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Cork City to host “Go Leor!”: the 2027 International Degrowth Conference and Festival

From August 16th-20th 2027, Cork City will host “Go Leor!”,  the 12th International Conference and Festival for Degrowth for Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity - a transdisciplinary gathering of practitioners, activists, policymakers, scholars, educators, and artists focused on platforming and debating the degrowth movement. 

Over five days, landmark venues across Cork City will play host to a diverse range of debates, discussions, and events, examining, imagining, and answering increasing global calls for a democratic transition to a new economic system, one that is economically and socially anchored in fairness and where there is Enough for All - from more to ‘go leor’.

Cork was selected as host for the 2027 edition of the event following a bidding process involving several potential sites.  Taking the baton from Oslo, Norway, host of the event in 2025, organisers, which include The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (FEASTA) and the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Ireland Hub, are planning a series of events, including the flagship international gathering of scholars, practitioners and activists at University College Cork, and a cultural festival across multiple venues in Cork City to engage audiences locally, and beyond.  

Why Ireland?

Ireland’s hosting of this conference is significant given our history of democratic economic innovation, from agricultural cooperatives in the 1800s to empower small farmers through collective action, to credit unions in the 1950s to empower working-class families through control over their finances and fair access to loans.  As a young nation state and former colony, whose land and people bear the intergenerational scars of economic exploitation, with living memory of a pre-industrial culture and now an open economy enmeshed in the global marketplace, we are well placed to question these systems. 

We are working toward a future where success is measured by collective and ecological well-being rather than gross domestic product (GDP); where communities around the world exercise sovereignty over their land, food, energy, and information systems; where cooperation and solidarity replace extractive competition; and where universal basic services ensure everyone’s needs are met. This future economy is one where meaningful work is shared more equitably, with reduced working hours that allow time for care, creativity, and community life; where ecological regeneration and human thriving advance together; where inequalities are systematically reduced and governance is inclusive, participatory, and egalitarian.

Main focuses of the conference:

This conference will examine the evidence that supports meaningful change, be inspired by the visionaries imagining the future, and explore examples of degrowth practice from social innovators – in communities, in businesses and in political institutions – around the world.  

‘The ‘business-as-usual’ approach of pursuing continuous, infinite GDP growth is unsustainable for both people and the planet. 

“Neoliberal capitalism is a profoundly undemocratic system, which has allowed a relatively small number of people to amass enormous financial wealth and control over resources. It is currently marching us all toward ecological and climate disaster. It’s time for a new system that supports real economic democracy, and justice in global trade and taxation. ” said Peter Doran, one of the event organisers.

The international academic conference will host up to 1000 attendees from a broad range of countries and continents. Key themes to be covered over the five days will include the care economy, food sovereignty, decolonisation, delinking of Global South countries from dependency on the Global North, democracy, the role of money and debt, indigenous or traditional practices embedded in place, resource extraction, and degrowth in the context of econationalism and ecofascism, including how to counter far right narratives. The festival will offer inspiration for the work ahead through celebrations of community heritage, arts, music and food to reconnect with more ancestral understandings of being in the world. A key focus of the conference and festival will be to highlight the need for intergenerational justice and identify ways to achieve it.

What is Degrowth?

Degrowth is a vibrant interdisciplinary academic field and social movement that advocates for a planned, democratic, and just transition away from current systems of over-production and consumption of destructive and unnecessary goods and services. 

‘Degrowth is the journey,’ said co-organiser Caroline Whyte. ‘The destination is a future with a social and ecological economy that prioritizes care for people and our planet over profit. The degrowth model is also immediately relevant for Ireland, and includes regenerative farming for food that nourishes producers, consumers and nature; community wealth building to revitalize our struggling towns and villages; community land trusts that hold and use land for the common good in perpetuity; bioregioning to connect and support local changemakers to generate social, natural, economic and inspirational value; and supportive and workable policies and legislation, for the social economy.’

Kate Raworth has said, "It's time to think again, to reimagine the shape of progress. Because today, we have economies that need to grow, whether or not they make us thrive. And what we need, especially in the richest countries, are economies that make us thrive, whether or not they grow."

If you would like to join in the work of reclaiming and reimagining the economy for all, or want to learn more about the conference, contact the team at degrowthireland2027@feasta.org

This conference is supported by the International Degrowth Conference Support Group and is associated with two regional and thematical gatherings:

• –Covilha (Portugal)
• –Cluj (Romania)