A research lab at ICTA-UAB
Summer School on Degrowth and Environmental Justice in Barcelona (Spain)/Cerbère (France) | June 25th – July 7th 2017
The 4th edition of the Summer School on Degrowth and Environmental Justice will examine the roots of these movements and explore alternatives ranging from extractivist policies to bottom-up growth-based models of production and consumption across the Global North and South. The course will discuss issues like the role of the commons, feminist perspectives and emerging approaches to governing the city, drawing on the lessons learned from local governing body Barcelona en Comú in their push toward social and environmental sustainability amidst a complex and hostile political climate. Students will reflect on how the politics of degrowth can exist on a regional, national and sub-national scale.
The summer school proposes an alternative teaching method, working in small groups and introducing new ways of ‘sensing’ and ‘seeing’. While morning sessions consist of standard academic lectures followed by discussions, afternoons are devoted to interactive workshops in which student participation is key. The course includes a visit to local social centers like Can Masdéu and Can Decreix devoted to social and environmental sustainability.
BCNUEJ researchers will present lectures on the urban environmental justice movement and connection between degrowth and urban environmental justice. They will also lead the civic tour “Urban Struggles for Environmental Justice or Practising Degrowth” and participate in a public event public event on critical narratives on Barcelona, linking tourism conflicts with issues of green inequalities within the framework of degrowth and livable cities.