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
Against the background of a looming ecological collapse and extreme socio-economic inequality, growth-critical scholars and activists debate various eco-social policies that can facilitate transitions towards genuinely environmentally sustainable and socially equitable societies. Such policies include work sharing, time-banks, job guarantees, complementary currencies and minimum income schemes....
The debates around post-growth transitions to just socio-ecological futures - while undoubtedly variegated - all emphasize that such a transition will involve a fundamental change in the way we organize economic relations and processes. At a first glance, this implies both a nominal and a structural, change with corresponding shifts in production, labor and consumption patterns. Whereas nominal...
Europe is exhausted. It is exhausted after long years of what is labeled as the Eurozone crisis. It is exhausted after years of economic success and – now – prolonged years of political failure. Every single attempt of deepening the political union of Europe after the enactment of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 and the [...]
