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A Post Growth Deal

Project description

Models to address interconnected crises

Societies face interconnected crises, highlighting the need for bold solutions. What policies and public engagement are needed to address them? The ERC-funded REAL project will design frameworks for post-growth deals through empirical research and practical applications. It will develop models to achieve human well-being within planetary boundaries across all countries, create post-growth policies for the Global North and South, assess their political acceptability and impacts, and ensure future populations have access to essential resources such as energy, food, shelter, healthcare, and social security. It will learn from political movements and alliances to advance post-growth transitions and collaborate with four communities to co-produce knowledge and action for implementing post-growth deals.

Objective

How can we sustain human well-being within planetary boundaries? What policies and provisioning systems could enable societies to prosper without growth? What politics and alliances are necessary for seeing post-growth policies through, and how can the public be engaged in them? What new scientific paradigm could answer such questions?

Societies face multiple intertwined crises. Bold alternatives are sorely needed. This project develops frameworks for ‘Post-Growth Deals’, from empirical research through to practical applications. First, we develop equitable North-South convergence scenarios, modelling human well-being achievement in all countries within planetary boundaries. Second, we articulate post-growth policy packages for the Global North and South, assessing their political acceptability and modelling their effects. Third, we develop models of provisioning systems to ensure future populations have adequate energy, food, shelter, health and social security. Fourth, we learn from political movements, studying politics and alliances that could bring post-growth transitions forward. Fifth, we identify practical steps to bring Post-Growth Deals to life, working with four representative communities to co-produce knowledge and action on the ground.

The potential gains of this research are immense: post-growth transitions may unlock a far more ecologically stable and socially prosperous future than current trajectories lead to. REAL brings a paradigm shift moving post-growth science from economics to sustainability studies. We propose a new trans-disciplinary ‘5Ps of post-growth’ science, grounded in resource/energy modelling, political-economy and socio-political analysis – a skill-set that no single researcher or team presently possesses. The PIs are leaders in their fields and bring complementary expertise in: modelling of provisioning systems (JST), political economy and North-South relations (JΗ), and the politics of socio-environmental transformations (GK).

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-ERC-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy Grants

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) ERC-2022-SYG

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Host institution

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Net EU contribution
€ 6 594 931,00
Address
EDIF A CAMPUS DE LA UAB BELLATERRA CERDANYOLA V
08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
Spain
Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 6 594 931,00

Beneficiaries (2)