The Centre for Socio-Eco-Nomic Development (CSEND) is a self-sustained not-for-profit organisation. It is accredited by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with special consultative status and enjoys access to the United Nations organisations and participates actively in its policy deliberations in New York, Geneva and Vienna where CSEND has its own representatives.
CSEND promotes inclusive, equitable, sustainable and integrated development through dialogue and institutional learning. CSEND provides policy research, capacity development and consulting services on institutional development and change processes especially in the area of institutional strengthening, human and social capital development, trade and development, quality education, aid effectiveness, international negotiations and new diplomacies (state versus non-state actors).
Throughout its 26 years of history, CSEND has played a leadership role in several knowledge and policy areas and was acknowledged for its pioneering role by other scholars and institutions. Contributions made by CSEND take the form of policy briefs and policy reviews which are disseminated through publications, seminars, and dialogue sessions as well as through training activities and informal meetings.
Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) at CSEND
CSEND is committed to inclusive and sustainable socio-economic growth and equitable sharing of benefits generated by enterprises, cooperatives, state-owned companies and other forms of organisations be they public, private or civil society based. ,
From 1988 to 2004, CSEND was an active member of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE). SASE is an international, inter-disciplinary academic organization including disciplines such as economics, sociology, political economy, political science, organization studies, management, psychology, law and history. Since then CSEND has always adopted a socio-economic orientation to its policy work and public reform projects. One of the leading theorists and experts on the socio-economics, Prof Beat Burgenmeier, continues to provide advice for CSEND’s work and serves as lecturer and speaker at CSEND’s public events.
CSEND initiated a a new stream of research focusing on cooperatives in 2010. Applications of its research finding have been submitted to various research institutions in Switzerland.
In order to promote SSE, CSEND initiated a Geneva based summer programme on Global Leadership (GLP) in 2014. The aim is to promote socio-economics and multi-stakeholders participation for a sustainable future. The GLP summer course is in its 5th consecutive year and plans are to extend its to an even broader format.
Key constituencies of CSEND are academic and professional associations. CSEND has been active in the following communities of scholars and practitioners over the past 30 years, i.e., Academy of Management, International Institute for Administrative Sciences, International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, and International Association of Applied Psychology. Through organising symposiums, presenting and publishing papers, and various forms of interactions with the leadership of these organisations, CSEND endeavours to spread the concept and approach of solidarity based socio-economics.
Relevant Publications and Public Events
Symposia
In July 1996, SASE organised its Eighth Annual Conference in Geneva. 700 plus participants attended the conference from different parts of the world. Speakers and panellists represented disciplines as diverse as sociology, economics, psychology, political science and anthropology. They presented academic papers and partook in stimulating discussions on policy related issues. The theme of the SASE conference was “The-Economic Foundations of a Just Society”. CSEND organised five panels covering the following thematic areas: New Public Management: A Socio-Economic Perspective; Human Rights: A New Form of Colonialism?; What Kind of Governing Contract?. Cross-Border Cooperation: How to Bridge Boundaries?; Free Trade: Is It Universal? A total of fourteen experts participated in these panels. Details can be reviewed here.
CSEND created a new research network of SASE called “Development, Social Change and Governance”, and organised panels for the annual SASE conferences in Vienna (1998) and Madison, Wisconsin (1999)
The Geneva 2000 World Summit on Social Development took place at the ILO. CSEND organised presentations on the theme of “International Cooperation for Social development: Practitioners’ Reports and Critical Reflections”. Two workshops were organised and brought politicians, academics, practitioners together to examine the process of creating alternative social contracts and new forms of public administration and services. The aim of this contribution was to call for theory building for effective and sustainable change projects in complex and highly politicised situations to “support and help build the capacity of each country in implementing programmes based on agreed social principles” (World Bank, 1999). For details please visit.
CSEND participates as speaker or organiser in the UN Library Talks Geneva. Examples are the Launching of the book “Humanitarian Work Psychology and the Global Development Agenda” (2015). People are at the core of organizations whose mission is to deliver aid, through local communities working to generate income, and through national and international leaders working to shape policies and create good governance. At various levels, these interventions aim to lift people and communities out of poverty and ensure a decent standard of living.
