SEED Workshop at the University of Siegen, Germany

17-20 October 2018

Building on the two previous SEED workshops, we held a third workshop at the University of Siegen in October 2018.

The overall aims of this workshop were to understand challenges and opportunities facing different kinds of organizations to expand their visions for change and join in more effective action, and to develop models for SEED as a learning community.

Specific topics included:

• A discussion of SEED activities over the past year. These included the publication of the SEED Manifesto in ACM interactions, SEED talks at several venues, development of a template for SEED case studies along with two draft studies, and participation by project members at the Sixth International Degrowth Conference in Sweden in August 2018.
• Ideas for talking about postgrowth/sustainable economies. What ideas/narratives work best in different political and social contexts?
• A discussion of the technology development and the growth/replacement imperative of tech industries, how this threatens sustainable economies, and what alternatives are possible.
• Continuing a collaborative mapping of networks and organizations that align with SEED.
• Discussion of additional tools and systems to support SEED’s online presence.
• A session on Saturday morning featuring perspectives from a range of policy makers, including several current and former members of the Bundestag (German Federal Parliament). Press release about the Saturday session (in German).

Participants in the Saturday morning session