conference that POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ-PLS organised with its partners TEDDA on 30th November 2023 in Brussels.

The event brought together more than 60 people including academics, researchers, representatives of French, Belgian and Spanish associations, representatives of European associative networks, students and representatives of cooperatives.

In the introductory session, Denis Stokkink (President of POUR LA SOLIDARITÉ-PLS) observed that the challenge of sustainable development in Europe is increasingly important, and that the current European trend is towards “just” transition: a transition that is at once ecological, economic and social. The European Union (EU) is supporting this transition through its various budget headings, such as the ESF+ and ERDF structural funds, and the ERASMUS+ programme which has supported the “Ecological transition and sustainable development of associations” (TEDDA) project. Denis Dhalluin (Director of the Maison des Associations in Tourcoing), in his capacity as TEDDA coordinator, emphasised the transnational nature of the project, involving Belgian, French and Spanish associations. He also emphasised that TEDDA has designed accessible, high-quality tools to help small and medium-sized associations across Europe with their ecological transition, which are available on the project website: Gallery of inspiring portraits, Frieze of the energy transition and the carbon footprint game, Methodological guide to initiate the ecological transition and the White Paper.

This was followed by a presentation by researcher Simon Meert (doctoral student at HEC Liège – Centre d’Économie Sociale) on the links between the social economy and sustainable development. After defining the concepts, Simon Meert focused on analysing the synergies and tensions between social economy organisations (associations, cooperatives, mutual societies) and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The round table of actors from associations that followed focused on their day-to-day work. Entitled “Challenges and levers in the day-to-day ecological transition of associations” and moderated by Alexandre Durrande (Communicator specialising in sustainable food, collaborator of CEPS Projectes Socials in Barcelona), it brought together Marion De Backer (Co-founder & eco-advisor of the ASBL DEC!DE in Brussels), Anne Guilluy (Communications Officer and Assistant Director of Unis Cité in Lille), Nathalie Bardaille (Ecological Transition Officer at APES in Hauts-de-France) and Jean-François Herz (Co-Director of Solidarité des alternatives wallonnes et bruxelloises). The speakers highlighted a series of ideas and proposals, including :

  • The usual, day-to-day obstacles most frequently encountered in the associative world are lack of time and funding.
  • Change management is essential if we are to find the levers for implementing the ecological transition. To involve and mobilise their employees and volunteers collectively, associations can create links by starting with people’s needs. Associations can start to mobilise people from part of their team who are already aware of environmental issues, and then get the others on board. Convince others by your own example, or build on the small actions already taken, even small ones, and promote them by involving stakeholders.
  • Other levers to take into account: benefiting from material and/or financial institutional support, pooling the use of premises, investing collectively in an energy renovation that you would never have done on your own, cooperating to seek funding, at the political level proposing projects to decision-makers that meet the challenges of social, economic and environmental transition.
  • Transition is not just about the environment: social and economic aspects also need to be taken into account. Territorial aspects are also essential in the transition, and this is an opportunity for players in the social economy because the added value they bring is much greater in developing resources and territories. The inequalities of the poor must also be taken into account in the transition.
  • Ideas for initial actions that can be launched, which are both accessible and provide continuity: list purchases of goods and services, see if there are any labels. There are players who are more responsible and can produce more responsible services. Or analyse the purchase of digital equipment.

After the round table, Simon Meert presented a tool currently being developed by HEC Liège, a sustainability management tool anchored in the SDGs, aimed at social economy enterprises, as well as SMEs, that wish to make a commitment to sustainability and require a resource to facilitate organisational diagnosis, monitoring over time and reporting. The tool is currently being digitised, with the pilot test scheduled for March 2024, and wider deployment planned between 2024 and 2025.

Xavier Galand (Director of the Maison Régionale de l’Environnement et des Solidarités in Lille) drew conclusions from the morning and made recommendations for a just transition for associations in Europe. He noted that, while they are aware of the global challenges and think globally, associations are taking action by taking small steps at their own level, in their own areas, involving all the stakeholders. Alone we go faster, but collectively we go further.

After a networking lunch served on site by the eco-responsible caterer APUS & les cocottes volantes, participants took part in workshops to discover the tools developed by the TEDDA project:

  • Inform and raise awareness with the Transitions frieze and Carbon footprint game, led by Zoé Lepilleur (Maison régionale de l’environnement et des solidarités Lille)
  • Take action in your association – a methodological guide, led by Nathalie Bardaille (Apes Hauts-de-France)
  • Take action in your association – a gallery of inspiring portraits, led by Sarah Derouet (Maison des Associations de Tourcoing) and Alexandre Durrande (CEPS Projectes Socials).

