Degrowth Briefs

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Finished 27 / 01 / 2023
Funded!
Received
£ 7,898
Minimum
£ 5,151
Optimum
£ 13,735
123 Backers
Channel
  • Contributing £ 17

    Thank-you postcard

    We will send you a hand-signed thank-you postcard with some nice Degrowth-themed artwork.

    Global shipping included!

    > 28 Backers
  • Contributing £ 26

    Choose one bottle of grape or cactus fruit-based juice or vinegar from our Living Lab Can Decreix

    We want to thank you for your donation with 0,5l of delicious grape or cactus juice or 0,25l of tasty grape or cactus fruit vinegar, locally planted and harvested in our Living Lab Can Decreix in Cerbère, France. Pass by in our office and choose which gift you want!
    For practical and cost reasons we do not ship the juices and vinegars, so this gift is only to be picked up directly in Barcelona


    > 05 Backers
  • Contributing £ 43

    Olive oil from our Living Lab Picamoixons

    We want to thank you with 0,5 litre of extra virgin olive oil from our Living Lab in Picamoixons (Catalonia, Spain), convivially and manually harvested by our community (including volunteering Degrowth Master students) this October. For practical and cost reasons we do not ship the olive oil, so this gift is only to be picked up directly at our office in Barcelona

    > 08 Backers
  • Contributing £ 86

    Book "The case for Degrowth"

    As a thank you for your support we will send you a fresh paperback copy of the latest book about Degrowth:

    "In this compelling book, leading experts Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa and Federico Demaria make the case for degrowth - living well with less, by living differently, prioritizing wellbeing, equity and sustainability. Drawing on emerging initiatives and enduring traditions around the world, they advance a radical degrowth vision and outline policies to shape work and care, income and investment that avoid exploitative and unsustainable practices. Degrowth, they argue, can be achieved through transformative strategies that allow societies to slow down by design, not disaster. "

    Global shipping included!

    More info about it here.

    > 13 Backers
  • Contributing £ 107

    Choose one of our degrowth books classics

    As a thank you for your support we will send you a fresh copy of one of our degrowth books classics. Choose for yourself!

    "Degrowth, vocabulary for a new era" written by R&D members Giacomo D’Alisa; Federico Demaria & Giorgios Kallis.
    More info about the book here.

    "Degrowth" by Giorgos Kallis, explaining in very detail where the idea of Degrowth comes from, what it means.
    More info about the book here

    "Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary" is an essay collection critically reflecting the global development agenda which is closely linked with the growth paradigm.
    More info about the book here

    "Housing for Degrowth. Principles, Models, Challenges and Opportunities" is the renowned book edited by Anitra Nelson and Francois Schneider (founder of our Living Lab Can Decreix) who tell you how urban planning can be combined with degrowth utopias.
    Read more about the editors journey through Europe presenting the book and the ideas behind it here.

    Global shipping included!




    > 02 Backers
  • Contributing £ 155

    Practical degrowth weekend at Can Decreix for one person

    We offer a long weekend (Friday-Sunday) of convivial degrowth immersion at Can Decreix, one of R&D's "Living Labs" of Degrowth. Close to the sea in Cerbère (France) just behind the Spanish border, Francois Schneider, his family, friends, and visitors practice and experiment with low- and medium technology like solar ovens, rocket stoves, a pedal washing machine; cultivate wild plants and cactus, and take care of donkeys and goats.
    Together with other people, you will be able to collectively explore this practical idea of Degrowth, an inspiring and mind-changing experience.

    Organic vegetarian or vegan food included.

    The weekend will take place either from 29.4.- 1.5.2023 or from 27.5 - 29.5.2023.

    Get more insights in this entertaining video or on their website.

    > 01 Backers
  • Contributing £ 172

    Ticket for the Degrowth Summer School 2023

    After a break this year, in 2023 the R&D Degrowth Summer School will return and we offer a ticket so you can dive one week into degrowth.
    The planning of the Summer School has just started, so the exact dates are uncertain, but it will either take place in Barcelona or in Can Decreix, Cerbère (France).
    Check out the programme of the 2021 edition to get an idea what awaits you and watch this stunning video of Can Decreix. We are looking forward to see you at the Summer School!

