On Monday 25 November, we screened the short film Villa Flores by Marina Galimberti at Karibu

This screening is part of the IDEES project, which is a cross-disciplinary project. One of its aims is to work on the economic opportunities offered by electronic waste, and to develop these activities as part of the social economy.

If we talk more about the social and solidarity economy (SSE) than the circular economy (a term more commonly used in relation to e-waste), it’s because the vision of IDEES is not just to make money, but also to understand the other benefits that can be associated with entrepreneurship in the case of the SSE.

As the short film Villa Flores clearly shows, if this is a cooperative that employs over 200 women in a district on the outskirts of Porto Alegre, there are a whole series of additional benefits: the factory has become a meeting place where personal situations can be shared and tackled collectively, it has created the conditions for women to be able to go out into the street at any time of day without fear of being attacked, it facilitates access to other types of training, and so on.

This short film is about the empowerment of women within the cooperative and how this empowerment has improved the lives of their families and the local environment.

On this occasion, we were privileged to have the presence of the director, Marina, who also shared with us other information that took place during the process of creating the short film, the situation of women, and what drives her to tell these stories.

After the screening, a lively debate took place, during which we were able to share our impressions and experiences and ask questions. It was a very rich moment of sharing.