What is Degrowth?

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For many people degrowth is at the heart of solutions to the environmental and social problems that we face. It calls for a downscaling of production and consumption which, like cycling, increases human well-being and enhances ecological conditions and equity on the planet. It aspires to a future where societies live within their ecological means, with open, localised economies, where resources are more equally distributed and people are empowered to make decisions collectively and horizontally. Such societies will no longer have to “grow or die.” Material accumulation will no longer hold such a prime position. Innovation will no longer focus on technology for technology’s sake but will concentrate on new social, and technical arrangements that will enable us to live convivially and sufficiency. We look towards a more sustainable level of production and consumption which leave more space for human cooperation and ecosystems.

How did we cycle ‘towards degrowth’?

In our cycle from Catalonia to Italy in 2012 visited; permaculture farms, D.I.Y bike workshops, protest camps, ecovillages, intentional communities, ecological/cycling NGO’s, bicycle events, protests, grassroots projects, and other creative alternatives to the damaging growth mentality of capitalism, to understand and support local struggles, communicating their situation to others and thereby strengthen the activist network. As well as learning from these projects we shared the degrowth concept with people we met along the way.

Our degrowth practices

Degrowth is a new concept for many people and there are many ways that it can be applied practically, it’s up to us how much of a central element this becomes along the way. Within the group we will live as a self managed community, we will challenging consumption habits by eating as locally, fairly and ecologically as possible, we can cultivate an awareness of what our material and social needs are, question how we normally seek these things and try and experiment with trying do things better.

For more info visit our projects and campaigns page from 2012.