Library

Scientific paper • 2015

Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften: Schlüsselakteure für nachhaltige Transformationen

By: Ralph Wilhelm

green economy, prosuming, sustainable consumption, transformation

Scientific paper • 2015

Making Other Worlds Possible: Performing Diverse Economies

By: Gerda Roelvink, Kevin St. Martin, J. K. Gibson-Graham (ed.)

The publisher: Rethinking economy to produce resilient communities. What exactly constitutes an economy? Making Other Worlds Possible brings together a compelling range of projects inspired by the diverse economies research agenda pioneered by J. K. Gibson-Graham. Firmly establishing diverse economies as a field of research, Making Other Worlds Possible outlines an array of different ways...

Scientific paper • 2015

Wie wichtig ist Wachstum für KMU? Ergebnisse einer Befragung von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen

By: Jana Gebauer, Julian Sagebiel

Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung: Die vorliegende Veröffentlichung des Instituts für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) entstand im Rahmen des Projekts „Postwachstumspioniere – Kommunikationsprojekt zur Erweiterung des Postwachstumsdiskurses um die Rolle mittelständischer Unternehmen“. Die hier vorgestellte nicht-repräsentative Onlineumfrage richtete sich an kleine und...

Scientific paper • 2015

Transformative Potenziale von Unternehmen, die nicht wachsen wollen

By: Jana Gebauer, Heike Mewes

Herausgeber_innen: Sozial-ökologischer Wandel erfordert eine radikale Veränderung unserer Märkte durch nachhaltige Angebote. Die Annahme, dass hierfür die guten Unternehmen bloß wachsen müssten, greift aber zu kurz. Postwachstumsunternehmen verändern Märkte und Wirtschaftsweisen auch, wenn sie selbst nicht wachsen wollen.

Report • 2015

Wir sind so frei - Elf Unternehmen lösen sich vom Wachstumspfad

By: Jana Gebauer, Christian Dietsche, Heike Mewes

In der Broschüre werden 11 Kleine und Mittlere Unternehmen vorgestellt, die für Postwachstum stehen. Aus dem Vorwort (Heinrich Bottermann): . . . Die Ansätze zeigen, wie sich Unternehmen zukunftsfähig aufstellen können und zugleich Innovationen für ein Wirtschaften zeigen, das wesentliche Beiträge zur Umweltentlastung und für hohe Lebensqualität leistet. Es geht darum, unternehmerische...

Presentation • 2015

Paul Ellis ESEE2015 Plenary: Sustaining Development - Practitoners´ Perspectives

By: Paul Ellis

Plenary speech at the 2015 European Society for Ecological Economics Conference at the University of Leeds in July 2015. Practitioners Panel Q&A session with Ronan Palmer, Kate Raworth, Andy Mace and Paul Ellis

Scientific paper • 2014

Railway transport and social-ecological transformation in Germany

By: Hannes Fauser

Abstract: This short paper summarizes the development of railway services in Germany in the past two decades, which have been marked by commercialization, increased competition and attempts of privatization. I argue that these policies are misled from a social-ecological perspective and have only modestly performed in terms of shifting passengers and cargo towards railway transportation. The...

Scientific paper • 2014

Business, postgrowth – theses and recommendations

By: Angelika Zahrnt, Jana Gebauer

Abstract: Businesses are not only driving contemporary ideas of progressive economic growth. They are also driven by them as they often perceive an economic and societal pressure to permanently grow in size. At the same time, many companies face stagnant or shrinking markets, resource scarcities, crises or far-reaching demographic trends. Academic and political debates on limits to growth and...

Scientific paper • 2014

Plea for a flexible economy

By: Willem Hoogendyk

Abstract: The money-driven growth has created a compulsion to produce and consume. The rich and emerging countries have become its prisoner. We should calm-down, regionalize and democratize the economy while turning money from master into servant. We need a frugal economy, no longer of supply and push, but geared to a demand within ecological bounds. Production should be flexible. Demand for...

Scientific paper • 2014

Let´s share!

By: Charlotte Knorr

Abstract: The Sharing Economy represents a social and also a media phenomenon, which indicates that people are sharing goods of any kind (material and immaterial) on the Internet for further using, distributing, splitting up, giving away or even sell. This phenomenon is currently experiencing in the media a veritable boom, both in the so-called Social Media (Web 2.0) as well as in the press...

