Welcome to the Inaugural IDN Quarterly Newsletter!

Dear Friends, Members, and Allies of the Degrowth Movement,We are thrilled to launch the inaugural IDN newsletter, with the hopes of keeping everyone up to date on the activities of our various circles!    Enjoy!

Main highlights

As you may know, we officially launched in August 2023. As we prepare for our next steps, we want to highlight our achievements and invite you to join us in this transformative movement.

In the last ten months, we:

Launched our website  Our digital home, degrowth.net - external link, is live! Here you can learn about the IDN, including our aims, structure, and membership. It also serves as a hub offering resources both for and from our members.

Grew our membership  Over 30 organisations representing over 4,000 individuals have joined the IDN. Interested in helping us build a better future? Join us here!

Received our first funding We are grateful for the €15,000 allocated by the Degrowth Conference Support Group, providing for our administrative and logistical needs.

Outlined a path towards creating a legal structure and financial commons Efforts are underway to establish the IDN as a legal entity and develop a financial commons infrastructure, ensuring democratic finance distribution within our movement.

Embraced sociocracy: We practice sociocratic governance and organization, fostering inclusivity and efficiency in our decision-making processes.

Committed to using open-source tools We prioritise the use of free and open-source software (Matrix, Degrowth Cloud, LiberaForms, Keila mail), aligning with our principles of accessibility and transparency.

Started preparation for the Pontevedra Assembly 2024 Mark your calendars for the 5th International Degrowth Movement Assembly on June 17th, 2024, in Pontevedra (and online)! It’s a pivotal moment for our community to connect and strategize. More details here. - external link

All of this has only been possible because of the countless hours of volunteer work done by dozens of people and organisations believing in degrowth!

Circle Updates // Calls to Action!

In this section you’ll find updates sent in from the various circles that make up the IDN, with lots of opportunities to get involved!

What does the word “narratives” mean to you?

The narratives circle wants to spark the dialogue around degrowth narrative(s) so that the IDN can confidently share our vision. We’ll be hosting a fun narratives workshop as part of the Comms breakout session at the Assembly. Come share your vision for the future online or in person.

Join our hybrid session from 15:20–16:00 CEST on June 17th!

Help us pick a slogan!

The slogan circle have been working on a slogan to accompany the word ‘degrowth’ as the word receives lots of critique for sounding negative, and being hard to understand, so our purpose is to make it sound less daunting, and more positive.

  • Over a period of months, using a collaborative process, we have come up with a number of options. You can see our process here. - external link
  • From the process, we have six potential slogans. We want to know which ones you like the most. Which one do you think is the best phrase to accompany the word degrowth?
  • We will present the favourite two or three slogans at the assembly in Pontevedra/online, where it is our hope that a final slogan will be agreed upon. By completing this form you are playing a vital role in the process.

THANK YOU!

Complete the Slogan Form - external link

European Circle:

The European Circle recently sent out their second newsletter, which can be seen HERE - external link!

Transformative Learning Circle:

We are hosting a participatory session during the upcoming degrowth conference organised in the context of transformative learning – you can read all about it HERE - external link. Tomke will cohost this session as well as a separate interactive workshop to reflect on your own transformative processes.

Communications Circle

We are working on a glossary to support more help more people understand the language surrounding degrowth. We are recruiting for everything! But especially to work on the glossary, join the social media circle, (and work on this newsletter??)

Organising Circle:

The Organising Circle has been busy in the past months, supporting our nascent network and co-organising the upcoming Assembly of the Degrowth Movement. Great motivated minds populate the OC, and we’re starting to get the hang of sociocracy and make the most of it, with the vast majority of our work now being done by our Inner Circles and informal working groups. We’re running with little capacity, however, and extra support on specific things would be welcome—whether you’re experienced or just motivated doesn’t matter! You can help with:

  • Finance – setting up our funding and finance guidelines and methods
  • Legal entity – exploring the options and how to start a legal entity in France.
  • Engagement - making the IDN engaging and easy to navigate for new and old members alike
  • Tech - maintaining our tech infrastructure, thinking of viable drive alternatives, etc.

If any of these sounds interesting to you and you have a couple spare hours a week, join the OC general room on matrix and drop a note saying how you’d like to be involved! Remember that the IDN is a co-created place: if you notice things that aren’t working well, help fix them!

Membership and Onboarding Circle:

We will have the opportunity to share with everyone present at the Degrowth Conference in Pontevedra how awesome it is to be an IDN member and co-create our Network! “Come and meet the IDN” is a special session open to all conference participants and general public, which will be held on 19 June from 15:00 – 16:30 CEST at Escola de Enxeneria Forestal. If you are in Pontevedra at that time, mark your calendar and join us!

Become a part of something bigger (and smaller). The IDN represents a critical step towards uniting the degrowth movement in these rapidly evolving times. Your participation, whether as an individual or an organisation, strengthens our collective voice and impact. Together, we can forge a path toward a just, sustainable world. - external link

Got questions? Like what you hear? Wanna get more involved? Feel free to respond to this email and someone will point you in the right direction.

With care and solidarity,

The IDN Team