On the weekend of Thursday 26 – Sunday 29 August 2012, Research & Degrowth group and affiliated friends met with Serge Latouche and Joan Martinez-Alier in the beautiful village of Rupiá, Cataluña for a R&D retreat. The weekend was dedicated to the upcoming 3º International Degrowth Conference in Venice (19-23 of September), discussing the upcoming scientific publications and special issues on degrowth, degrowth networks and networking, as well as topics related to R&D’s internal evolution, coordination, goals and strategies.
Friday evening, R&D hosted a public lecture in the village. Invited speakers were professor and ecological economist Joan Martinez-Alier, doctor of philosophy and author Jordi Pigem, and acclaimed degrowth writer Serge Latouche. The event was well attended and supplied by books published by Barcelona’s independent editorial, Icaria on topics covered during the evening’s lectures (addressing the current economic crisis and the value, necessity, and wisdom of degrowth’s proposed economic/social/environmental alternatives).
In true degrowth / buen vivir fashion, the weekend saw all members of the retreat help with cooking, cleaning, enjoying, sharing, discussing and exchanging, celebrating, and all-all being engaged. It was a productive weekend in terms of R&D’s effort to check-in to see how things are going in R&D, and what does the group want to see come to pass in the future. Many thanks to all who attended!