Conference theme See the future
“Here we are in 2060. The planet is a completely different place compared to the past, the 2020s. What began as a need for change in the ‘transition twenties’ became a deep transformation, both of nature and of society. Climate change has changed the face of the earth, in places we now live with water, not against it. In other places we now see the social impacts of the disruption of the ‘water towers’ of the world. Equilibrium, now a word for the history classes. Yes, there still are many setbacks and conflicts, but it feels like a new era, nevertheless. Sustainability (to use that concept of the past!) is now at the heart of our politics. But it is no longer an ‘add on’; we now define ourselves differently. Social-ecological relations are center stage, Von Humboldts ‘web of life’, now the first thing taught in our curricula. Ecocide is an established crime. New technologies have emerged, and people have started to live their lives according to new values, what were they thinking in the past when a good life was based on consumption? While prediction is difficult, particularly when it is about the future, there is no doubt the 21st century will go into history textbooks as the century of ecology.”
Back to 2023, we are pleased to share the date and theme and invite you to start thinking how you could contribute. We deliberately follow another conference format. Taking the year 2060 as our point of arrival, we get new insights into the challenges of transformation, the big shifts that we must consider if we think about sustainability in terms of forty years or more. Together we look back, piece together and learn. What do the changes that we were able to bring about look like? What/who were the crucial triggers for this transformation? And did we (or better: who did) see them coming in 2023?