Scientific paper • 2014

Successful Non-Growing Companies

By: Jana Gebauer, Andrea Liesen, Christian Dietsche

Abstract: Suggested concepts of post-growth economies have so far shed little light on the functioning of business. With this paper, we aim to translate discussions on post-growth economies to the company level and examine ten Successful Non-Growing Companies (SNCs) with regard to their motivations, key performance indicators and strategies. We find that a common feature among these companies...

Scientific paper • 2014

Frugal Value: Designing Business for a Crowded Planet

By: Carina Millstone

Abstract: This paper concerns new business models for de-growth and the steady state economy. It argues that business models need to be developed that drive products and services with the attributes of efficiency and sufficiency. It identifies four such models, including new approaches to product creation and retail, a shift from ownership to access, a shift from products to services and new...

Scientific paper • 2014

Availability Cascades & the Sharing Economy – A Critical Outlook at Collaborative Consumption

By: Sarah Netter

Abstract: In search of a new concept that will provide answers to as to how modern societies should not only make sense but also resolve the social and environmental problems linked with our modes of production and consumption, collaborative consumption and the sharing economy are increasingly attracting attention. This conceptual paper attempts to explain the emergent focus on the sharing...

Scientific paper • 2014

Participation and economic growth in cooperatives: Empirical explorations of a (supposedly) well-known relationship

By: Irma Rybnikova, Ronald Hartz

Abstract: In the present paper we focus on the question to what extent co-operatives can be regarded as participatory forms of organization – as they are often represented – despite the growth-effects. For this, we draw on conceptual as well as empirical material. Whereas the previous research raises serious doubts concerning the role model of cooperatives as participatory firms, the results of...

Scientific paper • 2014

Growth forces: Material rent and efficiency consumption

By: Andreas Siemoneit

Abstract: Producers and distributors as well as consumers are using frequently more technical products that enhance their cost efficiency and their economic (and social) competitiveness. This has sweeping distributive consequences which are inescapable. This effect is not restricted to a certain economic system, but requires only the fact that higher efficiency directs demand toward the more...

Scientific paper • 2014

Is Profit-Making Compatible with the Principles of a Steady-State Economy?

By: Daniel O'Neill, Gabriel Trettel Silva

Profit; capitalism; steady-state economy; social enterprises

Scientific paper • 2014

Extension of shelf life of fruits and vegetables from the Kaiserstuhl area through utilization of solar thermal drying and regional marketing of the products

By: Wolfgang Striewe, Friedemar Schreiber, Kurt Schüle, Gudawar Singh, Welf Aumann

Abstract: The presented project sets high standards for the sustainable preservation of food by drying. Fruits and vegetables are purchased from regional and ecological farms and gardens. In addition orchard meadows are harvested and cared for in order to preserve these important habitats. The drying process is driven by solar energy. The process is adapted and synchronized to the availability...

Scientific paper • 2014

Fair Trade Alternative Trade Organizations as a degrowth-friendly business model

By: Valerio Verrea

Abstract: This paper focuses on the specific features of the Alternative Trade Organizations (ATOs) developed within the Fair Trade system. They are an example of an organizational business model able to create and alternative market where social and ethical aspects are prioritized over profit-seeking. Their example offers important insights about the possibility to create a degrowth-friendly...

Scientific paper • 2014

No good life in a bad life? – Experiences of degrowth-orientated actors in a growth economy

By: Jasmin Wiefek, Bernd Sommer

Bottom-up initiatives, Organization of businesses, Conditions for degrowth, Productivity beyond growth

Position paper • 2014

GAP working group 2014 - Solidarity Economy, Cooperatives and Social Business

By: Degrowth Conference Leipzig 2014

Results from the GAP (Group Assembly Process) Group Solidarity Economy, Cooperatives and Social Business at the Degrowth Conference in Leipzig 2014 Vision > We have to get rid of large scale “for-profit” corporations. > Make an economy in the sense of “people before profit”. Transformation > What role can private Enterprise play in the Transition towards Solidarity Economy? >...