    > 05 Backers
  • Contributing £ 687

    2 nights stay for 2 people at "La Bruguereta"

    For a donation of 800€ you and up to two other people will get to spend a weekend at one of R&D’s Living Labs, La Bruguera de Púbol, in the Baix Empordà area of the Girona-Costa Brava region. La Bruguera is a degrowth and permaculture inspired-homestead and guest house, producing the vast majority of its energy, food, water and material resources, within the grounds of its 3 hectare food forest. You will get the “La Bruguereta” apartment for yourselves, complete with a crate of fresh produce from the gardens of the finca, and a taste of some of the delicious homemade food products made on-site. You will be treated to a tour of the different agro-ecological, permaculture and renewable energy systems on site, by Mike and Michelle, custodians of the site.

    More information about the "La Bruguereta" is available here


    > 00 Backers
  • Contributing £ 2,146

    2 nights stay for up to 12 people, in the “Main Villa” guest house at La Bruguera

    For a donation of 2500€ you and up to 11 other people will get to spend a weekend at one of R&D’s Living Labs, La Bruguera de Púbol, in the Baix Empordà area of the Girona-Costa Brava region. La Bruguera is a degrowth and permaculture inspired homestead and guest house, producing the vast majority of its energy, food, water and material resources, within the grounds of its 3 hectare food forest. You will get the Main Villa for yourselves, complete with a crate of fresh produce from the gardens of the finca, and a taste of some of the delicious homemade food products made on-site. The Villa boasts 6 bedrooms, a stunning kitchen for cooking communal meals, a salt-water swimming pool, and incredible gardens. You will be treated to a tour of the different agro-ecological, permaculture and renewable energy systems on site, by Mike and Michelle, custodians of the site.

    More information about the guest house and La Bruguera is available here



    > 00 Backers

About this project

Degrowth policy proposals to stop the climate crisis and transition towards a sustainable, just and democratic society!

Needs Task Minimum Optimum
Compensation invited authors
To pay for two external authors to write on the degrowth brief.
£ 2,146
Compensation graphic designer
We will hire a graphic designer who will be responsible for the layout of the final version of the degrowth brief.
£ 429
compensation part-time project coordinator
We will hire a part-time coordinator to organize the whole project
£ 858
compensation editorial board
Our editorial board will edit and put together the different texts of the authors.
£ 858
compensation language editors
We want to translate the degrowth brief into other languages (Spanish, Catalan, French) to locally and internationally reach out further.
£ 858
Follow-up material and communication
After publication we want to organise some workshops with local stakeholders, have in-person and online panel discussions and create additional educational material.
£ 858
New website
After publishing the degrowth brief we want to have it available to read and download for free on our website. Therefore we want to update it and make it appear aesthetically pleasing. We will pay an external programmer to help us with that task
£ 1,717
Second degrowth brief
By raising another 6000€ we will be able to publish another degrowth brief to accomplish our goal publishing six degrowth briefs in 2023. With your support we can make it happen.
£ 5,151
Needs Infrastructure Minimum Optimum
Fixed costs
Our fixed costs consist of office spaces and salaries of people directly or indirectly involved and who support the project.
£ 858
Total £ 5,151 £ 13,735
Necessary
Supplemental

General information

What can you do?

You want to take effective action on climate, but wonder why the average global temperatures and carbon concentrations continue to increase despite the drops in renewables costs and increases in installations. You’re enraged why policymakers continue to subsidize and issue new leases to drill for fossil fuels while claiming to commit to emission reductions.

You’re displeased with policymakers limiting your personal and voting rights, increasing inequality with tax cuts for the wealthy while inflation rages out of control. You are thinking what kind of world are people already living in, and what will it be like in 5 years? You’ve questioned why we have made no progress to reduce global carbon emissions. You are beginning to realize we need to do MORE than to recycle or to make sustainable consumer choices. You are becoming aware of the fact that changes on the individual level will not transform this exponential growth driven system.

You’re brilliant because you suspect we need to degrow! You’re ready to join the fight with us at Research & Degrowth and your support will bring change!

What is degrowth?

At its core, degrowth is the idea of a planned downscaling of production and consumption with the aim of increasing human well-being, ecological sustainability, and social justice.

