Partnership for Dialogue on Degrowth and Socio-Ecological Transformation

<< Background >>The project Partnership for dialogue on Degrowth and socio-ecological transformation served to create a space for transnational exchange, education and awareness-raising on the topic of socio-economic conditions for a successful transition to ecological sustainability and social equity. In cooperation between the Department of Environmental Studies at the Masaryk University (DES) in Brno, RESET: platform for socio-ecological transformation (Prague), NaZemi (Brno) and Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie (KnoE) in Leipzig, Germany, the project activities brought together people from diverse backgrounds in academia and civil society, education and public engagement. We shared ideas and strengthened our cooperation for a “just transition” of European economies in the face of rising temperatures and inequalities.<< Objectives >>Within the project Partnership for dialogue on Degrowth and socio-ecological transformation we wanted to:1. intensify the cooperation between partner organizations in Germany and Czech Republic, increase transnational exchange on the intersection of academic research, non-formal education and civil society engagement;2. contribute to more effective actions for ecological sustainability, social justice and vibrant democracies by integrating theory and practice through dialogue between academia and civil society;3. increase the impact of previous work of the partner organizations by disseminating their work to a broader public;4. foster debates on socio-ecological transformation, post-growth economics and just transition in the post-socialist context, and address the issue of just transition in rural and post-industrial regions.<< Implementation >>The project had 4 main activities:* Networking and exchange event I that served as a space for exchange among practitioners, educators and researchers in the field of socio-ecological transformation. Although originally planned only for members and collaborators of the partner organizations from Czechia and Germany, we took the opportunity to include also other other relevant organizations from the CEE region (incl. Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary).* Networking and exchange event II then served, as originally planned, to build a deeper connection among the partner organizations from Czechia and Germany, focusing mainly on sharing how degrowth principles translate to the structure and processes of our own organizations.* The Conference on Degrowth and socio-ecological transformation was the biggest event of the project, bringing together more than 200 academics, activists, practitioners, students and journalists from several CEE countries.* Creation of a degrowth web site and related social media work that took place during the whole project and ensured continuous visibility of our activities, as well as public accessibility of their results.<< Results >>The main concrete outputs of the project include: two reports (in the form of blog posts) summarizing the main content of the first two activities - the partner organizations' meetings; a set of videos from the international conference, including shorter introductions to the topic of Degrowth (introductory lectures, but also a Degrowth Slam Poetry), and several panel debates focused on more specific topics (care economy, degrowth in practice etc.); the degrowth web site (in Czech) that introduces the concept of degrowth in a visually attractive, accessible and at the same time informative way.Regarding the more complex outcomes, we believe we fulfilled all the four aims we had at the beginning: we intensified the cooperation between partner organizations in Germany and Czech Republic (and beyond, as we even reached a broader group of organizations); we increased transnational exchange on the intersection of academic research, non-formal education and civil society engagement; especially through activity 3 and 4, we contributed to more effective actions for ecological sustainability, social justice and vibrant democracies; and we fostered debates on socio-ecological transformation and post-growth economics in the CEE context.