During and at the end of this conference, the testimonies collected indicate that the public particularly appreciated:

  • The richness of the contributions
  • The interesting and useful results of the project
  • The networking between players from different European countries
  • The inspiration the event gave them for their future activities.

Watch the conference on YouTube! 



We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. View more
Cookies settings
Accept
Privacy & Cookie policy
Privacy & Cookies policy
Cookie name Active

Quiénes somos

Texto sugerido: La dirección de nuestra web es: https://www.tedda.eu.

Comentarios

Texto sugerido: Cuando los visitantes dejan comentarios en la web, recopilamos los datos que se muestran en el formulario de comentarios, así como la dirección IP del visitante y la cadena de agentes de usuario del navegador para ayudar a la detección de spam. Una cadena anónima creada a partir de tu dirección de correo electrónico (también llamada hash) puede ser proporcionada al servicio de Gravatar para ver si la estás usando. La política de privacidad del servicio Gravatar está disponible aquí: https://automattic.com/privacy/. Después de la aprobación de tu comentario, la imagen de tu perfil es visible para el público en el contexto de tu comentario.

Medios

Texto sugerido: Si subes imágenes a la web, deberías evitar subir imágenes con datos de ubicación (GPS EXIF) incluidos. Los visitantes de la web pueden descargar y extraer cualquier dato de ubicación de las imágenes de la web.

Cookies

Texto sugerido: Si dejas un comentario en nuestro sitio puedes elegir guardar tu nombre, dirección de correo electrónico y web en cookies. Esto es para tu comodidad, para que no tengas que volver a rellenar tus datos cuando dejes otro comentario. Estas cookies tendrán una duración de un año. Si tienes una cuenta y te conectas a este sitio, instalaremos una cookie temporal para determinar si tu navegador acepta cookies. Esta cookie no contiene datos personales y se elimina al cerrar el navegador. Cuando accedas, también instalaremos varias cookies para guardar tu información de acceso y tus opciones de visualización de pantalla. Las cookies de acceso duran dos días, y las cookies de opciones de pantalla duran un año. Si seleccionas «Recuérdarme», tu acceso perdurará durante dos semanas. Si sales de tu cuenta, las cookies de acceso se eliminarán. Si editas o publicas un artículo se guardará una cookie adicional en tu navegador. Esta cookie no incluye datos personales y simplemente indica el ID del artículo que acabas de editar. Caduca después de 1 día.

Contenido incrustado de otros sitios web

Texto sugerido: Los artículos de este sitio pueden incluir contenido incrustado (por ejemplo, vídeos, imágenes, artículos, etc.). El contenido incrustado de otras webs se comporta exactamente de la misma manera que si el visitante hubiera visitado la otra web. Estas web pueden recopilar datos sobre ti, utilizar cookies, incrustar un seguimiento adicional de terceros, y supervisar tu interacción con ese contenido incrustado, incluido el seguimiento de tu interacción con el contenido incrustado si tienes una cuenta y estás conectado a esa web.

Con quién compartimos tus datos

Texto sugerido: Si solicitas un restablecimiento de contraseña, tu dirección IP será incluida en el correo electrónico de restablecimiento.

Cuánto tiempo conservamos tus datos

Texto sugerido: Si dejas un comentario, el comentario y sus metadatos se conservan indefinidamente. Esto es para que podamos reconocer y aprobar comentarios sucesivos automáticamente, en lugar de mantenerlos en una cola de moderación. De los usuarios que se registran en nuestra web (si los hay), también almacenamos la información personal que proporcionan en su perfil de usuario. Todos los usuarios pueden ver, editar o eliminar su información personal en cualquier momento (excepto que no pueden cambiar su nombre de usuario). Los administradores de la web también pueden ver y editar esa información.

Qué derechos tienes sobre tus datos

Texto sugerido: Si tienes una cuenta o has dejado comentarios en esta web, puedes solicitar recibir un archivo de exportación de los datos personales que tenemos sobre ti, incluyendo cualquier dato que nos hayas proporcionado. También puedes solicitar que eliminemos cualquier dato personal que tengamos sobre ti. Esto no incluye ningún dato que estemos obligados a conservar con fines administrativos, legales o de seguridad.

Dónde enviamos tus datos

Texto sugerido: Los comentarios de los visitantes puede que los revise un servicio de detección automática de spam.
Save settings
Cookies settings