Very large ICTA- UAB's presence in Budapest 5th International Degrowth Conference
The 5th International Degrowth Conference took place in Budapest from 30 August to 3 September 2016. For the first time, in parallel to the conference, an open festival “Budapest Degrowth Week” featured practical workshops, panel and participatory discussions, and also concerts, artistic performances and interactive tours throughout the city.
More than 500 researchers from across the world gathered in Budapest to discuss Degrowth, as a response to ecological, social and political unsustainability of contemporary society. Many speakers from ICTA-UAB attended the Conference, such as Federico Demaria, Giorgos Kallis, Filka Sekulova at the inauguration on 30th August, and Sofia Avila, Raul Velasco, Brototi Roy, Alev Sorman, Daniela Del Bene, Miklós Antal, Viviana Asara, Sam Bliss, Beatriz Rodriguez Labajos, François Schneider, Claudio Cattaneo, Gonzalo Gamboa, Giacomo D'Alisa, Helen Zaiser, Joan Martinez Alier and others at the different sessions of the programme.
The Budapest Degrowth Conference aimed to maintain continuity with previous conferences, demonstrating the latest research in the field of degrowth, as well as promoting cooperation in the development of scientific and political proposals and facilitation of networking and the flow of ideas between various actors working on degrowth, especially in academia.
The presentations for the conference were selected from over 500 applications for papers and special sessions by an international team of degrowth researchers, including the peer-to-peer evaluation of submissions. The conference proceedings took place through 40 topical panels and 200 brief research presentations, organized around thematic days of CHALLENGES, STRATEGIES, ALLIANCES, through twelve cross-cutting themes from visionary conceptual innovations to solidarity with other global movements.
The main goals of the Budapest Degrowth Conference and Week was on one hand to question the limits to growth in understanding the challenges faced by society and on the other hand to implement dialogue about solutions on different levels.
Within the plurality and increasing number of events on degrowth, the goal was to develop a clear identity and philosophy for the international conference as a regular and recognizable event, where scholars, civil society and practitioners come together to inform each other regarding their degrowth-related research and activities. The conference was meant to be an additional step on the pathway where fruitful, reflective and interesting meetings and discussions encourage unity between worldwide degrowth experience and perceptions. Apart from the desire to be a convivial networking event, the degrowth conference opened a platform for exchanging scientific advances in the degrowth field, continuing discussions that started in the previous conferences, building new knowledge and sharpening degrowth concepts, establishing a long-term action (e.g. degrowth network, future projects…), and introducing degrowth to newcomers, especially from the post-socialist region.