Special session proposal submitted by SCORAI Europe, organized by Sylvia Lorek, Marlyne Sahakian, Edina Vadovics and Philip Vergragt.

This session introduces degrowth and transformations from the viewpoint of sustainable consumption, understood as an attractive, equitable and empowering ‘new normal’ that involves a good life for all in a constrained world. Based on a SCORAI workshop hosted prior the conference, we plan to put forward deep-going analysis of policies, political and social settings, institutions and infrastructures that support (un)sustainable consumption as a trigger of economic growth. We will present key conceptual and empirical research findings from the workshop, to then moderate a discussion around strategies for translating research into action, towards more sustainable and just consumption. The presentations will include:

- Conceptual developments: theories and approaches related to notions of the good life, upper/lower limits to consumption, and economic paradigms.

- Meso- and macro-level empirical evidence from across Europe: policies, collective practices, social experiments, and transformative financial tools, with a focus on economies in transition across Europe.

- From research to action: the main outcome of the special session is to identify strategies towards sustainable consumption transformations.

Additional links:

• SCORAI Europe

This media entry was a contribution to the special session „Sustainable consumption and social justice in a constrained world“ at the 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest in 2016.