Beyond Growth
28-29 October 2019, Helsinki
Many of the planet-wide ecosystems are near to their tipping points, climate change threatens everything that is important to us, and inequality within countries is growing. So far, the societal objectives and indicators tied up with economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP) in particular, have framed our ways of responding to the deepening sustainability crisis. There is a widely shared need for redefining progress through measures that go beyond GDP. We require a stronger and more realistic knowledge base for policy-making to create wellbeing that is sustainable now and in the future.
This knowledge co-creation conference aims to advance the ongoing discussions on developing measures of wellbeing and sustainability and improving their use in integrated policy processes. This multi-stakeholder gathering builds upon the processes of the OECD and the search for pathways and indicators initiated by EU member states (e.g. Austria with Growth in Transition initiative) and the European Parliament (Post-Growth conference 2018). As part of the event, thematic working groups discuss and develop recommendations for the EU to advance the use of wellbeing and sustainability indicators as guides for policy-making.
The event is organized by Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo together with Finland’s National Commission on Sustainable Development and takes place in Helsinki on 28-29 October 2019. It brings together a wide range of actors from decision-making, administration, civil society, business, and academia who are interested in redefining and measuring progress beyond growth. The conference is Fingo’s main event during the Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2019.
Policy Recommendations of the Conference
Thematic working groups and partners
During the event, thematic working groups discuss and develop recommendations for the EU to advance the use of measures of wellbeing and sustainability as guides for policy-making.
Thematic working groups are:
- Inequality of Income, Wealth and Opportunities
- Resilience and Respecting the Ecosystem Boundaries
- Fair Transition to Carbon Neutral Circular Economy
- Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development – How European Policies Affect the Global South
- Respecting Human Rights in Business
Thematic working groups are coordinated in partnership with SOSTE Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health and ICSW Europe (theme 1), EBB European Environmental Bureau (theme 2), Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund (theme 3), CONCORD, the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs (theme 4), Fairtrade Finland, and Felm, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (theme 5).
Programme
The programme is available here.
Info and contact
For more information about the conference please see the additional information and contact details here.
The project ‘Towards an open, fair and sustainable Europe in the world – EU Presidency Project 2019-2021’ is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Finnish Development NGOs – Fingo, the Romanian platform FOND, the Croatian Platform CROSOL and CONCORD, the European NGO Confederation for relief and development.
