Soup!

Co-creating cross-border bioregional solidarity purchase group – SOUP!

What is ŽUPPA!

Project SOUP! has its origins in ReThinkable – Cross-border Festival of Transformative Economies.

It has emerged from our desire to learn more about local realities and our aspiration to build connections that will help us to create better ones. In light of the adoption of the resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2023 this project will facilitate a creation of a cross-border solidarity purchase group, an alternative food network of local marginalized small-scale farmers in Goriška / Gorizia.

SOUP! will seek to reconnect producers and consumers through a solidarity economy that prioritises local markets and supports local economic development by creating virtuous cycles. Its approach will promote fair solutions based on local needs, resources and capacities, creating more equitable and sustainable local markets. The idea is to re-localise provisioning to decrease one’s ecological footprint but also to regain direct control of the supply chain – to the advantage of transparent pricing and socially acceptable conditions of labor for all those involved.

By harnessing the power of collective consumption, this network intends to act as a leverage point and respond to the challenges posed by global capital: from environmental depletion, to social injustice, to the fundamentally unfulfilling quality of “developed” lifestyles. As social innovation, the project aims to reconnect the bioregional territory that is separated by a national border and strengthen relationships among the citizens of this cross-border bioregion.

We imagine this project as a full participatory process – a co-creation of a cross-border self organised solidarity purchase group. The actions of the participatory process are divided in 6 phases:

1. Informing phase Sept/Oct 2024
2. Consultation phase Oct/Nov 2024
3. (Co-)creation phase from Nov 2024/Jan 2025
4. (Co-)decision-making phase Jan/Feb 2025
5. Acting together phase Feb/March 2025
6. Supporting independent community initiative – solidary purchase group March 2025

This project has been produced under the Communities for Climate pilot action of the European Commission.

What are Communities for Climate?

In cooperation with the Climate Pact Ambassadors initiative, the European Commission has launched the Communities for Climate (C4C) pilot action. This initiative will support 50 Communities for Climate, encouraging them to engage in citizen’s climate actions, to develop and implement innovative ideas for more sustainable and resilient neighborhoods.

C4C projects focus on regenerating biodiversity, circular economies, renewable energy and water resource management. They also contribute to the European Union’s broader climate and environmental goals, aligned with its objective of becoming climate-neutral by 2050. Communities for Climate propose replicable and impactful climate solutions to inspire other local communities across the EU.

More info about C4C HERE

The opinions expressed are those of SOUP! initiative and do not represent the official position of the European Commission.

Who’s behind SOUP!?

SOUP! is promoted by PRODES FVG, operating association of the Forum of Common Goods and Solidarity Economy FVG in collaboration with Climate pact ambassador, as a spin-off of ReThinkable Festival. In person SOUP! is cooked and shared to community by chefs Maví Carcione, Maja Vrčon and Enrico Policardo.

Župpa Events

Slide

Contact