Katrin Geyer, Environment Advisor at WILPF International gave a very thoughtful and inspiring online presentation reporting back from a ground breaking conference that she’d attended: Beyond Growth: Pathways for a Sustainable Prosperity in the EU. For most politicians, growth is sacrosanct, but in the light of the climate crisis, and considering the capacity of the planet to support us, should this be challenged? Whilst the conference was focused on the European Union, the principles discussed have universal application. Alternatives to growth are not yet mainstream ideas, but maybe in the future they will be. Is this something for WILPF?
This topic is of critical importance and hopefully will become more mainstream. We are very grateful to Katrin for her time and share below the resources she shared following her presentation so you can read in more depth if you wish. All sessions from the Beyond Growth conference, both plenary and focus panels are available on Youtube and the Beyond Growth website: https://www.beyond-growth-2023.eu.
Katrin particularly recommends the following sessions though she stressed there are other sessions she wasn’t able to attend, that will also be interesting:
Focus Panel 1 – Which prosperous future? Confronting narratives on growth
Focus panel 3 – Beyond growth beyond Europe: What policies and partnerships? (on decolonisation & global south perspectives)
Focus panel 4 – Unlocking a just and sustainable economy through Universal Basic Services (big focus on care)
Focus panel 5 – From the welfare state to the social-ecological state: how to organise and finance welfare without growth? (addresses the nitty gritty of how a degrowth scenario would be financed)
Focus panel 7 – Care economy: doing away with gender blind policies for a beyond growth future (focus on care):
Plenary 3 – Addressing the limits of resource consumption: towards a resilient economy (includes Olivia Lazard whose focus is on peace and security)
Focus panel 13 – Repairing and restoring Nature in a beyond growth perspective: is putting a price on biodiversity the right way to go? (fascinating discussion, includes Vandana Shiva):
Book: Less is more: How degrowth will save the world by Jason Hickel