7th Annual Conference

The seventh conference took place on September 26 and 27, 2024, at the University of Cologne. Under the title “Sustainable transformation of the economy: A challenge for socio-economic research, education and teaching” participants discussed ways out of an unsustainable society. The conference was organized by the Department of Social Sciences with a focus on Economic Education at the Faculty of Human Sciences at the University of Cologne in cooperation with the AS*EER.

Invitation Text

Many of the challenges that societies are facing in the context of climate change and biodiversity loss are not historically new. However, they are becoming increasingly urgent with a simultaneous increase in multiple socio-economic crises and dwindling confidence in political organisation and global cooperation. Are there realistic ways out of an unsustainable society? What are suitable instruments at the national and global level to address the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss that do not overlook either the consequences of failing to take action or the impositions of transformation in terms of socio-economic inequality? Are system-compliant reforms sufficient or is a fundamental reorganisation of a capitalist economic system based on growth required? Does this also require new sustainability-didactic concepts of socio-economic education that provide orientation, the ability to make judgements and help shape a sustainable consumer, working and economic world without overwhelming individuals, without individualising responsibility, without diffusely blaming ‘politics’ or ‘the capitalist system’, but also without reinforcing resignation and hopelessness?

The following focal points are suitable for the interdisciplinary dialogue of social science economic research and the exploration of joint research perspectives between subject-specific sciences and subject-specific didactics:

Thursday, September 26, 2024 
until
Friday, September 27, 2024

Host: 

Universität zu Köln
GSÖBW

Speaker: 

Prof. Dr. Jens Beckert

Prof. Dr. Insa Theesfeld

Prof. Dr. Axel Ockenfels

Link: 

Tagungsprogramm

The conference will focus on the following topics:

  • Concept and objectives of sustainability and SDGs
  • Sustainability between society, market and state
  • Glocalisation – sustainability between globalisation and localisation 
  • Socio-economic education and sustainable transformation of the economy