From a social and ecological perspective, the current economic and lifestyle patterns in industrialized countries have serious negative consequences. They exploit the environment, harm the climate, and lead to social inequality and division. This is why a socio-ecological transformation process is needed that avoids existing and potential new social injustices. The project “Shaping the socio-ecological transformation together in a just way” explored new alliances and approaches that view social-ecological transformation as a task for society as a whole. Social and environmental associations and trade unions discussed possible paths to transformation in workshops organized as part of the project and developed recommendations.

The Institute for Ecological Economy Research initiated, accompanied, and analyzed these processes. You can read the results in this magazine. The analyses and recommendations are based on interviews, workshops, and research. This one-off magazine is aimed on the one hand at politicians who face the difficult task of implementing fair solutions for ecological change – despite acute crises and austerity measures. On the other hand, the magazine is dedicated to those who are professionally or voluntarily involved in civil society organizations. They will find inspiration to rethink the connections between social and ecological issues and to enter into effective collaborations and new alliances.

The theoretical section shows, for example, how alliances can position themselves with regard to long-term and short-term climate policy measures, and what politicians and associations can learn from communication on the “Gebäudeenergiegesetz” in order to deal with potential conflicts in a more forward-looking manner. Interviews with individuals involved in civil society organizations – such as the Diakonie, the environmental association BUND, and the German Trade Union Confederation – show how alliances have already achieved success and where obstacles lie. 

You can download the PDF here in single-page view (DE, not accessible).