Degrowth is a radical alternative to the dominant paradigm of infinite growth. A paradigm that society has accepted as a natural law to human civilization, a law that cannot be questioned or denied. Degrowth aims to challenges the assumptions and values of our current system and proposes a more sustainable, equitable, and meaningful way of living.
But how can we communicate an idea that goes against what we've been taught is common sense? How can we spread the message and inspire people to join us in creating and solidifying the degrowth movement? How can we meet people where they're at and empathize with them? We know from experience that this is not easy and anyone who's tried to do so can likely tell you the same story. If only there existed a resource that could make communicating degrowth much easier and with much less effort...
Well, that’s what this project is all about! We want to create a platform that offers various tools and resources to help people communicate and learn about degrowth. A platform that is collaborative, educational, and accessible. A platform that is easy to use, extremely practical, well intuitively organized and free. A platform that is not only a website, but a hub for degrowth communication. But in order to do so we need YOUR help!
Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign
Why contribute to this project?
Imagine a website where you can find (and download for free):
- A 'Degrowth 101' book explaining the main ideas behind degrowth in less than 20 pages
- A Database collecting everything to do with degrowth (already working on this!)
- A list of the 30 most common arguments against degrowth and how to rebut them
- A repository of shareable infographics, social media posts, charts, etc. that promote degrowth ideas and practices
- Data, charts, quotes, and facts that show the urgent need for degrowth organized by sector or theme
- A list of narratives that challenge the dominant paradigm and offer new ways of thinking and behaving
- A section on how to communicate degrowth to different groups, such as liberals, conservatives, business folks, politicians, children, blue collar workers, etc. (with slide presentations for each)
- A glossary of key terms and concepts related to degrowth
- A guide on empathy and how to recognize (and deal with) the emotions that come up during these difficult conversations
- A guide on propaganda and its role as a barrier toward an eco-social tranformation and the role that our propaganda must play in our struggle
- And more!
This is exactly what you would help fund. Practical tools to advance our common cause. We know this sounds very ambitious and we know that communication is not the whole story, but we are committed to doing our part in our collective struggle to bring about a more just and sustainable world. We aim to give every conversation, public engagement, intervention or content creation an advantage and a higher likelihood of succesfully spreading the message of degrowth.
The main goals of this crowdfunding campaign are:
- To devote time and effort to gather and create the content described above and present it in a way that is intuitively organized, extremely accesible, reliable (citations everywhere!) and aesthetic to encourage its use and shareability.
- To make the website collaborative in spirit, which would involve input from degrowthers from all around the world, with an emphasis on Global South, female indentifying and marginalized individuals and also non-academic individuals.
- To hire a content writer and coordinator, and editor, a graphic designer and a cooperative web hosting service, to create the first version of the website by March 2024
- To disseminate the platform to organisations and individuals worldwide working on achieving a socio-ecological transformation
Why this is important
This project is important because we believe that degrowth is not only a possibility, but also a necessity. We therefore, understand that communication is key to spreading the message of degrowth and creating a global degrowth movement with enough leverage to enact systemic change for the better. Unfortunately there is currently a lack of resources and tools that can help us communicate degrowth effectively and creatively. So, there is a need for a platform that brings together different aspects of degrowth communication and learning in one place. A platform that is collaborative, educational, accessible, free and low impact.
This project is geared towards anyone who is interested in or curious about degrowth, anyone who wants to communicate or learn about degrowth, or anyone who wants to join or support the degrowth movement. If you're reading this, then this platform is most likely for you! To make it easier for you to communicate these ideas and narratives in any context. Whether you're giving a talk to your old high school, having dinner with family or even discussing degrowth at work, there should be something here that can help you do it more effectively.
We appreciate any and all contributions that you are able to make. You'll be helping many future degrowthers excel at communicating these vital and powerful topics. We won't dissapoint!
(Note that donations made in Spain are tax deductible up to 80%, please consult the Goteo FAQ and the tax calculator for more information (goteo.cc/calculadora)).
Team and experience
Our project is led by JP Arellano, a master student in Degrowth: Ecology, Economics & Policy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (this project will be his master thesis). JP has extensive experience in creating content in various mediums that make climate science or policy accessible and engaging. His work at ClimateScience and ClimaTalk allowed him the opportunity to create educaitonal courses, articles, YouTube videos, quizzes, school activities etc. He has also already started part of this project by creating the Degrowth Databse.
JP is supervised by Timothée Parrique, a researcher at the School of Economics and Management of Lund University (Sweden). Timothée is an expert on degrowth and holds a PhD in economics from the Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur le Développement and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. He is the lead author of “Decoupling debunked – Evidence and arguments against green growth” (2019), a report published by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).
Our project is supported by Osuny, a cooperative that offers web development and graphic design services for social and environmental projects. Osuny has more than 10 years of experience in creating websites that are user-friendly, responsive, and secure. Osuny also has a strong commitment to free software, open source, and data protection. You can learn more about Osuny here.
We are a team of passionate and skilled individuals who share a common vision for degrowth. We have the experience and the infrastructure to make our project a success but are missing the resources. We hope you will join us in creating a Degrowth Communications Platform!