15.-17.02.2012 in Vienna

Join the first Multinational Knowledge Brokerage Event on Sustainable Consumer Electronics!
The event will address various puzzling questions raised within the fields of ICT in general, and sustainable consumer electronics in particular, with regards to their contribution to economic growth and sustainable consumption. Discussions will specifically focus on the issues of energy labelling, e-waste, the potential of telework, as well the diffusion of broadband internet and its implications for residential energy consumption.
We are happy to welcome high-level keynote speakers from the policy and research arenas:

- Lorenz Hilty, University of Zurich & EMPA
- Peter Johnston, European Policy Center & Club of Rome
- Inge Røpke, Technical University of Denmark
- Vida Rozite, International Energy Agency

Date: 15-17 February
Venue: Vienna University of Economics and Business

The event offers:
• easy access to cutting-edge research findings on sustainable consumption and economic growth in the context of sustainable consumer electronics,
• a networking opportunity with policy makers, an internationally rewarded research group and top scholars from all over Europe,
• the opportunity to learn innovative forms and methods of effective knowledge brokerage,
• an exploration and visualisation of contradictions and synergies of sustainable consumption and economic growth in the context of sustainable consumer electronics.

The event is carried out within the FP7 funded project RESPONDER which aims to promote sustainable consumption by exploring novel ways of knowledge brokerage that help to improve management of potential political, social and economic contradictions with economic growth. For further information, please see the event flyer attached.

Please note that the number of participants is limited to 40 people. For registration and/or further information, please send the attached registration sheet to ict@scp-responder.eu by January 22, 2012. Participants will receive a final confirmation letter of registration right after the deadline.

Further information and registration sheet.

11.01.2012 in London

As the economic crisis deepens, this is the moment to consider moving towards much shorter, more flexible paid working hours – sharing out jobs and unpaid time more fairly across the population.

nef would like to invite you to an event that takes forward the ideas from its highly acclaimed report 21 Hours to examine how this could help to address a range of urgent social, economic and environmental problems we face.

On 11 January, nef brings together a panel of leading experts in partnership with the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics:

• Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at Boston College, and author of Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth, and The Overworked American.

• Lord Robert Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick and biographer of J. M. Keynes, and Dr Edward Skidelsky, University of Exeter, and co-authors the forthcoming book, How Much is Enough? Economics and the Good Life.

• Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development at Surrey University, and author of Prosperity without Growth.

When: Wednesday, 11 January 2012, 6:00pm-7:30pm
Where: Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 2AE

The evening will comprise of a public lecture followed by a drinks reception with the speakers. We would love for you to join us.

This is an open conference, with places available to all on a first-come-first-served basis. Please arrive early to guarantee your place in the main theatre. Join us afterwards for a drinks reception at 7.30 pm.

25-27.01 in Lisbon

Food is a fundamental necessity of life. It is also one of the consumption areas with the
greatest environmental impacts. The debates over sustainable food production and
consumption, both in academia and politics, have spurred over the last decade. Growth
policies in the food and agriculture sector pay attention to increasing productivity and
providing enough food for an increasing population in a globalized world. Nevertheless,
progress has been uneven and growth has been unsustainable in some regions, leading to
escalating pressures on ecosystems.

In the course of the EU project RESPONDER, our partners in Portugal are organizing a high profile workshop on 25-27 January in Lisbon. The RESPONDER
RESPONDER is to promote sustainable consumption by exploring novel ways
of knowledge brokerage that help to improve the management of potential political, social and
economic contradictions with economic growth.

To get more information and to apply for participation please follow this link.

05.11.2011 in New York

This Saturday’s Thirty-First Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures in New York City is one of many events celebrating the centennial of the birth of the author of “Small Is Beautiful.”  Juliet Schor and Gar Alperovitz, Charles Young, Rina Kuusipalo, and Kyle Gracey of Youth for a New Economy, and two representatives from Occupy Wall Street will address the emergence of a  new economy, a next economy, a green economy, a responsible economy, — the necessity of which Schumacher described in his influential book.

SCHEDULE:
9:30   Registration, Community Church 40 East 35th Street, New York City
10:00 Welcome by Neva Goodwin
10:15 Talk by Juliet Schor
11:15 Audience response and questions
11:45 Lunch – Pre-order brown bag lunch or bring your own
1:00  Panel with representatives of Youth for a New Economy and Occupy Wall Street moderated by Dan Levinson
2:00   Audience response and questions
2:30  Break
2:45  Talk by Gar Alperovitz
3:45  Audience response and questions
4:30  Closing remarks by speakers

SPEAKERS:
Juliet Schor
Co-founder of the Center for a New American Dream

Author of:
“Plentitude: The New Economics of True Wealth”
“Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture”
“The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure”
“The Overspent American: Upscaling, Downshifting and the New Consumer”

Gar Alperovitz
Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland
Founding Principal of The Democracy Collaborative
Former: Legislative Director in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate
Special Assistant in the Department of State
President of the Center for Community Economic Development

Author of:
“America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy”
“Unjust Deserts”

Panel “Voices of Today’s Youth: Occupy Wall Street and the Call for a New Economy”
In this forum we will hear directly from participants of the New York City Wall Street protest, as well as other student activists who, in growing numbers, are rejecting our “broken economy system” and seeking to shape equitable, sustainable alternatives.

