15.4.-17.4. symposium "Transformative Economics"

The symposium "Transformative Economics" will take placefrom April 15-17, 2026 .

Together with partners from across Germany, we would like to explore the role that the concept of transformative economics can play as part of an evolving plural economy. The symposium is part of the theme week "Multiple Crises - Strained Resources", supported by the Volkswagen Foundation and will take place at the Xplanatorium Schloss Herrenhausen in Hanover.

After the 2008/2009 financial market crisis, the plural economics movement gained considerable momentum. The diagnosis "Neoclassical economics could not explain the crisis - we need a different economics" characterized the discussions for several years.

Today, almost twenty years later, plural economics is at a crossroads. The question of whether we need a different economics has faded into the background of social debate. At the same time, plural economics is needed more urgently than ever to provide answers to current social challenges: ecological sustainability, social inequality, social polarization and digitalization - to name just a few. The focus is increasingly on the question of how a socio-ecological transformation can succeed. At this symposium, we would therefore like to discuss whether we need transformative economics, what form it should take and how it relates to plural economics.

We would like to discuss the following questions: What can be learned from previous successes and failures of plural economics? How should (plural) economics be designed in order to make a substantial contribution to central questions of future-oriented economics? Does a thematic focus on a successful socio-ecological transformation have implications for the philosophy of science? How can economics be meaningfully combined with other scientific perspectives? Which theoretical schools take center stage? And which topics should shape teaching and research in the future?

All of this will be discussed at the "Transformative Economics" symposium. Let's shape the future together!