The field of degrowth and post-growth finance is in its nascent stages, with ongoing research and emerging practices. To advance the dialogue, a session on ‘Investing in degrowth: resourcing postgrowth futures’ took place at the joint 10th Intl. Degrowth Conference and 15th Conference of the European Society of Ecological Economics in Pontevedra, Spain, on 19 June, 2024.
Below, you will find a comprehensive documentation of the session. This includes summaries of the presentations, the slides and a lightly edited transcript for clarity. Additionally, a briefing paper, Degrowth-aligned Finance: A preliminary exploration, was prepared prior to the conference.
The discussion, co-hosted by Anastasia Linn of Degrowth Switzerland and Jennifer Wilkins of Heliocene, was structured around three levels of finance, each discussed by an expert:
Macro Level: Anja Janischewski, PhD candidate at Chemnitz University of Technology, addressed systemic risk and how finance might support degrowth objectives.
Meso Level: Hans Stegeman, Chief Economist at Triodos Bank, shared insights on integrating post-growth finance within banking institutions and his role as an intrapreneur advocating for degrowth principles.
Micro Level: Alex Lopez, board member at Ekhilur Cooperative, examined practical applications of degrowth-aligned money and local payment systems, focusing on their impact on social development.
The session concluded with a Q&A segment from the audience, which is also included in the transcript.
You can view and download the session summary paper below. Please note that it may not be fully visible on some mobile browsers.
Image by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash
Heliocene 