On September 20, Société de développement Angus (SDA) was invited, in association with the 71^st United Nations General Assembly, to present its Technopôle Angus development to the International Leading Group of the Social and Solidarity Economy (ILGSSE).

Hosted by France and presided by Francois Hollande, President of the French Republic, and by the Mont-Blanc Meetings – International Forum of Social and Solidarity Economy Entrepreneurs, the meeting brought together a hundred luminaries in the field including André Vallini, France’s Minister of State for Development and Francophonie; José Graziano da Silva, Director General the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Task-Force on SSE (UNTFSSE); Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development; and Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal.

Under the theme of ​“The Social and Solidarity Economy as a Vector of Sustainable Urban Development,” participants discussed how SSE contributes to building sustainable, livable cities and settlements. As an urban renewal project that provides substantial economic, social, and environmental benefits to the community, Technopôle Angus was presented as a concrete example of SSE in action that demonstrates the leading role social economy enterprises can play in the development of cities, and highlights the importance of partnerships between social enterprises, the public sector, and solidarity financial institutions.

Once a contaminated 2‑million-square-foot brownfield, Technopôle Angus has been transformed over twenty years into a bustling workplace prized for outstanding quality of life, vibrant community, environmental integration, and leading edge sustainability initiatives. Today, with just over 50% of land developed and 56 organizations in place, some 2,300 employees work at Technopôle Angus daily. Once Phase II has been completed, the Technopôle will welcome 1,500 new workers, twenty businesses serving local needs, hundreds of residential units, and four public squares.

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About ILGSSE

The Leading Group of the Social and Solidarity Economy (ILGSSE) was launched in September 2014 at a Mont-Blanc Meetings event in New York associated with the UN General Assembly, to facilitate and foster the practice of social and solidarity entrepreneurship (SSE) internationally. ILGSSE’s mandate is to build understanding of SSE and implement it in a new development model designed to help achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).