In cooperation with the Italian University of Pavia, PFESP implemented a practical training for a group of field researchers. They will participate in the implementation of a research study on the systems of economic establishments of a social nature most suitable for the development of the Palestinian economy. It will be within the framework of the "Peace Steps" project and in completion of the laboratory plan set for the study to be implemented.

Mr. Mahdi Hamdan, the Executive Director of PFESP, said that the training aims to explain and clarify the nature of the "study" and its objectives. Also, it aims to train the participating researchers on the research questionnaire and its details.

Mr. Hamdan explained that the study comes within the Peace Steps program implemented by PFESP in partnership with the Italian Association Vento Di Terra. It aims to promote comprehensive and sustainable economic and social growth in Palestinian societies. It also aims to spread and promote economic practices within frameworks of social solidarity and economic integration in order to provide job opportunities and achieve sustainable, inclusive, fair economic development for youth and women, especially in marginalized Bedouin societies in Area C in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He said that PFESP participates in this research activity as part of supporting economic development practices in the frameworks of social solidarity that the "Peace Steps" project seeks to achieve. This is through a group of partnerships that include local and international institutions, the most prominent of which is the Italian Association "Vento Di Terra" supervising the implementation of the project. In addition to the department of economics at the University of Pavia.

For her part, Laiali Maree, the coordinator of the research and capacity building program in the Peace Steps project, said that the training was conducted under the supervision of researcher Maria Sassi, Professor of Economics at the University of Pavia, Italy .Maree explained that the training, which was completed over two days, included a detailed presentation of the project and research activity. In addition, it included a detailed review of the questionnaire questions, asked queries, and discussion about the questions that need clarification.

During the training, the researchers filled out the form to simulate the role expected to be done in the field. in addition to their presentation of the form to ensure their understanding of the economic concepts and terms mentioned in the questionnaire.

Maree said that the researchers will start practical steps starting next Sunday to collect data in the field. A sample of approximately 45 institutions will be visited in addition to four Bedouin societies in the West Bank and Gaza. She noted that this sample was identified after a comprehensive survey done by PFESP for all official institutions registered in the Palestinian ministries. Then the project team worked under the supervision of the partner institution Vento Di Terra to list the institutions that meet some or all of the methodological conditions that were set by the main researcher for institutions of a social nature.

She indicated that the economic institutions of a social nature are defined as those institutions that use commercial activities or self-activities permanently generating income. In order to achieve social goals and a public good, to make sure that these activities are implemented according to the spirit of entrepreneurial initiative, to achieve a social or environmental goal or the public benefit clearly and explicitly. The target group (the beneficiaries) is the goal and the ultimate goal of these activities.