TICKETS
$50 each, pre-registration recommended
$17 optional vegetarian brown bag lunch

Tickets may be purchased online or by calling the offices of the New Economics Institute (413) 528 1737.

Further Information.

10.-13.10.2011 in Brüssel

The 9th OPEN DAYS will be held over four days from 10 to 13 October, in a period during which the debate on the European Commission’s legislative proposals for cohesion policy post-2013 and the budget debate in the Council and the European Parliament about size, duration and priorities of the forthcoming Multi-annual Financial Framework will dominate the political agenda. This will happen against the backdrop of continued efforts at all levels of governance to exit the financial and economic crisis and the 2nd year of implementation of the ‘Europe 2020′ strategy. The latter will influence the discussion about objectives of the new generation of cohesion policy programmes.
Regions and cities will play a major role in the discussions on the above-mentioned issues. Their input with regard to a more efficient delivery of cohesion policy will be particularly valuable.
The OPEN DAYS will take good account of the political and institutional circumstances. In parallel, it will continue to be the annual platform of good practice showcasing results and projects from current ‘convergence’, ‘regional competitiveness and employment’, and ‘territorial cooperation’ programmes, in order to support sharing of experiences and to stir debate about good local, regional and cross-border governance and management of EU funding. This exchange between practitioners will be mixed with input from academia. Another successful element will be the participation of third countries, which are keen to hear and learn from European regions’ experiences in regional policy.

Programme

05.2011, Diane Coyle

The new book by Diane Coyle

The world’s leading economies are facing not just one but many crises. The financial meltdown may not be over, climate change threatens major global disruption, economic inequality has reached extremes not seen for a century, and government and business are widely distrusted. At the same time, many people regret the consumerism and social corrosion of modern life.

What these crises have in common, Diane Coyle argues, is a reckless disregard for the future–especially in the way the economy is run. How can we achieve the financial growth we need today without sacrificing a decent future for our children, our societies, and our planet? How can we realize what Coyle calls “the Economics of Enough”?

Running the economy for tomorrow as well as today will require a wide range of policy changes. The top priority must be ensuring that we get a true picture of long-term economic prospects, with the development of official statistics on national wealth in its broadest sense, including natural and human resources. Saving and investment will need to be encouraged over current consumption. Above all, governments will need to engage citizens in a process of debate about the difficult choices that lie ahead and rebuild a shared commitment to the future of our societies.

Creating a sustainable economy–having enough to be happy without cheating the future–won’t be easy. But The Economics of Enough starts a profoundly important conversation about how we can begin–and the first steps we need to take.

Klick here for more information.

01.06.2011 in Vienna

We are glad that Clive Spash,  holding the chair of Public Policy and  Governance, enriches the team of the Department Socioeconomics till 2 October 2010.
The lecture is a possibility to get (better) acquainted with him and his scientific work.

13:00 at the Department Socioeconomics

If you want to immediately have more information, please see his homepage.

03.2011

UNEP’s Green Economy Report, entitled Towards a Green Economy, aims to debunk several myths and misconceptions about the economics of “greening” the global economy, and provides timely and practical guidance to policy makers on what reforms they need to unlock the productive and employment potential of a green economy.

Synthesis for Policy Makers

Press Release

Read Full report online

20.-22.05.2011 in Berlin. Economic growth is worldwide seen as a universal remedy for economic problems of any kind. In view of the climate change, the precariousness of work, the destruction of the environment and the redistribution from the poor to the rich, it is clear that this long standing remedy does not work. Attac, joint with alliance partners, wants to seek new answers to the pressing crises of our time – answers that lie beyond the economic growth.

The congress Beyond Growth?!, to be held from May 20th-22nd, 2011 at Technische Universität in Berlin, is intended to provide an opportunity for discussing these diverse positions in a controversial and constructive manner. The conflicting interests will be identified and paths leading toward a good life for everyone in a society divested of the growth-compulsion will be explored and strategies sketched out.

You can apply for the congress here.  Further Informations are available.

17.01.2011 in Berlin
“Towards sustainable development and social progress in the social market economy”

The Commission, chaired by Daniela Kolbe (SPD) is to determine the significance of growth in the economy and society, develop a holistic well-being and progress indicator, next to the GDP, and explore the possibilities and limits of the link between growth, resource consumption and technological progress.

More information can be obtained here: Study Commission on growth, prosperity and quality of life (currently only available in German)