Towards Planetary Well-being: Exploring Citizens' and Politicians' Views on Post-Growth Futures

Humanity's impact on the environment has led to the crossing of six of nine critical planetary boundaries, necessitating urgent action to address environmental challenges. Traditional approaches focused on economic growth are increasingly questioned for their ability to ensure both sustainability and continued economic expansion. This skepticism has led to growing support for alternative economic models that prioritize environmental and social well-being over gross domestic product (GDP) growth. However, transitioning to a post-growth-oriented society requires significant cultural and institutional changes, making public and political support crucial.

This research project aims to explore and envision potential post-growth futures by incorporating local, global, citizen, scientific, and political perspectives. The project involves developing future visions of a post-growth society and assessing the perceptions of these visions among citizens and politicians in Switzerland. Through survey-based quantitative analysis, the project will identify key socio-demographic factors influencing positive perceptions of post-growth visions, as well as the emotions and perceived feasibility associated with these visions.

The project aims to offer a roadmap towards a more sustainable and resilient future by aligning the visions of citizens and policy-relevant actors with the imperatives of planetary well-being. The incorporation of citizens, politicians, and scholars from different fields in formulating and/or evaluating future visions is an innovative interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methodological approach. The project helps tailoring communication about degrowth to different audiences, highlights the level of public support for degrowth visions, and informs policymaking. The created future visions may hold significant potential for public engagement, inspiring hope and action among citizens, decision-makers, and organizations.

This project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation ( P500PS_225579).

The aim of the research project is to develop and evaluate future visions for a growth-independent society. This will involve the perspectives of citizens, scientists and policy-relevant actors. In a first step, visions are formulated. Then we will examine how citizens and policy-relevant actors perceive these visions. The results should show which ideas of a post-growth future are considered desirable and feasible. Socio-demographic factors that influence the perception of these visions will also be identified.

This interdisciplinary project contributes to deepening the understanding of post-growth approaches and improving communication about them. It helps to recognize the level of public support for such visions and how they can be translated into political practice. The project has the potential to point the way to a more sustainable and resilient society and to promote and support public debate and policy making.

This project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation ( P500PS_225579).