Degrowth is gaining grounds in Greece

How does the world that we envision look like? Does life exist beyond austerity and the markets? What are the necessary (institutional and social) changes in order to make the transition to a society detached from the imaginary of (economic) growth? These and many more questions were discussed during the first degrowth conference that was organized in the Architects School of the Athens Metsovio Polytechnic, on 20-22 February 2015.

The three day conference entitled “Forum- political laboratory: Prosperity without growth, proposals for another world in common”, gathered more than 40 speakers representing a large variety of activist networks and initiatives, as well as research disciplines. The conference that included panel discussions in eight thematic sessions, plus a synthesis session at the end, was visited by more than 650 attendants from all over Greece, which contributed with experiences and visions for another -egalitarian, just and sustainable- world.

The aim of the conference was to bring together activists and researchers from diverse but related fields (degrowth, political ecology, autonomy, commons, peer to peer production), which share common aspirations for emancipatory social change, in order to synthesize their work into concrete policy proposals for the creation of a different economic, social and political reality. The guidelines to the speakers required that policy proposals should reflect social demands, practical knowledge and research findings and should focus on innovative but implementable measures at local, regional and national levels. The ultimate goal of the conference was to set the bar high, to put pressure and influence the newly formed government (and society) with specific proposals in order to create the necessary institutional frameworks, tools and funding mechanisms and support the transition to a socially just and ecologically sustainable world.

The policy proposals focused on a series of topics: the productive regeneration of the countryside, restructuring bio-economy at the bio-regional level, co-management of natural resources and waste, decarbonization of the economy and utilization of renewable energy sources, direct democracy and citizen empowerment, solidarity and cooperative economy, employment and social care (health, housing, education), debt audit and control, decoupling prosperity from economic indicators, combating economism, productivism and consumerism, peer to peer networking and governance, as well as, safeguarding fundamental rights of humans, non-human species and the Mother Earth.

All sessions were video-recorded and will be available online (on youtube) soon. Speakers will each provide a short paper with policy proposals that will be integrated into an open publication, which will be available online soon, while an executive summary of the policy proposals will be sent to the new Left government and other policy makers. All results will be widely disseminated to networks, initiatives, collectives, professionals and the public.

The organizers, iliosporoi network on social and political ecology (www.iliosporoi.net) together with the newly activated Greek chapter of Research and Degrowth (www.degrowth.org), were empowered by the constructive dialogue and the active involvement of so many speakers and participants, and hope to have set the basis for further collaboration and common actions for promoting degrowth and social change. One thing is certain. Another world already exists, practiced by the grassroots movements, while degrowth proves to be a very constructive way to reconstruct an ideal future, to realize everyday revolutions and to build resilient nowtopias right here, right now.

Michalis Theodoropoulos, iliosporoi network