“Green Transformations” - RECET Festival of Historical and Social Sciences

4-6 June 2024, University of Vienna

Authors: Mykola Homanyuk, Department of Geography and Ecology, Kherson State University; Ondřej Daniel, Department of World History, Charles University, Prague; Laura Plochberger, University of Vienna

The third History and Social Sciences Festival organized by the Research Center for the History of Transformations (RECET) in Vienna tackled the topical question of “green transformations”, which is high on the agenda of the European Union (e.g. in the ‘Green New Deal’), of governments worldwide, but also of civil society and the economy.

RECET founding director PHILIPP THER (Vienna) initiated the festival by addressing the concept of "green transformation" and its multifaceted dimensions. He posed critical questions about the goals of green transformation, comparing it to the neoliberal transformation that had a clear objective of economic restructuring. Ther emphasized the need to consider the social dimension of green transformation, questioning who would bear the burden of these changes. He also highlighted the geopolitical implications and the idea of polycrises, suggesting that those might offer an opportunity to address various transformative needs simultaneously. He drew on Karl Polanyi's work, specifically the importance of soil and land, and emphasized the festival's principle of an open university, encouraging active participation and engagement.

JANNIS PANAGIOTIDIS (Vienna), the scientific director of RECET, focused on the themes of adaptation and mitigation in the context of green transformation. He discussed the uneven effects of these transformations and the importance of integrating various research strands from the University of Vienna. Panagiotidis announced that the festival would feature two panels conducted in German, emphasizing inclusivity and comprehensive discussion.

The Keynote by DAMIR ARSENIJEVIĆ (Tuzla) centered on violent extractivism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, framed as a peace initiative. He critiqued EU energy policies, describing the Balkans' sacrifice and the concept of "waste colonialism." Arsenijević delved into the historical context of the former Yugoslavia, its factories, and workers, discussing the expropriation and destruction of society. He introduced the concept of wasting as a mode of governance and presented relevant graphic novels to illustrate his points. The debate chaired by IWM director MISHA GLENNY (Vienna) discussed the political dynamics in Serbia, focusing on the West's extraction of political concessions and the benefits for local leaders. Arsenijević underlined the role of the “lumpenbourgeoisie” in selling national assets for personal gain and the concessions made to large mining companies. The debate on international energy relations followed, drawing parallels with other countries of the region and beyond and expressing hopes for the success of transformative movements.

Both researchers – YVONNE FRANZ (Vienna) and MICHAŁ CZEPKIEWICZ (Warsaw/Poznań) – and representatives of city authorities – Nina Abrahamczik (VIENNA) and JANET SANZ (Barcelona) – took part in the following roundtable discussion, which was dedicated to the issues of green transformation in European cities. Moderator AGATA ZYSIAK (Vienna) asked participants to talk about the most important challenges in their cities, to share best practices in the sphere of green transformation, and to summarize a personal vision in one practical advice. The participants agreed that there are two main challenges facing cities nowadays, related to the rapid growing of (large) cities and an increased overloading on urban infrastructure on the one hand, and the lack of democracy and participation due to low involvement of the inhabitants in decision-making in communities on the other. The challenges posed by tourism, which generates city income but threatens city sustainability (“tourism colonization”) were also hotly discussed. The idea of periphery-friendly tourism instead of “fast tourism” concentrated on main city attractions was generated in course of Q&A session. Among the successful urban practices mentioned were solar energy, the refusal to use gas, the development of public transport, free access to water in public space, investment in flooding protection, and working with different groups of the population, in particular so-called silenced and marginalized ones. Summarizing, Janet Sanz said that ensuring of good personal health instead of city income must became the core of a new economic strategy.

On day two, the roundtable discussion on feminist political thought and environmentalism with JULIA SACHSEDER (Vienna), ANNA SEIDEL (Berlin), RENATA HRYCIUK (Warsaw), KATARZYNA STAŃCZAK-WIŚLICZ (Warsaw) and moderated by ALEXANDRA GHIŢ (Vienna), had a wide research geography from Europe to Latin America. During presentations scholars focused on gendered and racialized violence against environmental activists and grassroots movements in Columbia and Mexico (Sachseder and Hryciuk), heteronormative femininity in “petrofiction” literature (Seidel), and the history of eco-anarcho-feminist informal groups in Poland (Stańczak-Wiślicz). Renata Hryciuk drew attention to so-called green colonialism in Mexico, where indigenous people suffer from the expanding of windfarms. Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz talked about mixing of German-origin roots and gender-colored Polish local tradition in the formation of eco-feminism in Poland.

