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Topics

Throughout the conference we will explore many topics within the area of transition. However, the keynote speeches and four of the workshops will be guided by the following topics:

[/fusion_text][/three_fourth][three_fourth last=”yes” spacing=”yes” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding=”” class=”” id=””][separator style_type=”none” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ sep_color=”” icon=”” width=”” class=”” id=””][/three_fourth][three_fourth last=”yes” spacing=”yes” background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_size=”20px” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” padding=”20px” class=”” id=””][fusion_tabs design=”classic” layout=”horizontal” justified=”yes” backgroundcolor=”” inactivecolor=”” bordercolor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_tab title=”Basic Income” icon=””]Despite progress in society throughout the past century, one issue that we have been unable to tackle is unemployment and relative poverty. The development of new technologies is having a dramatic effect on the labour market. This technology can either be seen as a threat to workers, or an opportunity to reduce working hours and share the gains. Also, these advancements can enable us to rebalance our functions in society and the quality of life we seek. This has led to an increased interest in the idea of a basic income by a growing number of organisations and scholars.

A basic income is an income unconditionally granted to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement. It is a form of minimum income guarantee that differs from those that now exist in various European countries in three important ways:
• it is being paid to individuals rather than households;
• it is paid irrespective of any income from other sources;
• it is paid without requiring the performance of any work or the willingness to accept a job if offered.

Despite the idea of basic income being gender neutral, it can have an influence on the value of gender roles in society. Today it is still predominantly the mother who takes care of the child and the home – which is not necessarily valued in the economic structures of our society. Basic Income can value such roles in society as well as provide a basis to discuss our work-life balance.

Barb Jacobson from the Basic Income Earth Network in the UK wilk be presenting this topic. She will present some of the debates about basic income and how such a system can impact the environment, gender roles, and the quality of life in the future.
[/fusion_tab][fusion_tab title=”Work-life Balance” icon=””]In many western nations, there is a widespread sense that we are working too much, while many find that new technology is allowing work to invade their whole life. As workers try to juggle the competing and often conflicting demands on their time, many experience ‘time stress’ and ‘time poverty’, with damaging effects on both individuals and on society as a whole. Thereby, there needs to be shift into our work-life balance.

However, this does not mean trying to schedule an equal amount of hours for your various work and personal activities, rather that life should be flexible and variable. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives, thus we should all have the option to define our work-life balance.

Come and enjoy the keynote talk from Valerie Bryson, Emerita Professor of Politics at the University of Huddersfield in the UK. She will discuss the ways of achieving a better work-life balance and how to recognise other time-consuming parts of life from a multi-pronged approach.[/fusion_tab][fusion_tab title=”Sustainable Urban Development” icon=””]In 2008, for the first time the majority of people lived in cities, and it is estimated that in 2050 more than 70% of the world population will live in urban areas. As such, how the growth and development of cities is managed becomes increasingly important for our common future.

– How can cities grow in an ecologically sustainable manner?
– How do we create an urban environment that provides quality of life and access to nature?
– How do we ensure that the needs and aspirations of people are considered in the economic, political and social processes that constitute urban development?

Architects, urban planners, academics, grassroots organizations and many others are seeking innovative answers to these questions, and they are finding that their solutions are interlinked.

Ensuring that the people’s voices are heard through citizen engagement and local democratic processes, emphasizing the demands of pedestrians and cyclists in designing urban space, and finding creative ways to bring nature into the city, are just some of the currents that demonstrate how we can foster environmental sustainability while creating more green and livable cities in a fundamentally democratic way.

In his keynote presentation ‘Shaping the city’ Rasmus Astrup will describe SLA Architects’ nature-based design approach by showing how sustainable transitions in urban planning can have major economic, social and environmental benefits.[/fusion_tab][fusion_tab title=”Biomimicry” icon=””]We as humans have over the past few centuries developed societal and technical advancements that have dramatically altered the world we live in. However, these advancements have created massive sustainability problems for future generations. Luckily, solutions to these global challenges are all around us. Biomimicry is an innovative approach to create sustainable solutions to these challenges by emulating nature’s patterns and strategies.

The aim of biomimicry is to create products, processes, and policies that are well-adapted and connected to the engineering of life on earth in the long-term and linking to the circular economy. Thereby, using nature’s secrets to survival to enable us to create a sustainable future.

Camille Fong from Biomimicry Switzerland will be presenting this topic. She will present the holistic approach to our modern society problems by integrating biomimicry thinking.[/fusion_tab][fusion_tab title=”Inspirational” icon=””]To those actively working towards a fair, ecologically conscious and socially just society, it is becoming clear that barriers to transformation are more than just technical and social. They are cultural: deeply and invisibly rooted in pervasive assumptions about the nature of ecological and social reality.

Grassroots activists around the world are increasingly working at this level: to reveal and challenge destructive belief systems, create alternatives consistent with the reality of life in the Anthropocene, and find effective processes to navigate difficult processes of psychological transition between the two. In this they begin in some respects to emulate ways that indigenous societies address complex social-ecological challenges, pointing ways towards a pluralistic and inclusive global society that nurtures both cultural and ecological diversity.

Tom Henfrey from the Schumacher Institute will be our inspirational speaker with a speech he calls: ‘Earth Punk – grassroots cultural creativity for societal transformation’.
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