The European gathering of the 6th International Degrowth Conference, "Dialogues in Turbulent Times", will be held in Malmö, Sweden, between 21-25 August. ENERGISE researchers from FOCUS and GreenDependent, in collaboration with ENERGISE Expert Panel member Dr. Sylvia Lorek will be hosting an academic session at the conference focusing on "Energy efficiency, sufficiency, degrowth and justice: what are the prospects for a "sufficiency within limits" approach?"
The aim of the session is to bring together knowledge and experience from various European projects, countries and fields of work in order to define and discuss an "energy sufficiency within limits" approach for energy consumption with focus on households and communities. We define "energy sufficiency within limits" as consumption that ensures that everyone has access to a sufficient amount of energy for satisfying basic needs in a way that respects the ecological limits of the planet. The session will start with four short presentations that outline the concepts introduced in the title of the session (i.e. energy efficiency, sufficiency, degrowth) as well as introduce existing knowledge, experience and practice related to energy sufficiency.
Sylvia Lorek will first define energy sufficiency and discuss policy examples relying on work and findings from the EUFORIE project.
This will be followed by the analysis of visions by Edina Vadovics from the point of view of "sufficiency within limits" created through a participatory process in European countries in the CIMULACT project to gain insights on what the current expectations of citizens are of a desirable and sustainable future.
Then, members of the FOCUS and GreenDependent ENERGISE research teams will provide an overview of what already exists in the field through a discussion of sustainable energy consumption initiatives collected and analyzed in the ENERGISE project with specific attention to initiatives including a reduction, degrowth and/or sufficiency element.
Finally, Lidija Zivcic will examine the driving factors of energy poverty and the existing policy responses in the context of degrowth thinking, drawing the attention to the multiple potential tensions between domestic energy deprivation and degrowth.
The presentations will then be followed by moderated discussion, the outcomes of which will feed into several European projects.
To find out more about the conference please visit:
https://malmo.degrowth.org/