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Resource Wende

Many countries aim for permanent economic growth. Growth is seen as the panacea to bring an end to poverty and realise welfare for all civilians of a country. In the seventies the Club of Rome already predicted that there are Limits to Growth. Resource scarcity and pollution of ground, water and air will begin to have serious consequences for industrial output, food production and life expectation, starting at the beginning of this century. According to recent recalculations we are still very much on track to meet these predictions.

To ensure a healthy future for all life on earth, we have to reset the way we treat the limited resources on earth – in the ground, on the ground, in the sea and in the air. The Resource Wende is a fact based programme that looks at resource scarcity on a systemic level and aims to incorporate the outcome of expert thinking in all sustainability transitions in the Netherlands and beyond.

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Next conference: 30+31 May 2023, KIT Amsterdam

Dossiers

There are many dossiers that promote a transition to a more sustainable world. Most of these transitions require (large amounts of) resources. If resource scarcity is not taken into account when making investment decisions, many of these transitions will fail and only deliver stranded assets.

Dialogues

Nobody has detailed knowledge of all the necessary sustainability transitions and the overall implications of resource scarcity. There is a need to combine the various areas of expertise into a common story of the future and underlying systems-model that enable integral decision-making. Structured dialogues are a means to bring the right people and knowledge together to create the necessary common understanding.

Network

Many transitions are delayed or halted due to lack of support from society, experts, public and private organisations. Without a common vision and commitment from a network of leaders and influencers in each of these areas, most sustainability transitions will run aground. The development of the vision and support-network is a crucial part of the Resource Wende programme.

Resource Wende Coalition

Urgent sustainability transitions are delayed at country, regional and global level. Persuasion power is needed to bring these transitions back on track as an integrated whole, while at the same time taking into account the imminent resource scarcity challenges. The Resource Wende Coalition aims to be the driving force for the most urgent transitions. Dialogues will be organised with a network of business and political leaders, professionals and social representatives. Past experience has shown that a combination of a powerful network and structured dialogues are key ingredients to develop a common story of the future and a decision-making framework that guide the realisation of an integrated set of sustainability transitions. As you can imagine, the limiting factors of our earth system will become a natural part of this framework. The ultimate goal is to deliver a widely supported Futures Agreement as the basis for broad prosperity in The Netherlands and beyond.