Social Platform explores an economy for people & planet at Civil Society Days 2019

During the annual Civil Society Days on 12 June, organised by the European Economic and Social Committee, Social Platform, the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and the European Foundation Centre co-organised a workshop on how to transition to an economy that works for people and the planet. The keynote speaker was the renowned ecological economist Tim Jackson, author of Prosperity without growth, who stressed the need to question whether economic growth (GDP) is the right way to measure prosperity and wellbeing.

The workshop took place at a crucial moment for Europe, with the new European Parliament set to convene and a new European Commission on its way. The aim of the workshop was to develop recommendations on how to transition to an economy that works for people and the planet.

The workshop split into three smaller working groups focusing on:

  1. Measuring what matters to thrive within planetary constraints
  2. 21st-century tax redistribution and public investment
  3. Challenges and opportunities in funding for the environment

The findings of the workshop, shared with participants on the second day of the conference, included establishing a Directorate-General in the European Commission for Wellbeing and Future Generations, adopting hard legislation such as on minimum income to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, and improving access to funding for small organisations and non-organised groups/movements.

Read the recommendations that emerged during the working groups here.