Friends Provident Foundation held an all-day conference on Tuesday 12 October 2021 via Zoom.
The theme of this year’s conference was the 4D economy
- Decarbonise – we must decarbonise the economy to tackle climate change, keep global heating below 1.5 degree Celsius and ensure a planet that is habitable for future generations. The transition must be fair and equitable.
- Decentralise- a fair and sustainable economy is a decentralised economy – one where people can create and retain value locally and focus on well-being for their community.
- Democratise – a democratised economy is one where communities and workers have power, ownership and control of the assets and businesses that sit at the heart of their economies.
- Diversify – we cannot create a better economy without addressing the social and economic injustices within our society. A fair economy needs to dismantle the structural inequalities and systems of oppression that underpin our economic systems and institutions and build economic systems and institutions founded on principles of equity, solidarity and social justice.
These D’s are interwoven and don’t just stand in isolation. We believe that together they can help us to fulfil our vision of a ‘fair economy, better world’.
We held 4 plenaries, 1 plenary each for the 4Ds and we were joined by excellent speakers.
Decarbonising
- Jonathon Porritt – Forum for the Future
- Lily Tomson – ShareAction
- Agamemnon Otero – Energy Garden
Decentralise
- Tom Lloyd Godwin – CLES
- Afsheen Rashid – Repowering London
- Cllr Reema Patel – Barnet Council and Ada Lovelace Institute
Democratise
- Miatta Fahnbullah – New Economic Foundation
- Leo Murray – Riding Sunbeams
- Daniela Soares – Snowball
Diversify
- Dr Keston Perry – Williams College
- Anna Johnston – Women’s Budget Group
- Dr Nicola Scott, Research Manager, Rethinking Economics/University of Manchester
We also held 4 workshops
- COP26 – last chance for a decarbonised economy? – Mel Kee and Michelle Hemmingfield – Students Organising for Sustainability
- Decolonising the economy – building a diversified economy from colonialised roots? – Guppi Bola and Nonhlanhla Makuyana – Decolonising Economics
- Devolved UK economies – how decentralised control has driven innovation in Scotland/Wales – Auriol Miller – Institute of Welsh Affairs and Jimmy Paul – Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland
- Ownership and control – learning from the FPF programmeme on a 4D economy. – Andrea Westall and Josh Cottell
We asked people what they wanted to gain from the conference and people said
