The contribution focuses on the growing significance of Social and Solidarity Economies (SSE) for local development, fighting poverty and inequality, fostering social inclusion and decent employment s well as the development of deprived ur-ban and rural communities and will present recent research in the field. Especially in the context of social policy-concerns, the power of SSE to achieve the core objec-tives of the UN agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development goals, becomes visible. SSE is “organized by collectives directly to satisfy human needs not subject to the discipline of profit maximization or state-technocratic rationality” (Wright 2010, 141). SSE-solutions predominantly are organized in voluntary associations, self-help-groups and social cooperatives, based on democratic governance and self-organization of citizens, affected by a common concern, embedded in a local con-text (Elsen 2018). SSE involves forms of “governance which are more horizontal and democratic; and often linked to collective action and active citizenship” (UN-RISD 2016, 15). It is a pathway to social empowerment by which civil society actors directly organize various activities, rather than simply shape the deployment of eco-nomic power (Wright 2010 140). Thus, not only the objectives of SSE-approaches, but also their functioning and organizational culture, is beneficial and the signifi-cance lies not only in their economic potential or their capacity to cope with actual societal problems, but in their emancipative power. SSE has the capacity to facilitate empowerment and the participation of citizens and to open opportunities for their self-determination and personal prosperity. Members and users can control important decisions and transactions. This kind of management allows for SSE-organizations in the field of social objectives to func-tion in a way, that they can attain their specific social aims and at the same time generate social capital and own assets for further development. These contexts are also settings of civic learning. A productive mix of paid work, voluntary engagement, public support, and own earnings is characteristic for these organizations. As sec-tor-transgressing approach, SSE under proper conditions, can stimulate social in-novation, eco-social approaches and new local welfare models, by integrating dif-ferent objectives and actors into synergetic solutions, causing multiple societal ef-fects.

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