Fostering Sustainable Futures: 6G4Society's Insights from the Pontevedra ESEE-Degrowth 2024 Conference
With innovative technologies playing a key role in promoting participatory creativity for a sustainable future, 6G4Society (6G4S) is pleased to actively participate in the conversation and action around this topic.
Aligned with this mission, Anna Aseeva, a sustainability expert at partner organisation Digital for Planet (D4P), attended the 10th International Degrowth Conference and the 15th Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) that was held as a joint event ‘Pontevedra ESEE-Degrowth 2024’ in Pontevedra, Spain, from 18–21 June 2024.
Titled ‘Science, Technology, and Innovation beyond Growth: Cultivating Collective Creativity for a Sustainable Future’, the event focused on advancing human and environmental well-being, promoting cooperation, democracy, inclusiveness, transparency, and solidarity. It consisted of two parts:
1
The main Conference (18-21 June 2024) at the university campus of Pontevedra, featuring academic lectures, expert panels, and artistic workshops. It gathered over 1200 attendees, including scientists, experts, and activists, to discuss ecological economics and degrowth.
2
‘Beyond the Conference’: Civic Engagement and Citizen-Oriented Initiatives during the conference days, including workshops, debates, exhibitions, and contests across the city. These public activities aimed to promote active citizen participation and involvement.
The 6G4S project at the event
As advocates for sustainable digital transformation, 6G4S was excited to participate in this event shaping the dialogue around integrating environmental efforts and societal values into the next generation of collectively supported and accepted technological solutions, including 6G.
While 5G focused on performance, 6G must focus on sustainability. As a project, 6G4Society promotes and seeks to identify critical requirements for next generation networks that are fair, inclusive, secure, trustworthy and sustainable by design. With this project, we help address the need to ensure that digitalisation of our society balances both socio-ecological and economic aspects.
Throughout the Conference, 6G4Society as a whole and our Citizen survey were promoted at the publications and campaigns stand of the Conference as well as at the off-line Posters gallery.
The main highlight from the conference was to realise that the Ecological Economics and the Degrowth communities have become aware that 6G must be all about sustainability. By taking our survey at the Conference, a couple of dozens of citizens of all backgrounds (gender, age, nationality, etc.) also had the opportunity to have their say on the future of 6G on the spot.
