Basel, 27 March 2015 This year’s eco.ch congress brought together over 500 participants with different backgrounds and ideas to discuss the topic “Live well! With sufficiency against waste”, and celebrated its 10^th anniversary.

Béa Johnson, author of “Zero Waste Home”, and her family produce since 2008 virtually no garbage. In a tiny jar, she brought on stage the one-liter waste generated last year and spoke about the project. She summarizes her recipe in five R “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot (… only in that order)”. Her blog inspires thousands of people all over the world and shows that “zero waste is not only beautiful, it is also healthy and allows saving money and time”.

Rob Hopkins, initiator of Transition Towns spoke about this movement, started in 2005 in Totnes (South-West England). The movement seeks to build resilience in response to peak oil and climate change by fostering local economies. “This is how you make the change. You must start, the government will follow”, so Hopkins.

The eco nature congress also hosted various workshops. Among them, the very inspiring one organized by the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAGW) discussing the role of social science in fostering sufficiency. “We can show ways”, so Prof. Frank Krysiak (University of Basel), one of the four panelists. Sufficiency requires changes in behavior. Humanities and Social Sciences should investigate how these changes can be achieved and which social and institutional conditions are necessary. This was one of the main conclusions of the workshop. The discussion will have a follow up at the next WRF 2015 in Davos.

Next year’s eco.ch conference will cover the topic of world food. For more information on the outcomes of this year and on the upcoming event, please visit: www.eco.ch/kongress.