A DRAFT VISION FOR ESEE

ESEE is an academic society that promotes sustainable and fair societies. It understands the economy as a system that is embedded within society, which is in turn embedded within, and fully dependent, upon Earth’s finite, life-supporting systems. This worldview is crucial because we have inherited an economic system that is failing to meet people’s essential needs and it is also overshooting multiple planetary boundaries.

ESEE aims to increase the weight and importance of ecological economics in addressing grand challenges, such as human deprivation, inequalities and avoiding ecological breakdown. In cooperation with other like-minded networks, ESEE promotes economics teaching to include a diversity of perspectives, including ecological economics. Next to its focus on higher education, ESEE also supports the primary and secondary education system. We strive for the decolonisation of how science is being done.

We reclaim the role of academics as public servants, and universities as public entities. Concerned with the long working hours, burn-out, publication pressures, and marketization at universities, ESEE works towards an academia where working conditions are fair and just. Academics are given time to live fuller lives, embedded in society and nature. We focus on providing systemic alternatives. To reach a wider audience, we use language that inspires, and that engages with emotions and a plurality of values. 

ESEE is a society that leads discussion of the political implications of our research. To help achieve a sustainable and fair society, ESEE enters into political dialogues in areas such as governance, ownership, and finance; supports local initiatives; and engages with activists. We have a strong relationship with other networks and societies and engage together in political action. In policy-making processes, ESEE encourages research that backs up political decisions, and endorses manifestos and statements.

ESEE supports social transitions through facilitating knowledge sharing, and also through connections to other social actors and like-minded disciplines. We support our members to push against the rules and norms that hinder social transformation. Within ESEE we practice democratic processes, distribute tasks evenly, and engage members in different tasks. We continuously reflect on our impact on society, and support network-to-network connections to different social groups. We also reflect on our privileges and provide an inclusive space for silenced and marginalised voices. At our conferences we provide space for in-depth discussions, and have regional and/or thematic events between conferences.

By pursuing this vision, we provide scientifically rigorous and socially inspiring alternatives to the unsustainable and unequal trajectory that we are currently on.