In solidarity economy, the meaning of sustainability include also social sustainability, and we could say that “In the city of the future, it will be a matter, first and foremost, of satisfying the needs of people for a high quality of life with concurrent sustainable development”. “It is now known that we cannot abuse of natural resources, as well as we cannot exclude individuals from the economic system – especially because in doing so, we need to face problems more difficult to deal with (an elder society, inter-generational activities, social inclusion, health problems, soil degradation, etc.), and
that’s why solidarity economy can give alternative and creative answers for problems that the capitalist system is enabled to deal with (unemployment, poverty, social protection).

It is necessary to think how to promote the local economy and development of the region without harm to the environment, to create a carbon-neutral environment and involving all the local agents.

This year the idea in Neusiedl am See is to work in collaborative multidisciplinary groups (among students, local public authorities, citizens) with the aim of developing for the design of a sustainable economy on the city of the future. Looking for an answer on how to promote local development through solidarity economy and searching for best practices we touch several action possibilities:

• participative Budgeting,
• mobilizing the ´endogenous potential´ of regions,
• diversifying local food supply,
• boosting local employment initiatives,
• organizing cooperatives,
• ´complementary currencies´, etc.

Offering examples in Austria and other countries, we will show the necessity of increasing social participation and public support for the development of a sustainable city of the future”.

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