Welcome to Bordeaux!
I am particularly pleased to welcome you all to City Hall as Mayor and as President of the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum – GSEF.
This is a moment we have all been waiting for a long time.
For three days, Bordeaux will be the place where the economy of tomorrow is being invented, thanks to the presence of thousands of people from more than 70 countries.
But I wanted to bring you together on the eve of the opening of this international forum for a moment of conviviality, in keeping with our city’s great tradition of hospitality and welcome.
Your presence and commitment already represent a historic turning point for the social and solidarity economy at the Bordeaux 2025 Forum.
I would therefore like to thank you for accepting our invitation.
I would also like to pay tribute to the role of the GSEF association in the ambitious peace and resilience project promoted by the social and solidarity economy.
Thank you to all those who bring this promise to life throughout the year, in all four corners of the world, and in particular to its director, Aude Saldana.
The global forum sets the pace for the GSEF every two years and enables the social and solidarity economy to reach important milestones, but it is only the visible part of a lot of behind-the-scenes work that I would like to highlight here.
I would also like to thank all our public and private partners, without whom GSEF 2025 would not have the same strength nor the same ambitions.
For those of us who work for the social and solidarity economy in our respective territories, this must be an opportunity to hammer home the importance of our cause and to rally new partners to our cause. Because promoting the social and solidarity economy means advancing peace and helping to repair a world that is tearing itself apart.
It also means demonstrating great pragmatism, because this is a real and concrete economy, based on local resources and territorial solidarity.
Before concluding, I would like to emphasise an important point.
In a few minutes, as President of the GSEF, I will sign an agreement with CIRIEC (International Centre for Research and Information on the Public, Social and Cooperative Economy).
This agreement provides for the co-organisation of scientific events and the production of academic contributions on our common topics.
This is a way of reaffirming, on behalf of all GSEF members, our commitment to the primacy of facts and scientific truth.
This is crucial at a time when, driven by populism, a dangerous post-truth discourse is spreading throughout the world.
Our collective positions matter: we saw this in 2023 when the United Nations adopted its resolution recognising the contribution of the social and solidarity economy to sustainable development goals.
Therefore, the messages we will convey this week, strengthened by our solidarity, will have the power to change the destiny of the social and solidarity economy and, in turn, transform the global economy.
Thank you.
