The deadline for the open call for papers, special sessions (round tables, symposia), participative sessions, activist and artistic sessions. is Sunday 15th March, 23.00 GMT.

2020 Open Call for Contributions

Come to Manchester in September 2020 to meet with other activists, artists, policy-makers and scholars. We’ll explore how we might meet our needs in ways more relevant to the worsening ecological, climate and social crisis: “alternative livelihoods”.

The 7th International Degrowth

16th International Society for Ecological Economics

Joint Conference

Building Alternative Livelihoods in times of ecological and political crisis

Manchester, 1 – 5 September 2020

We are pleased to announce our open call for papers, special sessions (round tables, symposia), participative sessions, activist and artistic sessions. Information about the conference can be found at this link.

The conference will combine scholarly discussions and presentations with contributions from artists, activists, community groups and politicians. We are greatly looking forward to a rich dialogue.

Please upload your proposal on the dedicated platform.

If you submitted to the Budapest or Malmö conferences you will already have an account and this should work again: if not, please let us know at this address.

Your submission will fall under one of 14 themes. If you aren’t sure of which, just choose the one that seems closest to what you are offering. A description of themes appears at this link.

• Activist Law
• Arts Materials, Energy
• Alternative economies
• Alternative livelihoods, well-being and ways of living
• Communication, Education, and Pedagogy
• Feminism
• Green New Deal
• Law, Governance, Policy, and Politics
• Materials, Energy, Waste, and Climate
• Organization and Business
• Rural / Agriculture / Food
• Theoretical perspectives
• Transitions / Designs for the future
• Urban and spatial planning

There are also some preset keywords: please choose those that are most appropriate.

The deadline for submissions is Sunday 15th March, 23.00 GMT and we look forward to your proposals.

Additional information:

A guide to uploading your submission is available HERE.

Formats of academic submissions

• Individual papers will be grouped into sessions by the conference organizers.
• Participatory sessions encourage reflection on a particular topic using an open format (e.g. discussion workshops, dialogues/reading/planning sessions, walks, etc).

Format of activist sessions

• degrowth in practice events might involve, for example organizing swaps; workshops on making/repair, agricultural initiatives, technology commons, publishing, waste reduction, reuse, sustainable and just energy; degrowth workshops for kids and elderly people.
• meetings of social movements and grassroots initiatives​, ​especially meetings that stimulate dialogues between different groups.
• co-consultancy sessions where groups seek help from other groups re-diagnosis, organization, communication, tactics, and strategy.
• conference live-streaming and other media support.
• proposals for public-facing events, including a demonstration or similar mass event in public space on the closing day.
• we also invite local groups to get involved as partners in coordinating the conference.
  logistics on the ground (e.g. via organizing crash-pad accommodation, transport, volunteers, etc).

Artistic Sessions

All forms of artistic expression are welcome (e.g. visual art, theatre, dance, music, poetry, performance art, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc). A connection to degrowth is not a requirement, but we would like some of these sessions to engage with it or have a political aspect more broadly.

Participatory formats are most welcome.

We invite local groups to get involved as partners ​in organizing artistic events such as:

• exhibitions​ on degrowth or related themes in Manchester parallel (and prior) to the conference.
• film showings ​on degrowth or related themes – within the conference or in venues around Greater Manchester.
• theatre events ​on degrowth or related themes in Manchester before or parallel to the conference.
• artistic program for​ children during the conference.