Initially, roundtable discussion participants ELISABETH RÖHRLICH (Vienna), ANNA WEICHSELBRAUN (Vienna), STEPHEN G. GROSS (New York, online), and moderator ROSAMUND JOHNSTON (Vienna) planned to discuss the question what role nuclear energy could play in green transformation, but went out to a wider circle of issues. For instance, nuclear energy was contrasted to solar energy as a non-democratic sort of energy, controlled by state power, while the development of renewable sources of energy would make society more democratic. The cases of nuclear testing on Bikini Island, Algeria, and Kazakhstan were mentioned as examples of violence against indigenous people. A lot of attention was paid to the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which was established in conditions of Cold War and now continues to play an important role in nuclear energy regulation and its popularization as a non-carbonized energy. Talking about the future of nuclear energy, the panelists emphasized that its future was limited by the market. The construction of nuclear power plants is getting more expensive, and the perspective of launching new types of reactors (fusion) is still not clear.

The following roundtable discussion moderated by ANNA DURNOVÁ (Vienna) gathered speakers from academia, representatives of NGOs and of politics: MICHAL KOLMAŠ (Prague), MADIS VASSER (Tartu) of the Estonian Green Movement – FoE Estonia, MAGDALENA DAVIS (Prague), Head of Environment Department of People in Need Czechia, and
STEPHAN RENNER (Vienna) of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action. Despite the declared topic of East-West divides in climate policies and popular attitudes, participants concentrated on other divisions, which led to a discussion of important practical issues. For example, about how to make the problems of climate change more familiar and understandable to people of those countries that have not yet fully faced the threats of global warming. Successful examples included organizing meetings with people who were already affected by tornadoes or floods and organizing campaigns that highlight the personal benefits of green technologies (mainly solar panels) rather than potential negative consequences in the future. In general, the panel paid a lot of attention to the importance of “climate education” at the grassroots level. The issue of political division regarding green transformation generated active discussion. Stephan Renner suggested that populists, not conservatives, bear the main responsibility for divisions in societies, including on issues related to the green transition.

The last panel on day two was held in German and moderated by MARTIN GUMIELA (Vienna). It brought together three speakers working on green transformations in entrepreneurship. The panel discussed the role of small- and medium-scale companies as agents of change in a green transformation in Austria. PATRICIA JASEK (Eisenstadt) leads research projects on the topic of energy transition conducted with local entrepreneurs. In her work, she seeks to identify and solve the challenges and needs the research partners tackle. She highlighted the importance of keeping vulnerable social groups in mind when discussing energy transition. Jasek named infrastructural and bureaucratic barriers, as well as a lack of know-how on finding energy-efficient solutions as challenges, highlighting the importance of transnational collaboration on energy transition. CHRISTOPH PACHUKI (Innsbruck) highlighted the power of green storytelling and drew attention to the topic of greenwashing. Emphasizing the ecological practices already in place in the tourism sector and the barriers to sustainability that entrepreneurs face, he noted that some challenges, such as the current shortage of employees, might require re-thinking of sustainability. Furthermore, he pointed to the challenge of motivating employees to act sustainably. Despite a connection to the land there remains a lack of ideas about the implementation of sustainable practices in tourism as well as insecurity about sustainability labels. Pachuki also highlighted the importance of qualitative over quantitative change and the importance of best-practice examples. Investor and entrepreneur ARMIN SAGEDER (Vienna) drew attention to the increasing importance of Indian and Chinese production spaces, predicting changes in the production locations of electrification technology. He pointed to weaknesses of the sector and Austria’s need to position itself as a production country. Criticizing the implementation of regulating norms onto entrepreneurs as well as a lack of planning security, Sageder pointed to the importance of time that is needed for systems to adjust and to the importance of conflict. He highlighted that the relocation of some industries to other production countries will likely result in a rise in unemployment.

In the beginning of the roundtable discussion on day three on utopian thinking moderated by RASA NAVICKAITĖ (Vienna), EGIDIJUS MARDOSAS (Vilnius) reviewed two philosophical works related to the green future by William Morris and Edward Bellamy, who represented two different utopias. If Morris denounced industrialization and promoted a world closer to nature and manual labor, Bellamy proposed a socialist solution of nationalizing all capitalist industry. Mardosas also mentioned Modern conceptions like society of rest, anarcho-primitivism, automated society, ideas of equal spreading of population, and mines on asteroids. IVA DIMOVSKA (Budapest) spoke about utopia and nationalism in the political, cultural, and artistic life of the former Yugoslavia. MARIANNA SZCZYGIELSKA (Prague) reviewed projects related to human-animal relationships. While some of them can be called utopian, such as Wilson’s Half-Earth Project, others, like the restoration of European Bison population, have already been implemented.

Participants of the next panel discussion on climate activism moderated by ALEXANDER SCHNEIDMESSER (Vienna) argued not only about a wide spectrum of climate activism on the left and on the right, but also about the very meaning of activism. The discussion participants, journalist KNUT CORDSEN (Munich), scholars AGNIEZSKA PASIEKA (Yale) and ANTJE DANIEL (Vienna), and Greenpeace campaigner LISA PANHUBER (Vienna) characterized various types of climate activism, its actors and types of activities. There was an opinion that the presence of a wide range of activists and activities have a positive effect. Even the presence of radical actors can be useful because they attract public attention. At the same time, the participants did not idealize any actors. Manifestations of intolerance and totalitarian ideas are not only to be found on the right, the left can also express similar ideas. Lisa Panhuber joked that climate activist on both sides of the political spectrum have one common peculiarity – all criticize each other instead of talking with real opponents.

