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From: On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]

Open Call for Hosting the Fourth International Conference on Degrowth for
Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity

Research and Degrowth (R&D) has promoted and co-organized four
International Conferences on Degrowth in:
- Paris (2008) hosted by Paris-Sud Telecom;
- Barcelona (2010) hosted by the Autonomous University of Barcelona;
- Montreal (2012) organized by the Universite de Montreal,
McGill University, Universite du Quebec;
Montreal, HEC Montreal and Concordia University;
- Venice (2012) organized by Associazione per la Decrescita, Spiazzi,
IUAV, Universita di Udine, Citta di Venezia, Arci, Kuminda and
Sesterzo.

These events were successful at:
. Bringing together scholars and civil society and demonstrating a
different way of organizing conferences;
. Developing policy proposals and new research questions on degrowth in a
wide range of areas;
. Fostering direct participation and collaboration among participants;
. Attracting significant attention from the general public and the media,
and helping to publish in international academic journals a substantial
body of research on Degrowth (nearly 50 articles in 3 years that have gone
through normal peer review processes)

There is now a significant momentum, academic and social, around the idea
of degrowth. Other conferences on degrowth have taken place recently in
the same spirit in Canada, England, Finland, Germany, the Basque Country,
etc. Each of these conferences has done a lot to advance the scientific
discussion around degrowth, and to make the debate publicly visible.
Given this momentum, R&D wishes to facilitate, plan and organize the
Fourth International Conference (foreseen for 2014). Within the plurality
and increasing number of events on degrowth that we experience and
participate in, we wish to develop a clear identity and philosophy for the
International Conference as a regular and recognizable event where
scholars, civil society and practitioners come together to update each
other on their degrowth-related research and activities.

This is an open call for expressions of interest from parties who wish to
organize the next conference. If you are interested please present your
project, with the sub-title of the conference, in a few pages, explaining
the general concept, giving information about the organizing team,
possible space, program outline, organizational aspects, a preliminary
budget, possible funding sources, structure of the conference, potential
plenary speakers, and any other information relevant.

The minimum conditions for any proposal are:
1. The title of the conference in English should be "Fourth International
Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity".
This should appear in all material related to dissemination of the
conference, including leaflets, website, etc. Variations on the title
theme are possible in the local language, as needed to fit the local
context and specifics of the language. It is recommendable to have also a
thematic subtitle to indicate the specific focus of the conference.
2. The official website of the conference should use the following domain
CITYNAME.degrowth.org (e.g. montreal.degrowth.org) in order to make
explicit the continuity among the different conferences.
3. Ensure an informative web page in English (minimum) where the
proceedings of the previous conferences with all their contributions are
freely downloadable and, possibly, where the plenaries can be streamed or
made available as a web video after the event.
4. Include at least two representatives of R&D and the Support Group in
the organizing committee.
5. Organize the conference in a way that allows for active participation
and meaningful interaction amongst scientists, activists and practitioners
(building upon and improving the methodology used up to now), while
ensuring a high quality of academic presentations, debate and
interactions. Allowing time for discussion in plenaries, paper sessions
and workshops is vital. We encourage you to consider including artistic
elements.
6. Consider ways to meet the expectations of all participants (researchers
and activists, newcomers and "old hats"), depending on their expertise and
level of experience for example by having introductory sessions about
degrowth for beginners. Also consider ways to engage plenaries and
sessions for cutting edge research, as well as session on networking
meetings, and practical or activity workshops for practitioners and
activists.
7. The conference should not be sponsored by a multi-national corporation
or bodies that are not coherent with the spirit of degrowth (e.g. big
banks, mining companies, privatized public utilities) and preferably also
not by commercial enterprises. The conference can be supported by public
funding, participants' fees, non-profit organizations and grassroots fund
raising (e.g. crowdfunding).
8. Have sessions open to the general public for one or two days (e.g.
opening and/or closing ceremony, parallel events, special guest speakers,
etc.).
9. As much as possible, involve local and national public administrations,
civil society and research institutions.
10. Ensure multidisciplinarity, while focusing on certain themes and
giving a balanced representation to all the sources of degrowth
(ecological economics, ecology, democracy, anti-utilitarianism,
development critique, well being, social justice, etc.)
11. Ensure an innovative character, bringing and deepening new ideas, new
links, new themes and avoid general presentations and general statements
except at the introduction of the conference.
12. Ensure that the conference builds upon, and develops
further, the results of the previous
conferences, assuring continuity and an accumulative process of knowledge
generation. The next conferences shall follow-up on the collective process
of deepening and linking degrowth proposals and research questions as
initiated in Barcelona. This objective should be assigned to a specific
organizational team.
13. Foster participation and exchange involving communities with
affinities from other research communities and social movements, such as
feminism, post-development, buen vivir, Marxism, eco- socialism,
anarchism, political ecology, environmental justice, post-capitalism,
post-carbon, post- colonialism, post-extractivism, Occupy and Indignados,
etc.
14. The official language of the conference should be English and
simultaneous translation for the plenaries and language mediation for
conference sessions would be appreciated so as to ensure the effective
engagement of all participants.
15. The conference should have an international character and not be
dominated by local participants. Ideally at least half of the registered
participants should be of a nationality different than that of the host
country. The organizing committee should encourage in all possible ways
the registration of participants with a nationality different than the one
of the host country. No more than 1/4 of the plenary speakers should be of
the same nationality as the hosts.
16. Both the invited key-note speakers and the paper givers should be as
much as possible gender- balanced and with diverse geographical and
cultural backgrounds.
17. The conference should consider sustainability, justice and
conviviality as a main criteria for its own organization, adopting
measures for the safeguard of the environment (transport, logistics,
waste, energy consumption...); the respect for people's work, including
voluntary work (time use, acknowledgement, forms of "payment"...); care in
the use of commodities and material resources (organization, general set
up); the application of ecological sustainability and social equity
criteria when choosing suppliers, promoting as much as possible local and
fair economic subjects (especially as regards food).

We expect a conference structure that benefits from self-organization,
cooperation and participation; that experiments with democratic processes
and evaluation (e.g. working groups, small groups discussions and general
assemblies); which brings researchers, civil society and practitioners
together; and which has an international dimension and an excellent
scientific level, which would be reflected by the membership of the
organizing committee. We also expect great care to be made in the
conviviality dimension of the conference and wish that some "empty spaces
and times" are left over for free exchanges and networking among the
participants.

Deadline for submission: February 1st

Please send your proposals to: [log in to unmask]
Date on which decision (after consultation with organizers) will be
announced: March 15th

The selection of the conference proposals will be done following the
criteria mentioned in this call by a Support Group composed of members of
R&D and representatives of the organizing committees of the hosting
institutions which organized the previous conferences.
In the event of our receiving numerous proposals, we will discuss with
proponents the option of national or regional conferences paving the
process towards the Fourth Conference (as was the case of the Conference
of the Americas bridging the 2nd conference in Barcelona with the 3rd
Conference in Venice).
Research & Degrowth (R&D)
www.degrowth.org