A clear aim, an open ‘how?’ – Get involved in the process of defining our way to Green economics

Between12th and 14^th December 2008, in the time of credit crunch and problematic negotiations on climate change, a group of Young Greens from all around Europe came together in Berlin to get in touch with Green economics.

The Green Economics Institute with its founder Miriam Kennet had prepared together with Carolina Lopez from the FYEG board and Nicolas Nguyen-Van from the German Young Greens a seminar about it. Its holding was unfortunately messed up because of the illnesses going around among our organisers.
From Friday to Sunday we rushed through a very ambitious agenda, from the Common Agricultural Policy over some nice mainstream curves to finally the idea of Green Economics. On Saturday, a game about ‘public goods’ exposed that even Greens can be very selfish. To leave this shocking experience behind, Franza and I spontaneously led a guided tour through the frozen center of Berlin.

At the end of the seminar, the agenda finally left some time for a group discussion about the question how we could really “green” the economy. We had to acknowledge that the topic Green Economics needs more attention in FYEG. Even if there is no ‘one size fits all’ strategy to reach this different view on economics, we thought that it was very important to have a deeper exchange about all the paths to Green Economics and especially to discuss guidelines that FYEG could present to the public.
That is why we decided to set up a working group about “Green Economics” that will prepare a greater discussion among the members of FYEG to finally create a paper for the General Assembly in April. You’re welcome to join this group. Simply send an email to Carolina (carolina@fyeg.org).

Moreover, many participants are now planning workshops about ‘Green economics’. The Spanish Young Greens will be involved in a conference about Green responses to the financial crisis in Alicante in January. Furthermore, they are preparing a video report and exhibition on this topic. The material will be available to other organizations.