Brief review of 2024 Conference
Ideas of degrowth, though less well known outside academic circles in the UK, are big in Europe. It is a contested subject embracing (amongst other things) ideas of “doughnut economics”, the circular economy, and post-capitalism. National conferences on the subject have been held in Austria, France, Italy, Denmark, and Ireland this year, a direct consequence of the three-day “Beyond Growth” event in the European Parliament in 2023.
At the conference we heard about how some cities, including Barcelona and Amsterdam, were beginning to use degrowth-linked ideas in their planning. We also heard from Jack Ainsworth about a new group “Degrowth London” formed last year in the capital.
We held several parallel panel sessions covering economics, learning from other movements, and community capacity. We also heard examples from groups currently engaged in building a post-growth world including Radical Routes, Landworkers Alliance, the Or Foundation and Permaqueer. There were also workshops on degrowth for businesses, ad-free cities, and our own Climate Gap Action Group.
We also discussed the term 'degrowth' and whether post-growth or regrowth are more appropriate terms. As well as signalling the necessary regrowth of the natural world, regrowth could also stand for the regrowth of communities or community groups which have been marginalised for decades under a system focused on individualism and personal consumption.