In the final event of the conference, the author and Green party affiliated former state minister RUDI ANSCHOBER (Vienna) presented thoughts from his book ‘Wie wir uns die Zukunft zurückholen’ [How we reclaim our future], in conversation with moderator CATHRIN KAHLWEIT, correspondent of Süddeutsche Zeitung in Vienna. Anschobers book is set in 2040, in a scenario in which decades ago, a catastrophic heat wave had led to long-scale socio-political change. Drawing on the real-life events of the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season and the long-term change in Paris that followed the impact of the 2003 heatwave in parts of Europe, Anschober emphasized the incentives of saving the climate as well as communicating those incentives. Criticizing that right-wing populist discourses have managed to frame climate action as a politics of bans and prohibitions, Anschober wants to inspire looking into a future in which climate problems have been solved on a positive note. Highlighting the community effort of constructive groups collaborating, he emphasized the importance of multi-national actors such as the United Nations while drawing attention to a need for a restructuring of global governance structures to combat a lack of quorum. Emphasizing that tackling the climate crisis requires trust and a commitment to social justice, for example through the local and global redistribution of assets, Anschober highlighted that there is change happening right now. Demanding an end to fossil fuels globally and a European investigation on the 2018 extension of the gas supply contracts with Russia, he rooted the rise of conspiracy theories over the years of the COVID-19 pandemic in fear and emphasized the necessity of learning from one’s actions.

This festival can serve as an excellent example of the correspondence between form and content. As for the content, it should be noted that the organizers managed to present a wide range of issues that relate to green transformation: from philosophical discussions to debates on how to increase the level grassroot participation in the climate movement. At the same time, the balance of different types of experts was well maintained in the festival schedule, which included academics, eco-activists, politicians, artists, journalists, a businessman, and local authority representatives. This allowed participants to bring out not only theoretical knowledge, but also to discuss the possibilities of practical realization of green ideas. There were few critical voices of green transformation and the green movement on the program (Armin Sageder and Knut Cordsen), but the festival participants often referred to opponents’ opinions in presentations. And, of course, the idea of holding the festival not in a building, but in a pavilion on the lawn was green word-to-word.

Conference Overview

• Philipp Ther (Vienna) / Jannis Panagiotidis (Vienna): Opening Remarks
• Damir Arsenijević (Tuzla): Sustaining the Desire for the Social: Challenging Environmental Violence through Art-Activist Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moderation: Misha Glenny (Vienna)
• Nina Abrahamczik (Vienna) / Janet Sanz (Barcelona) / Yvonne Franz (Vienna) / Michał Czepkiewicz (Warsaw/Poznań), Cities & Climate: Rethink, Revolutionize, Survive.  Moderation: Agata Zysiak (Vienna)
• Julia Sachseder (Vienna) / Anna Seidel (Berlin) / Renata Hryciuk (Warsaw) / Katarzyna Stańczak-Wiślicz (Warsaw): Protect, Transform, Question? Feminist Political Thought and Environmentalism in Long-Term Perspective. Moderation: Alexandra Ghiț (Vienna)
• Elisabeth Röhrlich (Vienna) / Anna Weichselbraun (Vienna) / Stephen G. Gross (New York): Nuclear Energy: From Dark Past to Green Future? Moderation: Rosamund Johnston (Vienna)
• Madis Vasser (Tartu) / Michal Kolmaš (Prague) / Stephan Renner (Vienna), Magdalena Davis (Prague): From the Cold War to a Warm(ing) War? East/West divides in climate policies and popular attitudes. Moderation: Anna Durnová (Vienna)
• Armin Sageder (Vienna) / Christoph Pachuki (Innsbruck) / Patricia Jasek (Eisenstadt): Nachhaltigkeit unternehmen. Entrepreneurship im Zeichen grüner Transformation. [Practicing Sustainability. Entrepreneurship and green transformation]. Moderation: Martin Gumeila (Vienna)
• Egidijus Mardosas (Vilnius) / Iva Dimovska (Budapest) / Marianna Szczygielska (Prague): Utopian Thinking and the Transformation of Environment. Moderation: Rasa Navickaitė (Vienna)
• Knut Cordsen (Munich) / Agnieszka Pasieka (Yale) / Lisa Panhuber (Vienna) / Antje Daniel (Vienna): Climate Activism Left and Right. Moderation: Alexander Schneidmesser (Vienna)

• Rudi Anschober (Vienna): Wie wir uns die Zukunft zurückholen [How we reclaim our future]. Moderation: Cathrin Kahlweit (Vienna)