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The need to transmit a new image of our future is imminent, which means a lot for the moment. Åsa Svenfelt, Associate Professor at KTH, is one of them.
"We have to tell a different story in the future, and now we look pretty gloomy." Åsa Svenfelt, Sustainable Development and Future Studies Assistant at KTH, does not seem to be able to meet the objectives the environmental goals and social goals we want to achieve.
His research focuses on sustainable consumption, a sustainable future beyond GDP growth, equitable distribution, and the use of ecosystem services.
"My main area of research is for future studies and backcasting as tools for achieving sustainable development and managing the uncertainties of environmental policy and long-term social planning."
Åsa Svenfelt and the other authors of articles behind KTH's recent report "Beyond GDP growth" mean that our way of life and consumption in Sweden is not sustainable.
So how can we create a society that offers a good life to all and does not end the Earth's resources? In economic and political discussions, economic growth is often taken as a starting point and a precondition for safe and sustainable social development.
At the same time, undeclared confidence in growth and expectations can pose a threat to the sustainable development of a community if growth fails.
In the report, researchers prepared four future scenarios for society.
The collaborative economy is one of the scenarios to come in the report, that is, the economy is more characterized by cooperation than by competition. Access to goods and services is more important than individual ownership and means of production, and material resources have shifted more and more from private and public property to collective ownership.
Another future scenario is self-esteem. Close relatives, relatives or friends often live together in an extended family constellation. Many live in rural areas and in smaller or larger cities where there are opportunities for culture and other production.
The other two scenarios concern the automation of the quality of life and the circular economy in the welfare state.
The common point in all scenarios is that consumption of goods as well as meat consumption are decreasing. Similarly, air travel needs to be significantly reduced to reach the climate target.
In all scenarios, the construction of residential and road infrastructure, although in different proportions, also decreases. Other aspects, such as work schedules, the organization of social protection systems, the appearance of the building and the number of necessary infrastructure are different in different scenarios.
John Hassler, professor of economics at Stockholm University, criticizes the report.
"I do not see any realism in that, that in the future, we would live in villages with shared toilets and showers, not commercial ones, there is no realism," he says. Swedish radio.
But Åsa Svenfelt explains that the scenarios should not be realistic.
"They are creating a discussion," she says.
As a funny illustration in the report, there is a cartoon image with the quote:
"Some say I should meet someone else, but my growing economy said everything would be different after the holidays and that I just had to be patient and do my best to stop Fossil fuels, but for now, it suits me "not and he had a difficult childhood and I can stop whining at some point. "
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