Results from Barcelona 2010 on the topic

Learning for degrowth

The following are the results of the GAP at the Degrowth Conference 2010 in Barcelona that are particularly relevant for this working group.

The document first presents a summary, including links to other working groups (in bold & italic), and then the complete results of those Barcelona working groups with some relations the current one.

Summary

Degrowth needs an education for living in harmony with the social and natural environment (many links - water, resources, sharing, etc.)

Educational techniques based on self-determination and interacting with, influencing and appreciating the world and opposition to hegemonic status quo is proposed. The methods of evaluation and standard setting need to be re-examined (indicators), and inter-generational knowledge sharing (property rights) and informal education promoted. Creativity and diversity need to be promoted through different pedagogies.

Cooperation has to be promoted early on in the educational process and the community has to be involved in the formation of educational curricula.

Working Groups from 2010 GAP in Barcelona with some connections:

Education

The way in which a community transmits or transforms its culture

Today’s formal educational system has been created by and for the growth model. Degrowth needs an education for living in harmony with the environment. All social groups must be involved in this process.

• Allow room for different pedagogies in order to promote creativity and diversity. Promote cooperation early on in the process of education development, for example, by involving the community in the formation of curricula.

• Education oriented around self-determination.

• Raise political and critical awareness in order to evolve collectively and in harmony

• In order to create a sense of private sphere one has to be capable of interacting with, influencing and appreciating the world

• Political consequences: opposition to hegemonic status quo through empowering philosophy/policy

• Reexamine our methods of evaluation and standard setting, and promote inter-generational knowledge sharing and informal education.

Political strategies

Three comprehensive and complementary options:

• Exit strategy: leaving the system, building alternatives

• Voice strategy: political movement and activist, a particular engagement

• Loyalty strategy: change within the political system, assimilation within the political party system, perhaps too early and perhaps against the ideas of degrowth

Further points:

• Need to learn from other local initiatives, some cases were discussed, and the need to be based more in the grassroots and history of movements, have relevance recognize diversity of socio-cultural and political history contexts

• Need to learn to local initiatives to reply in other local contexts or to extract models that can be expanded at the global level. Degrowth is not an entirely new idea, to take root in the 1970´s, is important to learn about mistakes, need to highlight alternatives of the past and look at how they have worked.

The discussion have emphasis in understand social, technological, political and economics contexts that made differences between now and 70´s. The movements change from our current situation and position at local and global level should not be only one, but would have to be constructed from an understanding of the different cultures and political history context in determining the emphasis on particular political strategies

Participative/direct democracy

Research questions

• In a degrowth scenario, what ideas and practices of direct / participatory democracy are relevant for different scales of decision-making? Including with respect to different types of enterprises??

• In a degrowth trajectory, what kind of incentives can / should be set to motivate people to participate in political activity and decision-making?

• How can we ensure that existing participative decision-making arrangements are taken into account by existing institutional framework?

Proposals

• Create spaces and networks for enhanced participation in politics and decision-making (e.g. citizen juries)

• We should de-commercialize / de-commodify politics

• Increase critical and deliberative capacity by creating holistic spaces of education