EMPOWERING CHANGEMAKERS
EMPOWERING CHANGEMAKERS
Degrowth, Learning to Live within Planetary Limits:
For our final 2023 Te Whanganui-a-Tara event we hosted a presentation and workshop exploring Degrowth and how we can learn to live within our planetary limits. Our amazing MC, Sharn Maree, was joined by a fantastic line up of speakers; Mike Joy, Sahra Kress and Rhonda Thomson. We finished off this event with a group kōrero facilitated by the wonderful Hannah Blumhardt.
Taking the Kaupapa Forward
Personal Level
Find ways to reduce consumption that suits your personal circumstances. Some ideas are:
Drive and fly less
Try to avoid "buying new", wherever possible, and to get your everyday essentials (e.g. groceries) without packaging or in reusable packaging.
If you can, choose to buy/access your essentials from local businesses that centre degrowth/environmental practices in their business model.
It is also important to talk with friends and family about the environmental crisis and to raise others' awareness of real solutions.
Collective/ Political Level
Vocally support land back for Māori and Te Tiriti-based constitutional transformation
Vocally support investment, infrastructure and policies that enable and increase public transport (within regions and between regions) and active modes of transport
Call for producer/corporate responsibility for pollution and environmental taxation (e.g. tax on resource usage)
Vote in local and central government elections
Ideally, give your vote to parties and candidates based on the quality of their policies to address inequality and environmental degradation, and to support redistribution and the mitigation of climate change and other environmental issues.
Resources:
Read ‘Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World’ by Jason Hickel
Read ‘Doughnut Economies’ by Kate Raworth
Read article ‘Scientific Consensus on Post-Growth over Green Growth’ by Teemu Koskimaki found here: https://medium.com/@teemu.koskimaki/scientific-consensus-on-post-growth-over-green-growth-196d3a4f74ff
Read article Critics of 'degrowth' economics say it's unworkable – but from an ecologist's perspective, it's inevitable’ by Mike Joy found here: Critics of 'degrowth' economics say it's unworkable – but from an ecologist's perspective, it's inevitable | RNZ News
Listen to the Lentil Intervention Podcast of Sahra Kress and Peri Zee [two of our speakers] found here: