Degrowth

Sabrina Chakori | Bronwen Morgan | Jess Scully | Tommy Wiedmann

Despite rapid technological advancements, increasing affluence and population growth continue to strain our planet. Currently not a single country in the world is operating at sustainable level of resource use – and yet that is what we need to aspire to if we’re going to slow climate change, reduce inequality and increase our quality of life. So, how do we get there?

Join UNSW’s sustainability scientist Tommy Wiedmann and Professor of Law Bronwen Morgan, CSIRO researcher Sabrina Chakori, and former Deputy Lord Mayor and author of Glimpses of Utopia Jess Scully as host, for a vital discussion on sustainability and the urgent challenge we face to create a world which ensures human needs are met without sacrificing a sustainable, inclusive future.

Live Event & Venue Information

The Law Theatre (G04), Law & Justice Building is located at UNSW Sydney's Kensington Campus. Please note this is a live event only, and will not be available via livestream.

Access

Wheelchair Access
The Law Theatre (G04) is located in the Law & Justice Building at UNSW Sydney's Kensington campus. The closest accessible drop-off point to the Law Theatre is at the rear of the building, with access via Gate 2, High Street. Vehicles can drop off patrons directly adjacent to the Science and Engineering Building, which is located just opposite. More information on getting there can be found via our interactive accessibility map available here.

Assisted Listening
The Law Theatre (G04) has a hearing loop. Patrons wishing to utilise this need to simply switch their hearing aid to the T (Telecoil) setting to pick up on the wireless signal.

Auslan & Captioning
Auslan interpreting services and/or live captioning can be provided for selected talks upon request.

Contact
To book and discuss access services, please call the Centre for Ideas on 02 9065 0485 or email centreforideas@unsw.edu.au.

Parking & Public Transport

The Law Theatre (G04) is easily accessible via public transport and the closest light rail stop is UNSW Anzac Parade (L3 line). The closest bus stops are UNSW Gate 2, High Street (348, 370) and Day Avenue at Anzac Parade (303, 399). For more information please call the Transport Infoline on 131 500 or visit transportnsw.info.

Free parking is also available from 5.30pm in the Western Campus Car Park. For access to free parking, event patrons must park in the UNSW Permit Holder bays. The Western Campus Car Park is located here, on Anzac Parade next to NIDA. This car park can be accessed via Western Campus Drive through Day Avenue.

Paid casual and visitor parking is offered via the CellOPark App and ‘pay by plate meters’ in all other UNSW car parks. For more information head here.

Contact

For all the other enquiries, please email centreforideas@unsw.edu.au or call the Centre for Ideas on 02 9065 0485.

The Centre for Ideas is happy to receive phone calls via the National Relay Service. TTY users, phone 133 677, then ask for 02 9065 0485. Speak and Listen users, phone 1300 555 727 then ask for 02 9065 0485. For more information on all other relay calls visit here.

Speakers

Sabrina Chakori
Sabrina is a researcher, educator and multi-award social entrepreneur committed to building a socially just and ecologically sustainable society. She is a postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO, and in her research, she explores innovation and exnovation dynamics in postgrowth food systems transitions. Adopting a cross-scale perspective, she analyses how beyond-GDP frameworks could unlock the potential of postgrowth enterprises.

She has been working for a more sustainable society for more than 15 years, leading numerous collaborations in various countries, including an initiative with Queensland’s Environment Minister to introduce the law banning single-use plastic bags. To translate her circular economy knowledge and vision into practice, in 2017, she founded the Brisbane Tool Library, a circular organisation that encourages people to borrow tools, camping gear and other equipment to reduce productivism and consumerism. Sabrina is also the co-founder and editor of the Degrowth Journal, a journal that embraces slow science and advances a decommodification of knowledge.

Bronwen Morgan
Bronwen Morgan is Professor of Law at UNSW Sydney in the Faculty of Law & Justice, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and a prior Australian Research Council Future Fellow. She is a socio-legal scholar with a longstanding interest in regulation and governance, changes in state formation and the increasing economisation of political discourse and practices. She co-leads the New Economy Network of Australia, Regen Sydney and the Collaborative Research Network on Utopian Legality, Prefigurative Politics and Radical Governance under the umbrella of the Law and Society Association. She is a co-editor in chief of the interdisciplinary journal Global Social Challenges.

Jess Scully
Jess Scully is an author, city-maker and advocate for an expanded civic imagination as a foundation for a fair and sustainable future. Jess has served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and worked as a festival director, policy advisor, curator, strategist, and presenter. Jess is a World Bank consultant on sustainable urbanism and a Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. Jess has consulted for some of Australia’s most innovative companies and organisations, and for the largest multilateral financier of climate action in developing countries. Her first book is Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.

Tommy Wiedmann
Tommy Wiedmann is Professor of sustainability research and is leading the Sustainability Assessment Program at UNSW Sydney. Tommy has long-standing expertise in integrated, quantitative sustainability assessment and modelling, industrial ecology and environmental footprint analysis. He is leading the development and application of the Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab), a collaborative research platform for environmentally extended multi-region input-output analysis. His recent research is focusing on sustainable transformations towards post-growth economies. Tommy is a Lead Author of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2012, he received the Thomson Reuters Citation Award in Australia and has been listed as Highly Cited Researcher annually since 2015.