Summary
GROWL is an international education network for degrowth formed by academics, practitioners, researchers and political activists.[1] One central aim of the network is to promote collective action across initiatives related to degrowth (e.g. Transition Towns, agroecology, Solidarity economy, DIY among other "nowtopias"[2]), in order to reduce the atomization and dispersal of initiatives that hinder their capacity to scale up and present a solid alternative to the dominant economic paradigm.[3]
History edit
GROWL was founded in 2013 by ten non-profit, research and higher education organisations under the coordination of the think-tank Research & Degrowth. The network build-up has been supported with a ca. €200000 grant from the Grundtvig programme for the period between August 2013 and July 2015.[4]
In 2014, the first international thematic courses took place:
- Social dimension of agroecology
- Solidarity & Cooperative Economy
- Mental Infrastructures
- Local Economic Alternatives
Philosophy edit
The network departs from the acknowledgment of major shortcomings of contemporary education institutions [citation needed] in providing adequate knowledge and skills required to critically address the problems of limits to growth and engage in the transformations towards a post growth and sustainable society.[5]
The network relies on the theoretical foundations of social constructivism and the concept of peer learning based on communities of practice.[6]
References edit
- ^ GROWL website, URL: http://co-munity.net/growl
- ^ Kallis, Giorgos, Kerschner, Christian and Martinez-Alier, Joan. The Economics of Degrowth. Ecological Economics 84: 172-180, 2012
- ^ Baptista, Gualter. Learning and building knowledge for degrowth: communities of practice and peer production across scales and beyond roles, in Fourth International Conference on Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity, Leipzig, 2014. URL: https://co-munity.net/conference2014/scientific-papers/3734
- ^ HNA. Gemeinschaft erleben, 24.9.2013, URL: http://www.hna.de/lokales/witzenhausen/gemeinschaft-erleben-3130179.html
- ^ Oya. Degrowth wächst, 2014, URL: http://www.oya-online.de/news/719-degrowth_waechst.html
- ^ "Philosophy in group GROWL | co-munity".