The Cajasiete Chair of Social and Cooperative Economy The University of La Laguna has launched a pioneering, empirical research project in the Canary Islands, which will last twelve months and aims to analyze municipal policies promoting the social economy. This will involve conducting a diagnostic study in various towns to identify actions already taken, highlight best practices, and pinpoint opportunities for improvement in their implementation.
The research has been conceived as a pilot study that will begin in Tenerife with a sample of ten small (fewer than 10,000 inhabitants) and medium-sized (10,000 to 49,999 inhabitants) municipalities, including Vilaflor, La Matanza de Acentejo, Tegueste, Santiago del Teide, Güímar, and Puerto de la Cruz. The study will focus particularly on the work of their council departments and agents with responsibilities in employment and economic development, as these are key figures in promoting policies tailored to local needs.
The methodology used for the empirical part of the study is based on a 2021 research project on the same subject, coordinated by Belén Catalá Estada and focused on the Valencian Community. It uses a questionnaire that will serve as the basis for gathering information to be explored in greater depth during subsequent interviews with the aforementioned stakeholders.
The results of this diagnostic study, initially conducted in Tenerife, are expected to be progressively extrapolated to the other islands, providing systematic information on the municipal reality of the Canary Islands. Similarly, the results will allow for conclusions to be drawn regarding improved coordination between different levels of government, as well as strengthening public policies that support the social economy.
The project, funded by the Canary Islands Employment Service, will be developed by economists from the University of La Laguna. Candido Román Cervantes, who is also the coordinator of the Chair that promotes the project, and Olga González Morales, with the additional collaboration of Lilia Alonso, Evelio Pérez, Rubén Fuentes and Federico Ghijs, all of them teachers or research staff linked to the chair.
The timeliness of this study stems from the growing prominence of the social economy in recent years as an alternative development model, due to its capacity to generate sustainable employment, social cohesion, and balanced local development. Thus, the entities that comprise the social economy—cooperatives, worker-owned companies, associations, foundations, and social enterprises, among others—have become key players in the economic revitalization of territories, especially in island and peripheral contexts such as the Canary Islands.
The study has focused on the municipal level because local governments play a crucial role in promoting and consolidating the social economy by formulating public policies adapted to the socio-economic realities of their respective environments.
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