Report of the activity workshop 65 on International Degrowth Network
And call for participation

On Thursday, 20^th of September there was an activity workshop discussing ways to promote the international networking of the degrowth movement. Issues debated included questions about accountability, legitimacy and transparency and considered the risk of centralization. We identified several important projects in order to improve the visibility, internal communication and networking of this growing movement. In collaboration with Research&Degrowth, we decided to contribute to the evolvement to existing projects:

1) Demagagazine website: http://en.demagazine.eu/

The main goal for contributing to that website would be to collect texts from regional Degrowth movements, translate them into several languages (in English first), edit them and publish in order to spread Degrowth ideas in respecting the diversity approaches.

Contact: Vincent (vliegey@gmail.com)

2) Degrowth Map: in order to help the Degrowth activists and researchers to connect to each other, we would like to create an interactive map.
Contact: Panos (panos.petridis@aau.at)

3) Creation of a collective to share experiences from different countries:

In every region, Degrowth activists face the same problems, contradictions and conflicts. Interesting solutions and proposals are underway and being developed around the globe. This collective’s goal would be to create thematic mailing lists and/or Facebook pages in order to initiate discussion and to exchange experiences. This is an open proposal and organic and autonomous process currently. Mailing lists, FB.
Contact: Anja (anja.humburg@gmx.net)

4) R&D Newsletter: R&D sends out a monthly Newsletter. We invite people to send their contributions of degrowth news, activities and publications to expand the scope of this Newsletter.
Contact: Sheryle (sherylec@gmail.com) and Filka (fisekulova@gmail.com).

5) Degrowthpedia: http://degrowthpedia.org/

A wiki about Degrowth was launched a couple of years ago. The founders are looking for volunteers to help them to continue the development of this collaborative information and discussion tool.
Contact: Mildred (nova.oikos@gmail.com)

We invite all the people interested in joining one of these open collectives to send an email to the respective contact.

Following the 2011 Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) in Istanbul, with R&D (Research & Degrowth) and in cooperation with ICTA, we would like to put forward and coordinate special sessions around degrowth at the ESEE conference again.

This time the bi-annual conference will take place in Lille, France, in June 2013.

This is a rather urgent note, as the deadline for sending the proposals is soon, and the thematic sessions we can only suggest based on your contributions.

Thus we call for your EXPRESSION OF INTEREST in the submission of abstract and eventually attending a special session around degrowth in Lille June, 2013 around several possible thematic areas:

1)Worktime, energy and degrowth
2) Happiness and degrowth
3) Infrastructure, urbanization, tourism and degrowth
4) Money and degrowth
5) Democracy, social movements and degrowth
6) Crisis, commons and degrowth
7) Commodities, trade, waste and degrowth
Green growth/capitalism & degrowth
9) Environmental conflicts and degrowth

Should you have a contribution on degrowth which covers other thematic areas, please send them forward, and we can think of some regrouping.

If you are interested in contributing, please send us a title and a very brief abstract with your proposal/paper/research by October the 7th.

Contacts: Research & Degrowth <>network@degrowth.net

During the 3rd International Conference on De-growth, the Fondazione Franca e Franco Basaglia organizes a Creative Workshop for children, open to those who live in Venice, and to those who will come with their parents for the Conference.

Boys and girls from all over the world, together to face important subjects concerning relationships between people. While playing together, they will be brought to reconsider the problem of diversity and the self. A topical issue in a world where the need to work on the quality of our life, rethinking the nature of relationships, is becoming crucial. Now is the time to speak to the young: children are the future living in our present. During the three days of the Conference, for two hours every afternoon, the Fondazione, with some of its tutors and counselors, will organize a set of activities to introduce the children to new ways of viewing the ideas of madness, diversity, fears and expectations.

While cooking and eating together, they will exchange views and play games with a group of strange characters drawn from the book “Ma sei matto?” (“Are you crazy?”). A very special book constructed by the pupils of two Venetian primary schools during some workshops on citizenship. The children will meet Mr. Trip, Basagliano the Baker and many others. But they will also meet two great horses: Regina Cavalla and her father, Marco Cavallo, the blue horse that in 1974 was built as a battering ram to break through the gates of the Trieste psychiatric hospital, and became the symbol of Basaglia’s struggle for the end of mental asylums and the beginning of a new approach to psychiatric therapy, up to the nal passing of the Italian law 180/78.

Unlike her 38-years old father, Regina Cavalla is orange, young, inquisitive and full of energy, but still naive and inexperienced with people. Working with her and learning her story, the children will have a great opportunity to better understand themselves and their wishes. Discovering that we all share, with Regina Cavalla and with all the fools in this world, very similar wishes and expectations.

Venice, 21-22-23 September

4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Serra dei Giardini

INFO

fondazionebasaglia@fondazionebasaglia.it

www.fondazionebasaglia.it

By bike, from Barcelona to Venice, for partecipating in the 3° International Conference on Degrowth, Ecologic Sustainability and Social Equity located in the lagoon from September, 19- 23
 
Ecotopia – a comunity of ecological ativists which has been organizing for twenty years a bike trip in Europe. The tour in 2012 is dedicated to Degrowth and could not have another final than the international Conference organized by the Associazione per decrescita in Venice with the support of Research&Degrowth.
 
Departure: July, 9 from Barcelona. On this website it is possible to sign up:
www.ecotopiabiketour.net
 
In the 2000 km of the travel, the caravan on two wheels will meet, day after day, communities, groups or movements (eco-factories, social centers, bike activists, committees for the sustain of the territory, eco-villages, permaculture centers, critical masses etc) which in some way search for alternatives to the imperative of growth and lifestyles and sustainable mobility.
 
The group aims to live according to their terms of sustainability: food will be bought in local groceries and on farms and it will be vegetarian. Garbage will be reused or recycled. Everyone will take part in the everyday activities (preparing the meals, organize the tents…). In general, accommodation will be in tents. Group-intern decisions will be taken by common consent.
 
The participants are free to either take part in the whole tour or to join for one stage. Main points are: Girona, Montpellier, Avignon, Marseille, Gap/Briancon (it is still open where the Alps will be crossed), Pinerolo, Turin (meeting with the NO-TAV activists), Bologna, Padua and Venice. Several breaks are also planned.
 
The general travel plan is already made (in detail on http://btwiki.ecobytes.net/Route_2012) and will be updated regularly. It is a work-in-progress, open to all inputs which can be received while traveling.
 
Once the alps are crossed, the caravan will enter in Italy on 26 august and continue following the river Po. One stage will be ca 50 km, in the Alps however and the Pyrenees not more than 20 km in a day.