Prosperity without Growth - Public Lecture and Discussion

Do we need innovation and growth to prosper on a healthy planet with healthy people?

We face a dilemma. Innovation is held high in modern Ireland and has been part of enabling our economic growth for decades. And yet, despite Ireland being a global innovation leader, we find ourselves in existential crises with our biosphere collapsing, our environment filthy and so many Irish people anxious, depressed, obese, addicted, exhausted.

In this public lecture, Professor Mario Pansera casts a cold, light eye over models of innovation that increasingly favour and fund solutions that aligns with endless economic growth. He is the Director of the Post-Growth Innovation Lab (https://postgrowth-lab.uvigo.es/people/mario-pansera/) and his work focuses on Responsible Research and Innovation and Innovation for Degrowth/Postgrowth.

Particularly relevant to health will be Mario’s discussion of environmental degradation and mental health. He will also examine systemic issues and the impact of technology.

This event is informed by principles of degrowth which focus on advancing human and environmental wellbeing, promoting cooperation, democracy, inclusiveness, transparency, and solidarity.

By and large, conversations about how to repurpose Innovation and decouple it from infinite growth on a planet with finite resources have been held at the margins of Ecological Economics and Degrowth. Trinity would love to welcome students, staff and the general public to engage in this discussion, as a means of moving this conversation to the centre and to understand how we can marry Innovation to planetary and human health so that we can imagine an Ireland that prospers in the Anthropocene.

P.S. This quote from the Post Growth Innovation Lab website sets the tone for this lecture. It should be fun. We'd love you to come along.

A snail, after adding a number of widening rings to the delicate structure of its shell, suddenly brings its accustomed building activities to a stop. A single additional ring would increase the size of the shell sixteen times. Instead of contributing to the welfare of the snail, it would burden the creature with such an excess of weight that any increase in its productivity would henceforth be literally outweighed by the task of coping with the difficulties created by enlarging the shell beyond the limits set by its purpose. At that point, the problems of overgrowth begin to multiply geometrically, while the snail’s biological capacity can at best be extended arithmetically.