Degrowth Gathering - Building the UK movement

Aims & Outcomes

Degrowth is both a transformative movement and a critical framework, aiming to ensure social justice and well-being for all, with human activities being in alignment with ecological limits. However, degrowth in the UK currently exists as an informal network rather than a cohesive movement.

This one-day event will bring together those with an interest in working on degrowth in the UK. Together we will consider the potential for establishing the foundations of a degrowth movement in the UK, and planning for a UK presence at the International Degrowth Conference in 2027.

The outcomes and future steps arising from this gathering will be shaped by those present, in the hope that this will be the first of several events and actions dedicated towards building and furthering a movement for degrowth in the UK.

Who is this event for?

The target audience are people who already have knowledge of degrowth and may be more formally connected to degrowth through local initiatives or through networks such as DegrowthUK. Therefore, the gathering does not intend to promote the need for degrowth or to discuss the meaning of degrowth as part of the structure of the gathering.

Programme

The Opening Plenary

This will introduce some issues that may have been significant in preventing a degrowth movement in the UK from becoming established. Three speakers will deliver short presentations to inform the workshops:

1.'History, Status and Prospects for Degrowth in the UK’

Mark Burton – Degrowth UK and Steady State Manchester

2. ‘Where is the Transition Strategy for Degrowth?’

Speaker: tbc

3. ‘Provincialising Degrowth: building an anti-imperialist degrowth connected with Southern liberation’

Katharina Richter Lecturer in Climate Change, Politics and Society | University of Bristol

The Workshops

Workshop 1 Establishing core principles and values and understanding trade-offs

This session will build upon provocations raised in the opening plenary where we will consider how a UK degrowth movement would embed the macro-economic and political issues of capitalism and imperialism in a vision for transition.

Workshop 2 Considering strategy - how can a degrowth transformation be implemented and why has it been so slow to happen?

The session will explore ways of building solidarity across potential divisions and will discuss red lines that need to be established (e.g. misogyny, transphobia or racism). It will open the way to discuss various strategic approaches.

Workshop 3 Does degrowth need to be a movement and how do we establish one?

This will build upon the provocations and the outcome of the prior workshops. It will consider the function of a movement, the different forms that movements take and how they connect with other movements. The outcome is not a foregone conclusion, and people would be expected to dig deep to consider the opportunities and barriers that are presented by trying to develop greater consensus around how to promote the degrowth vision within progressive spaces.

Timetable

9:30 - 10:00 Arrival, registration, networking and refreshment

10:00-10:55 Welcome and Opening Plenary

11:10-12:00 Workshop One

12:15-1:15 Workshop Two

1:15-2:00 LUNCH (*provided)

2:00-2:45 Group feedback from morning session

2:45-3:45 Workshop Three

3:45-4:15 Networking Refreshment Break

4:15-4:45 Closing Plenary and outcomes with steps going forward

4:45-5:00 Group tidy-up

Food

We will be providing refreshments and a vegetarian/vegan lunch.

*Please contact the organisers with any special dietary requirements.