After Leipzig in 2014, more than 600 researchers and scientists from South America and Europe, as well as Japan and China, concerned with the fundamental ecological, societal and political unsustainability of our society, will gather in Budapest to discuss degrowth. The Fifth International Degrowth Conference will take place from 30th of August to 3rd of September in the rooms of the Corvinus University Budapest, and include more than 260 submitted scientific sessions selected by the conference organizers from Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. The whole event will last for five days: the scientific part of the conference will take place in the morning, with special ad-hoc evening discussions, open and free for all as part of The Degrowth Week.
This year, The Degrowth Conference is organized around twelve cross-cutting themes divided into several subcategories. The Conference will last for three days, preceded by a “welcome to degrowth” day and followed by a concluding day aimed to map further actions for creating a degrowth society. The three main working days of the conference will follow the CHALLENGES, STARTEGIES, ALLIANCES line and all the sessions will be further divided according to theme; from analyzing historical socialism and post-socialism, degrowth and other movements, to empowering sustainable communities, as well as several subcategories that tackle questions of degrowth: degrowth in infrastructure and cities, degrowth in social systems and politics, the question of gender equality and degrowth, etc. In these three days 16 parallel sessions and three main keynotes per day will be held. The concluding day of the conference will be the time to reflect on the presented sessions and evening discussions. Also, the fifth day will include activist action in the city and a picknick in one of the many beautiful Budapest parks. Finally, there will be a farewell party on the 3rd of September.
We hope that the conference will deepen the knowledge about plurality and interconnectedness of the degrowth theory and that it will empower researchers, scientists and the degrowth community as a whole in Central and Eastern Europe to create the knowledge and practice for a better life for all!