Hosted by the Imagining Sustainable Futures Research Community, a discussion of the history of economic growth and environmental impact, hear from degrowth scholars, and debate key issues in agriculture, economics, and technology. Come participate and collaborate! 

Humans are challenging the ecological limits of Planet Earth, and climate change is not the only symptom of this overreach. According to the planetary boundaries accounting framework, many other systems have been stressed beyond the “safe operating space for humanity”, including biodiversity, freshwater, and land systems. In short, the economy has outgrown the planet. 

Degrowth is an equitable contraction of the global economy, as we know it, to achieve true environmental sustainability. It is an academic and activist movement aimed at reducing the over-sized ecological footprint of the Global North and rebalancing human relationships with nature and amongst one another. 

To prepare for Degrowth Day, you can:

1)    Read “Has the Economy Outgrown the Planet?” a degrowth primer, prepared by Purdue faculty and grad students: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368531755_Has_the_Economy_Outgrown_the_Planet_An_Introduction_to_Degrowth

2)    Join the Degrowth Coffee Hour monthly book discussion. We are currently reading The Future is Degrowth (Vansintjan et al. 2022)

3)    Check out past Degrowth Coffee hour topics and events, and get involved here: www.jmulrow.org/degrowth-coffee-hour