Stay Grounded Network's Conference on Degrowth of Aviation 12th-14th of July 2019 in Barcelona.

Submitted by lrt2 on Thu, 05/16/2019 - 18:48

https://stay-grounded.org/conference/
As you know RisingTideUK are founder members of the Stay Grounded Network - to counter aviation and work towards a just transport system. Registration is now open for this exiting self-organised event. Next to open workshops, panel discussions and keynotes we want to bring together activists from social movements, NGO‘s and scientists in intensive working groups on how to reduce air traffic and what could be concrete next (political) steps. If you want to take part planning the struggle against aviation growth and the expansion of airport related infrastructure all over the world please register by checking out the webpages above. The conference will be flight-free and will be happy to share your stories about getting to Barcelona in that way on the Network's social media channels. It is also possible to attend online.
Green growth and carbon neutral flights are an illusion, it is time to start a degrowth process for aviation. What would this look like? What are possible policy instruments that civil society should fight for, in order to put an end to the massive privileges of the aviation industry and to bring about a socially just and environmentally friendly transport system?
Barcelona is a city getting overcrowded by mass tourism that has serious environmental and health problems because of its airport and flights. It is also a hot spot for research and debates on Degrowth, a concept that promotes an economy without growth, respecting our planetary boundaries. Together with the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology ICTA, the Environmental Justice project (www.envjustice.org), Ecologistas en Acción, and other groups and activists, Stay Grounded are organising this 3-day conference that will combine space for civil society encounters, open workshops and panel discussions, with closed sessions for registered participants and members of Stay Grounded in order to discuss pro's and con's and political feasibility of concrete measures (like a kerosene tax, a frequent flyer levy, bans of short haul flights, fostering of alternative transport modes etc.). The outcomes will be a clearer picture of what Stay Grounded, its members and other social movements, academic institutions and NGOs could demand and fight for, in order to reduce aviation in a just and fast way. We also want to identify strategies of how to build public pressure in order to achieve our aims and next campaign steps.