The Finnish Growth in Transition Conference was organized on the 24th of September 2010 by the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation in co-operation with Aalto University School of Economics, Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility Research Group; British Council; Cultural Section of the Embassy of France in Finland; Friends of the Earth Finland; the Green Cultural and Educational Centre ViSiO; Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre Ltd; HYVI; Into Kustannus; the Left Forum; the Left Youth of Finland; Ministry of the Environment; Megapolis and The Finnish Nature League. The project was partly funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland.
The conference brought together over 550 participants including academics, politicians, NGOs, businesses, the media, and the general public to explore limits to growth as well as possibilities for ecologically and socially responsible economic models. In addition, more than 400 people, some of which had their residence outside Finland, watched the conference on-line on the “virtual conference” webpage. The conference succeeded in creating a wide public debate on economically and socially sustainable economies, de-growth and alternative ways of measuring prosperity and well-being. In both the plenary and the working groups, a broad range of topics was discussed in order to give floor to as many different stakeholders as possible.
The keynote speakers of the Conference included:
Peter Victor, Professor in Environmental Studies, York University, Canada
Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development, University of Surrey
Serge Latouche, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Université Paris-Sud, France
In addition, critical issues were addressed in seven interactive workshops and a film screening. The workshop topics included:
1. Sustainable development, green economy or degrowth? (Organised by the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and the Green Cultural and Educational Centre ViSiO)
2. The future scenarios of companies in a degrowth economy (Organised by Aalto University School of Economics; Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility Research Group)
3. Liberation from fossil capitalism – towards an eco-sufficient, just and democratic society (Organised by the Left Forum and Friends of the Earth Finland)
4. From forced entrepreneurship towards social eco-economy (Organised by Vasemmistonaisten VALTIKKA, the women’s organization of the Left Alliance)
5. Dialogue on the creation of a welfare state liberated from the imperative of economic growth (Organised by Tuuli Hirvilammi and Tuula Helne, Kela – The Social Insurance Institution of Finland and Kai Alhanen, Aretai koulutus)
6. How to reach Factor 10 society? (Organised by the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and Factor 10 Innovation Network)
7. The measurement of real societal progress and well-being (Organised by Jukka Hoffén, Statistics Finland)
8. Short films on degrowth (Organised by the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation)
In addition to the Conference, also some side-events and meetings were organised to take advantage of the visits of the keynote speakers. The Finnish Ministry for the Environment organised a meeting for the inter-ministerial network for ecological economics and Professor Peter Victor. The Finnish Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen met with Professor Victor and a delegation that consisted of a group of Finnish academics and NGO representatives. As a result, Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat published a two-page article of the meeting in their economy annex. At the same context, Helsingin Sanomat announced that it will publish a Finnish translation of Professor Tim Jackson’s book Prosperity without Growth. The publication of Emeritus Professor Serge Latouche’s translated book Farewell to Growth (in Finnish: Jäähyväiset kasvulle) alredy took place on the date of the Growth in Transition Conference.
Video clips of the Conference can be found from the “virtual conference” web page.
A photostream is available at Flicr.
The presentation materials of the plenary can be downloaded from SlideShare.
Also some working groups produced their reports in English.