Other UN Library Events included on multidisciplinary debate on the philosophical, economic, social, and pedagogical aspect of education in the context of achieving SDG Goal 4, “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” on 15th June 2017. Details of the Library table can be accessed here.
Roundtable on “How to Ensure Ageing with Dignity?” – A Contribution to the Implementation of SDG3 of the “2030 Sustainable Development Goals” on 23 May 2017. The round table aimed at examining the various needs and elements of WHO’s active ageing agenda and the multifaceted challenges of ageing in different socio-economic contexts. Details are available here.
Trade and Development.
Together with ILO and ICA, CSEND co-organised a panel during the Aid-for-Trade conference in July 2015 “Promoting Cooperative-to-cooperative trade for sustainable development”.
Public interest has increased in inclusive organizations that share ownership, participation and profits such as worker cooperatives, employee stock ownership plans (ESOP’s), perpetual trusts, and employee-owned collectives. All such organizations are part of Paul Adler’s (2016) definition of alternative economic futures. Some countries such as the United States and United Kingdom have passed legislation to encourage the development of such enterprises.
Creating Inclusive Organizations through Shared Ownership, Participation and Profits was the name of a panel that CSEND co-organised with US colleagues during the 2019 Academy of Management conference in Boston. The panel attracted a lot of interest and was co-organised by CSEND’s Raymond Saner and by Frank M. Shipper of Worker owned Enterprises.
Education and Learning Programme
Since 2015, in partnership with Nagoya University and Chung Chang University, CSEND organises annual Summer Schools on Global Leadership in Geneva. Socio-economics is one of the theoretic pillars that underpin this two-week programme. University students attending the GLP range from undergraduate to doctoral levels students from Nagoya University, Chung Chang University and others partner academic institutions.
The Sinergie-SIMA 2017 Conference in Naples titled “Value co-creation: management challenges for business and society” was held at the University of Naples Federico II on 15-16 June 2017 in Italy; CSEND’s Raymond Saner & Lichia Yiu presented a paper titled ; A literature analysis of organisational growth challenges of Cooperatives and their potential contribution to developing countries’ development: an assessment and suggestions for future reference
Publications (last 5 years)
- “Platform Cooperatives: The Social and Solidarity Economy and the Future of Work: A Preliminary Assessment of Platform Capitalism and Platform Cooperativism and their Effects on Workers’ Satisfaction”, 2019.
- Cooperative for inclusive growth, CSEND Policy Brief No. 10, 2012.
- Financing Education in Developing Countries: Philanthropic Organisations Need to Monitor Their Investment for Impact. CEPS Working Paper Series, No. 15, Basel: CEPS.
- “The Measuring and Monitoring of Human Trafficking”, 2018, Public Administration and Policy: The Emerald Insight.
- “Intersectoral Coordination of Decent Work in the Context of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP): Lessons Learnt for the LDCs”, 2018, CSEND Working Paper Nr. 16.
- “Business Diplomacy in Implementing the Global 2030 Development Agenda: Core Competencies Needed at the Corporate and Managerial Level” (2018), in Advanced Series in Management, International Business Diplomacy: How Can Multinational Corporations Deal with Global Challenges? Volume 18, 33—58.
- “Labour Rights as Human Rights: Evaluating the Policy Coherence of USA, EU and Australia through Trade Agreements and Their Participation in the Universal Periodic Review” (2016). Trade, Law and Development, Winter, Vol. 7 (2), p. 195-299.
- “Humanitarian Work Psychology: Unique Contributions and Theoretical Development in the Context of the Global Development Agenda” (2016) in McWha Hermann, I, Maynard, D.C. & O’Neill Berry, M. (Eds.), Humanitarian Workplace Psychology and the Global Agenda, East Sussex: Routledge Psychology Press, page 192-200.
- “Is Private-Sector Participation in Water Provision the Right Option for Developing Countries? An Analysis through Case Studies” (2015), Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 37 (3), pp. 193-206.
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