Between the climate crisis and authoritarianism
Democracy under pressure: Conference explores sustainable models for the future
The focus is on the question of how democratic ways of life can be sustainably secured and further developed under conditions of multiple crises - in particular the climate crisis and increasingly authoritarian policies. The conference understands sustainability in a double sense: as ecological and democratic sustainability, which are in a tense interrelationship.
Between the climate crisis and political pressure
The starting point for the discussion is the fact that democratic systems are currently coming under pressure from outside through authoritarian and fossil-fuelled industrial alliances, as well as being challenged by internal tensions. These include, for example, the discrepancy between climate policy urgency and democratic decision-making processes, global inequalities, disinformation and social distribution conflicts in the course of the transformation.
The participants are not focussing on purely technical or simple patent solutions. Instead, they bring together scientific considerations on democracy with concrete practical experience. The focus is on the design of a sustainable democracy - and how it is actually practised in everyday life.
Focus on tried and tested approaches
Examples such as caring cities, 15-minute cities, post-growth and the economy for the common good will be discussed. Such approaches are already being tried out in many places. The conference will make these experiences visible, scrutinise them critically and examine what they mean for the further development of democracy.
The event is a cooperation between the Department of Practical Philosophy at the University of Wuppertal, the Centre for Global Cooperation Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Department of Environmental Sociology at TU Dortmund University, the Wuppertal Institute and the Centre for Transformation Research and Sustainability (transzent). It marks the start of a circulating series of events designed to further network transformation and democracy research in NRW and make it more visible to the public.
When and where?
The conference will take place on 20 May from 13:30 to 18:15 in the auditorium of the Wuppertal Institute (Döppersberg 19, 42103 Wuppertal). The evening lecture "After Sustainability: Democratic Alternatives to Authoritarianism and Greenlash" will be held from 7.00 to 8.30 pm in Utopiastadt (Mirker Str. 48, 42105 Wuppertal).
