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ESEE-Degrowth 2024: Science, Technology, and Innovation beyond growth. Cultivating collective creativity for a sustainable future. Pontevedra, 18-21 June 2024

Imagen de portada del libro ESEE-Degrowth 2024

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Resumen

  • Ecological Economics and Degrowth have become vibrant and well-established communities, increasingly attracting scholars from diverse backgrounds and ages. In this context, the Pontevedra 2024 conference aimed to serve as a gathering point for members of both fields, fostering dialogue and exchange among the various contributors to these dynamic areas of study. Currently, modern science faces a fundamental and ultimately paradoxical situation: while an increasing number of scientists question the endless pursuit of growth and refute its imaginary, the majority of science, technology and innovation (STI) institutions are transitioning towards a model that increasingly favours and funds applied research to boost economic growth. From engineering to applied sciences, the practice and discourse surrounding STI has been instrumental to align knowledge production with endless capitalist expansion. Therefore, a society beyond growth must learn how to articulate new imaginaries and relations between society and the institutions of science, technology and innovation.

    When we design the Pontevedra 2024 conference, we felt need to decouple STI from the pursuit of endless growth, and yet not enough reflection has been put into this important task. By and large, conversations about how to repurpose STI as socio-political phenomena, and decouple it from the instrumental purposes of capitalist accumulation have been held at the margins of Ecological Economics and Degrowth. We think it is about time to move this conversation to the centre and encourage a more open engagement with colleagues in other disciplines. It was in this context that we proposed the overarching theme ‘Technology, Science and innovation beyond growth’ as an open invitation to engage with other scholarly traditions that problematise technological imaginaries and practices, even if they have not yet made the explicit connection with degrowth debates. This conference provided a timely opportunity to build new bridges between scholars focusing on the ways in which power and politics shape science and technology, and vice versa.

    It is also worth noting that, for the first time, such an event was held in a small town like Pontevedra, with just over 80,000 residents, rather than a large city. While this presented significant organizational challenges, it also contributed to making this edition one of the most successful in terms of participation. After months of hard work, the event drew over 1,200 participants and featured 7 plenary dialogues, 227 parallel sessions with more than 740 presentations, and 33 free, public activities both before and during the conference. As the chair of this event, I am immensely proud of the team that made this success possible and deeply grateful to the European Society for Ecological Economics and the Degrowth Support Group for entrusting us with this endeavour.

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