University incubators as promoters of the social, solidarity and popular economy

Abstract

The aim is to promote a reflection on the different empirical trajectories that reveal another way of doing economy, with emphasis on those initiatives promoted by public universities. In particular, I intend to reflect on the different models and experiences that, starting from universities, can promote models capable of generating social and solidarity-based economic networks through the development of social technologies, also as a response to the current crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic. These experiences fall within the definition of university incubation.
The research analysis carried out on the three incubation programmes identified in Argentina, Brazil and Italy showed that there is a great capacity to generate models of social and solidarity economy networks in the local areas where they operate and throughout their environment. The role of public universities seems to be fundamental for the construction of new knowledge and transformative models. But at the same time, the role of local actors is important, as some of the experiences analysed have stimulated the birth and, above all, are capable of generating shared knowledge to create social and solidarity economic projects.