​On 20 and 21 April, Finnish city of Tampere hosted the 17th meeting of the SEDEC commission and a conference on Finnish experience in preventing and battling homelessness.

During the first day of the meeting, members held an exchange of views on the draft opinion on mentoring as an education tool.

Our SEDEC coordinator, Sergio Perez Garcia (Director-General for Foreign Affairs, Government of Navarra) shared the experience of Navarre where government has since 2018 partnered with private entities and supported a mentoring programme in the field of social economy, with over 30 mentors helping form current and future social economy entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, our first vice president Kieran McCarthy (Cork City Council, Ireland) shared the Irish and Cork's experience and especially the advisory role played by the Irish network of Education and Training Boards and Local Enterprise Offices.

The next meeting of the SEDEC commission will take place on 21 June in Brussels.