Rural Europe on the move English_chapt1_6 | Page 25

Crisis and the social solidarity economy
PE OP LE !
Vasileios Bellis and the Development Agency of Karditsa (ANKA.SA),
of which he is general manager, hosted the European Rural Sustainability
Gathering in Karditsa in 2017. His professional career qualification is as a
chemistry engineer. His passion now is to reinvent and modernise cooperatives
and the collective use of local resources. He has been actively involved in the
creation of the Credit Cooperative and ‘Karditsa’s Ecosystem of Collaboration’.
Vasileios is also a member of the Forum of Social Entrepreneurship and the
People’s University of Social Solidarity Economy (UnivSSE Coop).
In the past he participated actively in the establishment of the first Greek
educational platform ‘kalomathe’ in the field of Social and Solidarity Economy.
But here we sit in one of our hosts’
the point when we got our act together
traditional houses with a breathtaking and innovation emerged from a fresh
view that sweeps down to lake collaborative spirit.”
Plastiras. We have just visited rural
‘Crisis’ ‘ κρίσις ’ is a Greek word. It
projects which have thrived in recent comes from the verb ‘ κρίνω ’ which
years. “Since the economic crisis, which means to pass judgment, to analyse
began in 2008, there has been a severe with an inquisitive view, and to do
shortage of capital,” explains Vasileios so with an expression of urgency –
“With a spirit of sharing
knowledge and
capacities, we do not
see ourselves as victims
any more.”
With a spirit of sharing our
Bellis, director and founder of the hence the words ‘critique’ (art) ‘critic’ knowledge and capacities, we do not
Karditsa Development Agency (ANKA). and ‘critical’ (thinking). So, in a way, see ourselves as victims anymore,
“No foreign capital was interested the ideas of ‘crisis’ and ‘opportunity’ but as active agents in the building
in investing here. Local businesses come together; for when you get of alternatives. Here in Karditsa we
had no cash, neither did the banks. into a state of crisis, you need to stop are witness to just that. “We’ve tried
The state had nothing to invest either. what you are doing, re-evaluate the something different,” Vasileios tells
The ‘crisis’ gave us the feeling that we situation and (hopefully) come up with us, “we have created an ecosystem of
were completely alone. But that was alternatives. people and of institutions.”
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