On 27^th of July 2023, An-Najah National University (ANNU), partner of the MedRiSSE project, organised a public-private dialogue event to discuss social innovation with the title “Challenges and Prospects for Promoting Economic Empowerment and Social Innovation”.

The event brought together 66 participants among experts, representatives from local and international institutions, governmental and private organizations, beneficiary entrepreneurs, and project partners to discuss innovative solutions for societal advancement in the Mediterranean region.

During the opening of the event, Dr. Imad Ibrik, Director of the Technology Transfer Office at ANNU and MedRiSSE project manager, emphasized the University's commitment to social justice through projects that prioritize the Social and Solidarity Economy.  Dr. Samah Saleh, Assistant Professor in the Social Work Department at ANNU, highlighted the significance of fostering dialogue between various sectors to bridge gaps and find common solutions along with the importance of launching new initiatives based on successful local and international experiences, aiming to combat poverty and unemployment in Palestine effectively.

The workshop comprised two sessions: the first one, focused on challenges and prospects for social and economic empowerment, encompassing dialogue between governmental representatives and civil society stakeholders and the second one, presented inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs who have overcome economic challenges and obstacles.

The success of this event builds upon the achievements of previous event in Italy, and ANNU keeps further dialogue between the public and private sectors to address Social and Solidarity Economy challenges from various perspectives. The insights gained during the event will propel the MedRiSSE project forward and contribute to sustainable socio-economic development in the region.

The dialogue concluded with the exchange of recommendations and plans to foster ongoing cooperation and coordination between relevant authorities, some of them:

• Governmental sectors have to create more policies and strategies to support social innovation and economic empowerment to encourage enterprisers
• Private sectors have to contribute in more effective ways to support small business, and also to have more facilities in loans and other kind of support.
• It is important to continue in such dialogues because it is a space for the different actors to coordinate with each other’s, and to improve their programs of intervention.