THE NEW INSTITUTE is dedicating a series of events to commemorate “The Limits to Growth”, the watershed report published by the Club of Rome in 1972, laying out in stark detail the reality of climate change. The start was a workshop on the question “Is it Too Late for Climate Action?” with Dennis Meadows who was only 29 when, together with his wife Donella Meadows, Jørgen Randers, Jay Forrester and William Behrens, he worked on this report that made clear the unlimited growth does not work on a finite planet.

This first event will be followed by a two-day workshop, titled “Limits and Limitations – Imagining Possible Futures 50 Years after the Club of Rome Report”. Invited are leading voices in the environmental and activist fields such as Gina Cortes Valderrama, Ole von Uexküll, Jamila Raqib and Skeena Rathor of Extinction Rebellion. A workshop on “Eco-Scenarios” curated by Elisabeth Strowick will complement this series. Together, these events will create a space to link past, present, and future for reflection, to challenge the status quo, and to explore opportunities for turning the tide for a sustainable future.

You can read the contributions as this hub grows, dedicated to rethinking our climate future – to understand what can be achieved beyond the limits: Beyond intergenerational misunderstandings, beyond intersectoral challenges, beyond the addiction to growth. What have we learned in the past 50 years – scientifically, politically, socially? What has changed and what has not? And most importantly: What is the future we want to live in and how do we get there – fast?