Degrowth calls for a future where societies live within planetary boundaries, with open, localized economies and resources equitably distributed through new forms of democratic institutions. The movement is aimed at high-income nations of the Global North taking responsibility for the majority of the atmospheric emissions, the current ecological breakdown, and the resulting climate-biodiversity crises.

Degrowth further brings attention to decolonizing debt, the ongoing displacement of indigenous populations from protected lands, and the exploitation of people and resources through unequal exchange with the Global South. They need to be liberated from the imposed development and growth agenda, so that they could focus their resources on their sovereignty and human well-being. 
Globally, the patriarchal growth economy invisibilizes care and reproductive work and hardly compensates women, who account for most of the labour. Degrowth puts care at the center of our economies and aims for an even distribution of the workload among all genders.

Description of the project. Main features, strengths and differentials.

What are Degrowth Briefs?

R&D envisions Degrowth Briefs as concrete and radical policy proposals backed by science-based academic research addressed towards a wide audience of policymakers, NGOs, social and environmental movements, and more. The overall goal of this project is to publish six issues of degrowth policy briefs to address issues such as the following:

  • Degrowing resource-intensive sectors of the economy, such as the automobile, sports (FIFA?) or the fashion industry, in a socially just way. 
  • Rethinking broad agendas , such as the European Green Deal, the European Growth and Stability pact, or EU innovation policy, from a degrowth perspective.
  • Building alliances between the degrowth movement and other movements such as trade unions, agroecological movements, environmental or social justice movements.
  • Proposing implementation plans for specific degrowth policies, such as a Universal Care Income or Universal Basic Services.

The aim is to increase the reach, uptake, and impact of these briefs by expanding their dissemination and availability via open-source access on the R&D website. R&D also seeks to translate the publications into multiple languages.

Crowdfunding the Briefs

Your funding support is critical to help us to increase awareness about degrowth and to reach the goal of this campaign: to fund the development of two (2) Degrowth Briefs, rounding out support for the research, drafting, and publication of in total of six (6) Degrowth Briefs in 2023 (inclusive of funding support for the administration of this project).
Funding includes paying authors and editors, a special coach/editor specialized in policy briefs, preparing a dedicated website and printing a sample of the Degrowth Briefs, as well as having a dedicated part-time officer at R&D coordinating the project. Your meaningful contribution will help us reach our goal of raising €16,000 for this campaign.

Would you like to participate in the discussion around the Degrowth Briefs? Great, please tell us which topic you think the next two Briefs should be about here

Contributions to our crowdfunding campaign on Goteo are tax-deductable in Spain. Find detailed information here.

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Why this is important

  • To address growing concern that current growth-based economic systems are neither sustainable nor just. Degrowth briefs will offer policies with alternatives to GDP growth in a post-growth steady-state economy.
  • To propose concrete, actionable paths forward, clearly articulated for wide audiences, while informed by relevant evidence-based empirical research.
  • To anchor high-level academic degrowth thinking to concrete proposals for degrowing specific sectors (fashion, advertising, military, sports, heavy industries)
  • To gather industries' experts, academics and activists along with stakeholders to co-develop viable scenarios for implementing degrowth at their respective sectors or for high consumption lifestyles.

Team and experience

For sixteen (16) years, Barcelona-based Research & Degrowth has been a renowned academic association linked to research, education, and advocacy of degrowth. R&D has generated books, academic research and policy briefs, manages two Master's programs on Political Ecology and Degrowth, a summer school, conferences, events and workshops on degrowth. In 2022, R&D has expanded into a research and policy institute, a “think-and-act tank” that promotes degrowth conversations at the international level and offers policy expertise to transition and manage economies without growth.

R&D strives to bring scientists, civil society, practitioners, and activists together to think, imagine, discuss, and create proposals for sustainable degrowth. R&D supports and aims to maintain a diversity of degrowth strategies for achieving social equity and ecological sustainability, including:

  • Grass-roots action and institutional interventions
  • Academic and practical work
  • Building alternatives and oppositions to environmentally and socially destructive projects and policies
  • Local and international-level work

R&D presently operates with 28 active members in Spain, France and other parts of Europe and beyond. We have created an informal network with members in more than 40 countries.

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Social commitment

Sustainable Development Goals

  • Sustainable Cities and Communities

    There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.

  • Responsible Production and Consumption

    Responsible Production and Consumption

  • Climate Action

    Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.