The Idea Team

We are a student working group at the Department of Economics at the FU Berlin and see ourselves as an independent and open group in which all interested parties can participate. Our focus is on the critical and scientific examination of economic topics. Our university group has been active at the Department of Economics for 20 years and has been organizing lecture series for 15 semesters. As a result, we have very close contact with students and a wealth of experience in knowledge transfer and project planning.

About the Idea

Climate protection is a huge task that must be solved by society as a whole. Above all, this also involves a transformation of the economy - further global growth based on fossil fuels is impossible on a planet with finite resources.

What exactly this new economy should look like is controversial: can growth and resource consumption be decoupled or should we aim for an end to growth? Can individual transportation become sustainable through new technologies or is it possible to rely on public transport in rural regions as well? How can the structural change of the next two decades be financed and, above all, by whom?

Because these questions often take up too little space in economics, and especially in economics teaching, we want to bring new perspectives to our department.

We are currently in the process of contacting potential speakers. Prominent experts (such as Claudia Kemfert from DIW or Ottmar Edenhofer from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research) are to give lectures for our weekend program for a larger audience. These lectures, which will cover topics such as "Financing the transformation", "Post-growth economics", "Transport transition" and "Energy transition" as well as "The future of teaching", will be supplemented by smaller seminars and discussion panels led by representatives from the private sector, universities, various economic institutes, activists and students.

During the week, we are cooperating with the lecturers in our department to focus on the climate crisis in all modules for a week if possible.

In addition to raising awareness among the participating students, we hope that FU professors will engage more intensively with the topic of climate change in teaching and be encouraged by representatives of best practice examples to anchor sustainability issues in their modules in the long term.

Ausblick

We are looking forward to a lively exchange between teachers, external lecturers and students, to new aspects of economic thinking and, above all, to solution-oriented approaches that will enable participants to identify the best instruments against the climate catastrophe and take action themselves.

Contact

Critical Economists FU Berlin (KriWis FU Berlin), info@kriwis-berlin.de

More about us https://kriwis-berlin.de/ .