Workshops

The workshop series is co-hosted by Germinart-t and the Lab of Rooted Imagination. Germinar-t is a project exploring the intersection  of degrowth and art investigation. They  recently hosted two degrowth art residencies in Sunseed, an intentional community in Almería, Spain. The Lab of Rooted Imagination is an activist performance group based in Barcelona, who were in a performance residency in Sunseed in April 2023 to create a performance on water justice in the area. The workshop will draw from the experiences with artivist processes of Germinar-t and the Lab to infuse the degrowth movement with art and immerse you in the theories and practices of artivisms.

For this core question, Nazemi prepared a whole workshop series for the Altshift. Inspirational on a methodological and content level. Check out the four workshops here:

Degrowth as a utopia - how to harvest the power of imagination for the degrowth future? 

As a society, we face several crises simultaneously - pandemics, the widening gap between rich and poor, the climate crisis, the loss of biodiversity. How do we get out of these problems? To create a better future, we must first be able to imagine it. During the workshop, participants will learn more about  today's crises of imagination and what the main barriers are towards imagining better worlds. They will then try to strengthen the "muscle of imagination" through guided visualization and articulate how the vision of their ideal world can inform their behavior in today's world.

Nonviolent communication and degrowth - Centering needs as a way of internalising degrowth

The degrowth movement is predominantly focused on transforming the economic system and institutions, but past experiments with systemic change show that if one does not consciously work with the inherent patterns of the capitalist and patriarchal conditioning, they inevitably reproduce and create another offshoot of the same thing. In other words, internal transformation needs to go hand in hand with the external transformation. While the degrowth scholarship mostly focuses on transformation of the economy system so that it would be centered around fulfilling needs within the means of the planet, the systemic strands of non-violent communication presents a practical tool for overcoming our conditioning and centering needs in our day-to-day lives when approaching ourselves and others. The workshop will offer and introduction to non-violent communication and its potential use for the degrowth transformation. 

Degrowth and human nature  - path to collective inner and outer liberation from capitalist patriarchy? 

Many of the degrowth ideas run against the popular notions of what human nature is and degrowth explicitly criticizes the theory of homo economicus, yet the question of how do we change human subjectivity for the degrowth/post-growth future is rarely asked. Through out the workshop, we will use some of the tools of systems thinking (systems iceberg and leverage points) to explain how changing the idea of human nature can be crucial for a wider systems change and name practices and institutions that are designed with a different idea of human nature. Connecting to these practices, learning from them and simultaneously politicizing them can foster deeper cultural changes and new alliances.

Degrowth through non-formal learning
Do you want to spread degrowth through participatory methods of non-formal education? he experienced lecturers from NaZemi will share their vast experience with degrowth transformative education through experiencing three concrete activities: GDP card game, Glimpses of the Degrowth Future Fair and Strategies of Degrowth Transformation which engage participants and enable them to understand the criticism of growth-dependent society, but also envision the alternative in practical terms and think about the political strategies of systems change. 

NaZemi is a Czech organisation that focuses on mainstreaming the ideas of degrowth into the public discussion. They do talks, workshops, train educators, organise conferences, published a book and network different stakeholders for the degrowth transformation. Apart from degrowth, NaZemi also focuses on transformative education, facilitation and provide process support in transformations towards non-hierarchical way of functioning. 

The slightly different map - 
Collective mapping of structural exploitation and solidarity alternatives

We live in a world full of contradictions: exploitation and solidarity often go hand in hand. The system we live in drives and stabilizes inequalities and makes it almost impossible for the individual not to live at the expense of others and the environment. We have learned to accept this as normal, thus preventing the development and establishment of a good life for all. However, there are diverse possibilities and realities of a just and solidary mode of living in the present. All these ambivalent processes are reflected in the physical space that surrounds us.

In this workshop, we use the method of collective critical mapping to question the standard, which we have accepted. We explore structures that foster exploitative behavior, as well as structures that support socially and environmentally sustainable living. By comparing these two perspectives, we can sharpen our perception to realize what is happening in our environment and tackle the crucial question: How can we create an environment, which fosters a sustainable future based on solidarity? We will explore the immediate surroundings of the venue and capture our observations on maps. We will apply collective mapping – a method used to collect observations as well as everyday experiences and discuss them in their context. Various social movements around the globe use this method to develop designs for a solidary mode of living.

A workshop by Humus. The degrowth movement seeks to transform our society by shifting priorities from overproduction, -consumption and corporate profit to ecological and social well-being, solidarity, and social justice. As such it is up against strong, hegemonial narratives and forces, which make spreading degrowth ideas and values difficult. In these sessions we will look at different aspects of „spreading“: campaigning and narratives on one day; mobilisation and movement buidling on the other side.  Each topic will be introduced with input and exercises, followed by some time to try out, experiment and be creative. If the sessions feel to short for your sparking ideas, you can alsways use the open spaces in the afternoon to continue dreaming and/or planning.