Vereinigung für Ökologische Ökonomie (VÖÖ) is a German scientific society promoting ecological principles in the global economy.
History and background
In 1992, the economist and the physicist
Hans-Peter Dürr
Hans-Peter Dürr (7 October 1929 – 18 May 2014) was a German physicist. He worked on nuclear physics, nuclear and quantum physics, elementary particles and gravitation, epistemology, and philosophy, and he advocated responsible scientific and ...
gave a joint talk at a conference of
Verein für Socialpolitik
The (; literally: Association for Social Policy), or the German Economic Association, is a society of economists in the German language, German-speaking area.
History
The was founded in Eisenach in 1872 as a response to the "social question ...
(VfS) on the topic of “economics and nature”.
[. See also th]
online version (PDF)
and the preliminary remark. During the discussion, it turned out that the point of view presented had no backing among the attendees of VfS, and Busch-Lüty and colleagues decided to establish an independent society.
Busch-Lüty initiated in 1996 the establishment of VÖÖ as part of a small,
interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...
group of scientists as a German-speaking section of
International Society for Ecological Economics
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
(ISEE). The local mayor and former
Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
acted as a
patron
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
of the constitutive conference in April 1996 in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
. The 50 scientists present shared the belief that the calls of
Rio Earth Summit 1992 for establishing a
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...
are legitimate and need to be realized.
[VÖÖ]
Wir über uns, Leitbild
accessed February 25, 2015. Based on the insight that
economic growth
In economics, economic growth is an increase in the quantity and quality of the economic goods and Service (economics), services that a society Production (economics), produces. It can be measured as the increase in the inflation-adjusted Outp ...
would be the wrong answer to persistent ecological problems, the scientists wanted to act strategically to alter the academic landscape.
Positions
The society argues that the economic sciences are overcharged with the necessary transformation and claims, that other scientific fields, politics open to change and the cultural forces of the society as a whole are necessary to implement and shape the change assumed necessary.
Since the beginning, VÖÖ emphasized the necessity of a
transdisciplinary
Transdisciplinarity is an approach that iteratively interweaves knowledge systems, skills, methodologies, values and fields of expertise within inclusive and innovative collaborations that bridge academic disciplines and community perspectives, ...
approach. Until 2010, VÖÖ was involved with establishing the concept of
sustainability
Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
in its ecological, social and economic perspective.
[Peter Finke]
Die VÖÖ am Scheideweg
(PDF; 23 kB), accessed February 25, 2015. Following a reorientation in 2010, the society promotes a
post-growth
Post-growth is a stance on economic growth concerning the limits-to-growth dilemma — recognition that, on a planet of non-renewable resource, finite material resources, extractivism, extractive economy, economies and population growth, populati ...
economy based on the concepts of
Niko Paech
Niko Paech (born 9 December 1960[complete v ...](_blank)
and others.
The concept of
sustainable growth
Sustainable development is an approach to growth and human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General Assembly (1987)''Report of th ...
is considered to be an
oxymoron
An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that Juxtaposition, juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction (disambiguation), self-contradiction. As a rhetorical de ...
,
and the importance of
eco-efficiency Eco-efficiency refers to the delivery of goods and services to meet human needs and improve quality of life while progressively reducing their environmental impacts of goods and resource intensity during their life-cycle. Together with consistency ...
, consistency and
eco-sufficiency is emphasized.
Activities

VÖÖ is working in research groups and organizes annual conferences,
[VÖÖ: Tagungen](_blank)
accessed February 25, 2015. workshops und releases
publication
To publish is to make content available to the general public.[Berne Convention, articl ...](_blank)
s such as a series of
discussion papers and books. From October 2010 on, VÖÖ supports students and practitioners via the ''Netzwerk Wachstumswende''.
The current presidents
[Vorstand der VÖÖ]
accessed October 25, 2019. are and Erik Wolf, former presidents include , ,
Eva Lang, ,
Niko Paech
Niko Paech (born 9 December 1960[complete v ...](_blank)
and
Gerhard Scherhorn. Well known members are , ,
Niko Paech
Niko Paech (born 9 December 1960[complete v ...](_blank)
,
[Der Vorstand 2012–2014](_blank)
voeoe.de, accessed November 15, 2016. and .
Hans-Peter Dürr
Hans-Peter Dürr (7 October 1929 – 18 May 2014) was a German physicist. He worked on nuclear physics, nuclear and quantum physics, elementary particles and gravitation, epistemology, and philosophy, and he advocated responsible scientific and ...
, ,
and
Gerhard Scherhorn[Nachruf auf Gerhard Scherhorn 21.2.1930 – 28.2.2018](_blank)
Vereinigung für Ökologische Ökonomie, accessed October 25, 2019. were founder members. who deceased November 2010 was honorary chairwoman of the society.
Research prizes
Between 1998 and 2002, VÖÖ granted together with
Schweisfurth-Stiftung the biennal Schweisfurth-Forschungspreis für Ökologische Ökonomie, a research prize for contributions in the field of
ecological economics
Ecological economics, bioeconomics, ecolonomy, eco-economics, or ecol-econ is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economy, economies and natural ec ...
. Laureates were , Ralf Weiß, ,
Daniel Dahm
Johannes Daniel Dahm (*born 1969 at Cologne) is a German geographer, ecologist, activist, consultant and entrepreneur.
As a multidisciplinary scientist, he works in the fields of sustainability and development research, ecological economics and ...
and Stefanie Böge. Since 2004, VÖÖ grants together with several charitable foundations the biennal Kapp-Forschungspreis für Ökologische Ökonomie im remembrance of
Karl William Kapp
Karl William Kapp (October 27, 1910 – April 4, 1976) was a German-American economist and professor of economics at the City University of New York and later the University of Basel. Kapp's main contribution was the development of a theory of ...
.
[Kapp-Forschungspreis](_blank)
In: voeoe.de, accessed February 25, 2015. Laureates were and Dagmar Vinz (2004),
Niko Paech
Niko Paech (born 9 December 1960[complete v ...](_blank)
and (2006), Fabian Scholtes and Eva Koch (2008), Lasse Loft and Oliver Stengel (2010), Gerolf Hanke and Anja Humburg (2012), Matthias Schmelzer, Corinna Burkhart and Dirk Posse (2014), Lorenz Stör, Christian Arndt and Johannes Buhl (2016) as well as Steffen Lange, Barbara Plank and Marius Rommel.
Since 2013, VÖÖ grants in remembrance of its honorary chairwoman the Christiane Busch-Lüty Förderpreis für Ökologische Ökonomie. Laureates were the sociologist Daniela Gottschlich (2013) and Tilman Santarius (2015).
[Hohe Ehre für die Lüneburger Soziologin Daniela Gottschlich. In: Landeszeitung für die Lüneburger Heide, September 14, 2013.]
Literature
*
Online access
*
References
External links
German Webseite of VÖÖ*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vereinigung fur Okologische Okonomie
Ecological economics
Scientific organisations based in Germany
Heidelberg
Clubs and societies in Germany
Organizations established in 1996
Economics societies