Limits to growth - growing beyond limits?
The oikos conference 2007 focused on growth and sustainability.
20 years after the Brundtland report, “Our common future”, and its impact on the sustainability debate, growth is still the dominating principle in today’s global economy.
At the same time, limits to a continuation on this path are increasingly obvious while billions of people face shortages in meeting basic needs.
- Is there a growth imperative?
- Why, Where, what and how do we want to grow?
- In which areas do we need reductions?
The oikos conference addressed these questions by taking a closer look at the concept of growth, analysing the implications of growth-based economics, identifying areas for growth and fields where reductions are needed, evaluating alternatives, exploring corporate strategies in view of global growth limits, and discovering opportunities to support the oikos members in integrating those issues into teaching and research at their universities.
Selected perspectives of the growth topic were discussed in smaller groups during the workshop part of the Conference.