The Academy was officially closed on November 26th, 2021, with the participation of: Ms. Carla Ventura, Vice President of the Cooperative António Sérgio for the Social Economy (CASES), Ms. Mafalda Troncho, Director of ILO office in Portugal, Mr. Juan Hunt, ILO Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean and Mr. Andreas Klemmer, Director of the Training Department of the ITCILO. The session was facilitated by Martin Gasser Senior Programme Officer at the ITCILO.

At the beginning of the session, a video summary from the two weeks of the academy with the high level panels, plenary sessions, study visits and electives, was featured. The speakers highlighted the essential and increasingly recognised role of the SSE at the national, regional and global levels. They also underlined the importance of fostering SSE partnerships, and the institutionalization of the sector, to activate its transformative potential.

The speakers also mentioned that the SSE Academies provided the participants with the opportunity for education, networking and dissemination around the SSE. The participants also identified the academies as a way to mainstream the SSE into the international development discussions.

A video tribute was presented for Mr Roberto Di Meglio, a Senior ILO Specialist at the Cooperatives Unit who retired in January 2022 after 32 years at the ILO. During his time at ILO COOP, Mr di Meglio collaborated with ITC-Turin in organizing the ILO’s SSE academies. He also led research projects on the SSE and was among ILO staff participating in the UN Task Force on SSE.

Click here to watch the recording of the session with the original audio, or interpreted in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

For more information on the 12th edition of the SSE Academy, click here.