The 10th CIRIEC International Research Conference on the Social Economy will take place from 27 to 29 October 2025 in Bordeaux, France, under the theme “The Role of the Social and Solidarity Economy in the Socio-Ecological Transition.” The event, hosted at Sciences Po Bordeaux, will serve as a key platform for academics, researchers, and professionals seeking to explore the impact and contributions of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in addressing major contemporary challenges.
This 10th Conference, whose programme is already available, marks a significant milestone — celebrating a decade of academic and professional collaboration in the study and promotion of the social economy, with participants from over 50 countries. CIRIEC’s scientific conferences have become a global reference event, offering a crucial space for debate on the challenges and opportunities of the sector in rapidly changing and dynamic contexts.
The Bordeaux Conference will open on Monday, 27 October, with a welcoming address by Dominique Darbon, Director of Sciences Po Bordeaux. The opening session will also feature Timothée Duverger, Professor at Sciences Po Bordeaux and CIRIEC-France; Alain Arnaud, President of CIRIEC-France; Marie-Laure Cuvelier, Regional Councillor of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in charge of Social and Solidarity Economy (France); and Bernard Thiry, President of CIRIEC International.
A plenary session on territorial responsibility will follow, co-chaired by Carmen Marcuello, Professor at the University of Zaragoza and President of the Scientific Commission on Social and Cooperative Economy of CIRIEC-International, and Timothée Duverger, Sciences Po Bordeaux (France). Speakers will include Juan Fernando Álvarez Rodríguez (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and CIRIEC-Colombia), Maryline Filippi (Bordeaux Sciences Agro and INRAE – AgroParisTech), and Saioa Arando Lasagabaster, representative of the Arizmendiarrieta Social Economy Think Tank (ASETT) and Professor at Mondragon University.
Immediately after, the first paper sessions will begin, with a total of 36 workshops taking place.
Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF)
From 29 to 31 October, Bordeaux will also host the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF). Held under the main theme “The SSE: A Condition for a Just Transition Towards Resilient Territories and the Well-being of Citizens,” the Forum expects to gather around 4,000 participants from all five continents — including representatives of local and national governments, institutions, networks, federations, and SSE stakeholders.
The aim of the Forum is to share ideas and practices that could make the SSE “the norm shaping tomorrow’s economy — prioritising people and collective purpose over capital, and defining a local and long-term economy.”
As in every edition of the GSEF, the Forum will conclude with a final declaration, setting out the political commitments made and translating them into a roadmap for the next two years.
Both the CIRIEC Scientific Congress and the GSEF Forum are part of a dense and decisive global sequence, taking place just days before the Second World Summit for Social Development (Doha, 4–6 November 2025), which will bring together heads of state and government to accelerate the implementation of a new global social contract.
