Degrowth Discussion and Organizing Toolkit

How do I start talking about degrowth with my…

colleagues, friends, classmates, co-workers, neighbors, town?

This discussion toolkit is designed to help get you started facilitating and organizing conversations about degrowth.

We've compiled discussion guides and lessons learned from community and campus groups across the U.S. and beyond.

Interested in adding to the toolkit, want to collaborate or have questions? Email jason@degrowthinstitute.org.

Read and discuss

Notes from us and our partners on past discussions and gatherings. Use them to inspire your own dialogue.

>Introduce the challenge to endless growth

Less is More (PDF)

  • Written by Jason Hickel, serves as a “Degrowth 101”/an introduction to degrowth

  • Covers economic histories and the ecological overshoot.

  • Asks “How much is enough?” and “Will technology save us?”

Degrowth in the US News (PDF)

  • A series of recent publications from major news organizations

  • Ranging perspectives on degrowth from supportive to critical

  • Engage with writing from multidisciplinary perspectives

>Build momentum for the challenge

The Future is Degrowth (PDF)

  • Authored by Aaron Vansintjan, Andrea Vetter, and Matthias Schmelzer; degrowth and climate researchers

  • Provide extensive definitions of degrowth concepts and the movements that bloom in the degrowth framework

  • Propositions for degrowth in our future

Where Do We Go from Here? (PDF)

  • Martin Luther King Jr’s last publication

  • Provides both experience and precise calls for change

  • Addresses despair in the face of seemingly invincible obstacles

Braiding Sweetgrass (PDF)

  • Robin Wall Kimmerer’s storytelling explores the relationship between Indigeneity, science, and the teaching of plants

  • Proposes alternatives to the current economic and scientific paradigms and norms

  • Shares a positive relationship of reciprocity between humans and the Earth

Present and organize

>Introduce the challenge to endless economic growth

Adapt these slides or use them for your own presentation.

“Has the Economy Outgrown the Planet?” Slides

PDF | PowerPoint | Google Slides

“What Happens to the Savings?” Slides

PDF | PowerPoint | Google Slides

“Challenge to Growth: Intro” Video

YouTube | Vimeo

>Gather a panel

Panel Discussion Guide (PDF)

  • Gather a single panel with a facilitator to answer “Has the economy outgrown the planet?”

  • Outline for single event with discussion topics and structure

>Organize a symposium

Symposium Guide (PDF)

  • Organize a multi-panel day-long event followed by audience discussion

  • Includes ideas for topics and structure

Explore the movement

Sources of information and action-building around degrowth.

  • WEAll is the leading collaboration of organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working towards a Wellbeing Economy, delivering human and ecological wellbeing. Centering our human and planetary needs rather than treating economic growth as an end in and of itself.growth as an end in and of itself.

  • R&Di is a think-and-act-tank dedicated to the radical transformation of our economies and societies through research, advocacy, education, training and events around degrowth.

    Affiliated with Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Explore UAB’s first international master's fully dedicated on research and policy for degrowth.

  • L4E is a university network based in the U.S. and Canada working towards a vision of the future founded on mutually enhancing relationships between human societies and the planetary community of life. They are currently taking PhD applications!

  • IDN is a global community of individuals, organizations, and degrowth allies committed to creating an equitable and sustainable world for all generations. See their members page.

    Join the IDN North America Circle or one of the many topic circles with regular gatherings for change.

  • Connect with this team developing programs centering topics concerning postgrowth economics and civilizational metabolism. Projects include undergraduate college curriculum, professional development, and community convening.

  • Publish several primers on degrowth, tax justice, system change, and more. The initiative outlines a comprehensive plans for advancing feminist action.

  • This website and their degrowth database house thousands of well-organized resources that can help you further your understanding of degrowth. The database includes information for all types of learners. Whether you prefer scientific papers, videos, podcasts, music, books, or forums, the database has it all and more.

  • A loose collective of activists, academics and advocates for degrowth from across the United States. Check out their resources page!

  • A prominent online space providing resources on degrowth.

    Sign up for the degrowth-world listserv to get regular updates from the community of degrowth activists, researchers, and organizations. Send an email to degrowth-world-subscribe@lists.riseup.net to sign up.

    Sign up for their quarterly newsletter that shares a summary on degrowth related research, activism, and more.

  • DegrowNYC are organizers with ties to the Global South, living in occupied Lenapehoking (aka NewYork City). They focus specifically on how degrowth relates to NYC. Check out their Demystifying Degrowth zine.

  • CASSE is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. They advocate for a steady state economy by educating citizens, organizations, and policy makers on the conflict between economic growth and (1) environmental protection, (2) ecological and economic sustainability, and (3) national security and international stability.

  • Arketa works with investment professionals and others within the finance industry to align the financial system with environmental and wellbeing needs, now and into the future. Their first whitepaper that summarizes the challenges faced by finance today.