Beyond Growth 2023 Conference.
Side Events

Civil Society Gathering event on 14th of May

Friends of the Earth Europe, the European Youth Forum, the European Environmental Bureau and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance are delighted to be organising a full-day civil society gathering in Brussels ahead of the European Parliament’s Beyond Growth Conference.

Do you work on or have interest in economic, social and environmental justice issues? Are you a NGO, an union worker, an activist in your local community, a degrowth researcher, a rights activist? Do you want to connect with discussions on “the economy”, get ideas for what to do, how to bring it more into your work, and take meaningful action for systems change? This is the gathering for you!

WHEN: Sunday 14 May 2023 from 10:00-18:00 CEST

WHERE: Mundo-b Building, Rue d’Edimbourg 26, Ixelles, Brussels 1050. Mundo-b is accessible to people with reduced mobility.

Please contact meadhbh.bolger@foeeurope.org if you need more information or have questions.

Donut Conference in Brussels

We are very happy to welcome you at ICHEC Brussels Management School for this inspiring conference where you will discover the systemic approach of the BrusselsDonut project.

We have the privilege to welcome Kate Raworth and Erinch Sahan from the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) to reflect with us on the challenges we face as well as the opportunities that Doughnut Economics brings for the transformation needed.

We also have the pleasure to welcome Barbara Trachte, Secretary of State for the Brussels-Capital Region, who initiated this project.

More information & registration

An evening with Vandana Shiva

On May 15, Vandana Shiva will do us the honour of her presence in the magnificent hall "Studio 4" of the Flagey Cultural Center. From the new generation of GMOs to the marketing of seeds, Vandana Shiva will deliver her vision of a desirable future. Her speech will be followed by a conversation together with Marie Toussaint, MEP Group of the Greens/European, and Blanche Magarinos-Rey, lawyer specialised in environmental law.

As the European Union prepares two crucial legislative proposals for the future of our agriculture, and as genetic modification techniques have evolved considerably, what are the challenges for our health, rights and food? The conversations held that evening are of crucial importance for moving towards a desirable future for all.

WHEN: Monday 15 May, 7:00 – 9:00

WHERE: Flagey Cultural center, Place, Sainte-Croix, 1050 Brussels, Access by tram and bus: lines 81, 38, 59, 60, 71, N09, N10

TICKET : Register for free with the promotional code « SEEDS »

EU Quarter ‘lobby tour’

– how corporate lobbying power obstructs the transition to a post-growth, future-fit EU

WHEN: Tuesday 16 May, 14:30 – 16:15

WHERE: we’ll start from the 'lobby tree' in Rue Wiertz, between the European Parliament’s ASP and PHS buildings

Join us for a guided ‘lobby tour’ to explore the world of corporate lobbying in the EU Quarter. There are an estimated 30,000 lobbyists working in Brussels, most of whom are representing the interests of large corporations and their lobby groups. The power of corporate lobbyists is one of the main obstacles for the transition to a post-growth, future-fit EU. Find out what goes on behind the shiny building facades from which these lobbyists work and how it affects people and the environment in Europe and around the world. Learn about the movement against corporate capture of EU decision-making and our strategies for reclaiming democratic space for the radical social and ecological transformation that Europe needs.

Please register by sending an email to ceo@corporateeurope.org (deadline Thursday 11 May)

A salon with Tim Jackson: Imagining a ‘post-growth’ economy

The good news is that the prevalent economic logic is starting to shift. We've heard it already: exponential economic growth is unsustainable, resources are finite and planetary boundaries should lead decision-making processes. However, politicians, corporations, and economists alike still lead us to believe that our prosperity is intrinsically connected to growing GDP and a buoyant stock market. To provide prosperity for all while respecting planetary boundaries, it is imperative we transcend both the conventional growth-centred worldview and our growth-dependent economic and social systems.

Ecological economist Tim Jackson explores how to get there. Pioneering the potential for a new way of thinking in macroeconomics, Tim conceives of a post-growth economic system that acknowledges the ecological and resource constraints of our planet, and bases prosperity on more than materialistic gains. How do we transform our system and build a ‘post-growth’ economy? Join the conversation.

WHEN: Tuesday 16 May / 6.30 – 8.30 PM

WHERE: Full Circle, Chaussée de Vleurgat 89, 1050 Brussels

TICKET: Register for freee with the promotional code “TIMJACKSONFULLCIRCLE”:

A salon with Vandana Shiva: Decolonising the global economy

Environmentalist, activist and author Vandana Shiva delivers a critical talk on what the whole point of the economy is and how to decolonise its global dimension. She looks at the whole picture, connecting the dots from a just international trade to thriving local economies and how our democracies can truly serve us.

WHEN: Wednesday 17 May / 6.30 – 8.30 PM

WHERE: Full Circle, Chaussée de Vleurgat 89, 1050 Brussels

TICKET: Register for free with the promotional code “VANDANASHIVAFULLCIRCLE”:

Throwaway – the history of a contemporary crisis

Embark on an unprecedented journey into the history of our waste. From the industrial revolution to wartime scarcity and the excesses of consumer society, this temporary exhibition at the House of European History charts the profound changes in the way we deal with rubbish and think about it.

Fragments of Bronze Age objects, samples of white rags used in paper mills in the 19th century, electronic devices – whether industrial or household, toxic or reusable, our rubbish is revealing.

While we tend not to dwell on what we have thrown away, the exhibition invites you to sift through the detritus of our societies, with startling results.

The exhibition itself uses a circularity model of construction, whereby materials employed to build the structures, walls and exhibition work, have been used before the exhibition and will continue their life afterwards, or are made from reused or recycled materials.

WHEN: Open 7/7, 13:00 – 18:00 Mondays, 09:00 – 18:00 Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 – 18:00 weekends

WHERE: House of European History, 135 Rue Belliard (inside Parc Leopold), Brussels

BOOKING: Entrance is free. No reservation needed for individuals. Groups over 10 persons should contact the exhibition curator Christine Dupont: christine.dupont@europarl.europa.eu

Reimagining our money system: The role of the digital euro

Recent bank failures are proof of how fragile today’s finance and money system is, and how governments still follow the all too common practice of using our taxpayers’ money to bail banks out. Positive Money Europe’s mission is to redesign this system so that it serves people, communities and the planet. Having a euro with the same properties as cash, but in digital form, is a means by which we can achieve this change!

Join us at our event on the digital, on Monday 19 June, from 6 to 7.30pm CEST, at Press Club Brussels (Brussels). And afterwards there will be time for drinks and snacks!

The event will be part screening of a powerful animated map portraying the functioning (and malfunctioning) of the financial system we live in, and part discussion of the flaws of this system, and how the digital euro can help solve them. Speakers:

Henrike Hahn, Member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA)
Martijn Jeroen van der Linden, Professor of New Finance at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and co-creator of the map animation
Carlijn Kingma, researcher and artist and co-creator of the map animation (to be confirmed)

Vicky Van Eyck, Executive Director of Positive Money Europe, will moderate the discussion.

Beyond Growth 2023 Conference. Side Events