“Transition? Only if it’s equitable!” Invitation to the Oeko-Institut’s Annual Meeting 2021

How can social justice be built into climate action and the task of shaping a sustainable future? Whether it’s carbon pricing for heating or private mobility, less meat consumption, or car-free residential areas, the challenges, large and small, posed by protecting the environment have always had a social dimension. However, with sustainability now gaining traction, social justice issues are moving up the political agenda. Meanwhile, the solutions proposed by scientists and civil society stakeholders need to be revisited and renegotiated.

All these themes and the open questions that they raise are the focus of this year’s Annual Meeting “Transition? Only if it’s equitable! How to build social justice into ecological transformations”, which you are warmly invited to attend.

Click here for Programme and registration

The energy, mobility, resource and land transitions and other major social projects which aim to preserve the environment, climate and resources require not only political and technological change but a transformation across the whole of society. Not only should the solutions protect the climate, resources or biological diversity – they must also be equitable, collectively supported and respectful of the needs of diverse social groups. For everyone to share in the benefits of a sustainable future, participation is key, and it is equally important to focus on disadvantages caused by factors such as low income, place of residence or gender.

The Oeko-Institut’s annual scientific meeting turns the spotlight on the need for policy action to make these transformations sustainable, equitable and participatory. It will map positive development pathways for these transition processes from a sustainability perspective and identify opportunities and potential barriers to social-ecological change. The findings of many of the Oeko-Institut’s current projects will provide substantive input for the event.

Highlights include a keynote by Verena Bentele, President of the social advocacy organisation VdK Deutschland, a varied programme and an exciting closing debate on “Social-Ecological Transformation: A Cross-Party Comparison” with Michael Kellner, Secretary General of Alliance 90/The Greens, and other senior figures from all the democratic parties, including Nicola Beer, Deputy Chairperson of the FDP and Vice-President of the European Parliament, Silvia Breher, Deputy Chairperson of the CDU, and Lars Klingbeil, Secretary General of the SPD (panellists to be confirmed).

Register here: https://www.oeko.de/jahrestagung2021#anmeldung

The programme and an overview of the speakers are available here: www.oeko.de/jahrestagung2021

The event will be conducted largely in German.

Key data:

“Transition? Only if it’s equitable!”
How to build social justice into ecological transformations

The Oeko-Institut’s Annual Meeting 2021

When?             7 December 2021, 9:30-18:15 hrs (followed by get-together)

Where?            dbb-Forum, Friedrichsstrasse 169/170, 10117 Berlin