The Fourth International Degrowth Conference for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity took place in Leipzig, Germany from September 2nd to 6th 2014. Almost 3000 people took part in the conference. The conference consisted of more than 500 events. You could find keynote speeches, panel discussions, scientific talks, discussion workshops as well as practical workshops and artistic formats. The conference showed the interest that exists for degrowth in Germany and made it possible to tie closer connections between the German and the southern European degrowth debate. Furthermore, links between the degrowth movement and other movements were strengthened, such as the climate justice movement. If you wish to read more about what was discussed at the conference you can stroll through the programme database and the press-review or watch a video of one of the events.
Moreover, you can read the following background information: > What made the conference special? > The host town of Leipzig
By Christiane Kliemann Shortly before the most crucial UN climate change conference after the failure of Copenhagen, it seems that the international climate-movement is finally getting its act together: resistance against fossil fuel extraction is gaining ground and a rising global movement is putting pressure on institutions to divest their money from fossil fuels to finance renewables instea...
By Chris Ward In the scientific paper session on technological solutions for a degrowth society, it was refreshing to hear someone (unsurprisingly an engineer) mention that the degrowth movement could do with more practical projects and methodologies to run alongside the theoretical discussions. The OAE Project: Open Data and Open Source software for a sustainable economy The OAE project a...
By Christiane Kliemann Alberto Acosta, economist and father of the Ecuadorian constitution, made very clear in his opening speech, that it is not enough to simply do away with the growth paradigm if we miss to build up a different world altogether. On the example of a news article on the possibility of an economic recession in Germany and the devastating impacts this would have on other Europ...
