Events Archive

Here is a list of past events. Current events are here.

Event archive: AEMS Summer School

from 20. July 2020 to 7. August 2020

The online-summer school Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems (AEMS; 5 ECTS, completely in English) addresses the problems of the current economic and financial systems from a holistic perspective and offers an overview of innovative reform proposals. The interdisciplinary program is open to students and professionals of all fields, who get to learn about why a drastic systemic change is needed in order to reach the climate target of 1.5°C. The orientation towards illusory limitless growth will be critically questioned and discussed in digital lectures and discussions with experts from different fields, as well as in the final project work. This year, the AEMS will also feature ideas for solutions to the financial crisis triggered by COVID-19.

More information on the program and application process can be found here.

The report from 2019 with 51 participants from 23 nations can be found here. There is also an Image-Video available.

Event archive: Complementary Currencies for economic and social change

from 18. July 2020 to 20. July 2020, University of Amsterdam

For more than two decades now, various forms of complementary currencies emerged all over the world, aiming at “taking back local economies” (North 2014). CCs are commonly understood as media of exchange (Hallsmith/Lietaer 2011) or accounting systems (Fare/Ould- Ahmed 2017) that are used within a particular group of users. Responding to broader debates on our current monetary system, they exemplify how civil society actors offer various attempts from the local to the global level to reconstruct money in order to make it a tool for economic, social, political and/or ecological purposes. In most cases, they tend to be, however, rather small and short-termed.

This panel addresses complementary currency schemes as actors of economic and social change. It particularly aims to identify factors that influence the success and longevity of such schemes. A comparative discussion of different forms and types shall help to explore what internal and external conditions seem to facilitate or hamper success. Related issues might also be discussed, such as the underlying ethics, the modes of economic exchange within the circuits, their contribution to sustainable development and/or resilience.

More information and contact on the organiser website: www.ramics.org

Event archive: Cancelled: The Future of Money – Private vs Sovereign Currencies

on 21. March 2020, Copenhagen

(New date to be confirmed)
The advent of the financial crisis caused economists, politicians and citizens to question the legitimacy of a debt-based money system and highlighted the need to reassess our beliefs about the nature of money and the workings of the banking sector.

Today, with a new financial crisis on the horizon, the need to understand and rethink money and banking seems more important than ever. In line with an increasing number of politicians and economists, we acknowledge the urgency of understanding the deficiencies of the current money system and the need to examine monetary reforms and alternative forms of money as means to create a more stable and sustainable future.

On this basis, Gode Penge and IMMR will gather international experts on March 21 2020 to assess and discuss advantages and disadvantages of various monetary reforms and new forms of money with the further aim of examining how a sustainable money system could be designed in today’s digitized and globalized world.

The speakers of the conference are:
– Prof. Dr. Thomas Mayer (Ex-Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank)
– Miguel Fernandez Angel Ordonez (Ex-President of the Spanish Central bank)
– Prof. Steve Keen (University College London)
– Prof. Michael Hudson (University of Missouri-Kansas City)
– Svein Harald Øygard (Former Central Bank Governor of Iceland and former Deputy Minister of Finance in Norway)
– Prof. Dr. Fabian Schär (University of Basel)
– Prof. Joseph Huber (Monetative)
– Prof. Ole Bjerg (Copenhagen Business School)
– Prof. Mary Mellor (University of Northumbria)
– Jón Helgi Egilsson (Monerium)
– Edgar Wortmann (lawyer and member of OnsGeld)
– Prof. Dr. Martijn Van Der Linden (The Hague University)
– Leander Bindewald (Ph.D. in economics and member of Monneta)

Attendance is free of charge. Book your ticket now on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/future-of-money-private-vs-sovereign-currencies-tickets-89462315193

For further information please visit our website: https://futureofmoney2020.godepenge.dk/

For discount on selected hotels in Copenhagen or any other inquiries you are more than welcome to contact us via conference2020@godepenge.dk

Event archive: Towards a sustainable financial ecosystem (event in honour of Bernard Lietaer)

on 22. November 2019, Brussels
In the wake of the 2008 crisis, governments worldwide have rescued the financial system at a high societal cost, yet without a systemic reform to correct its weaknesses. Today a broad reflection is emerging on how to create a more stable financial system at the service of people and planet. Many actors inside and outside of the financial sector are pushing past current practices and mind-sets with a view to making our money more sustainable.
A shift in the financial system seems well underway. Technologies like Blockchain allow a range of societal actors to create decentralised money systems. Civil society actors put pressure on the financial sector to act more responsibly. And if Facebook’s 2,3 billion users accept Libra as means of exchange, the monopoly of fiat money will be a thing of the past. How can policy makers ensure all these evolutions contribute to a sustainable and just world?

IN THIS CONTEXT THE WORK OF BERNARD LIETAER (1942-2019) ON SUSTAINABLE FINANCIAL ECOSYSTEMS IS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER.

The aim of this think tank event organised by the Club of Rome EU-chapter is to explore the core insights of his work, and to discuss with participants the leverages at policy level that are needed today.
More information on facebook.

Event archive: CCs and societal challenges: Crossing academic and practitioners knowledges/perspectives

from 21. November 2019 to 22. November 2019, Brussels

International conference on complementary currencies:

The Complementary Currencies and Societal Challenges conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, organised by the Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi) and the Research Association on Monetary Innovation and Community and Complementary Currency Systems (RAMICS).

The event is designed to include academic and practitioner knowledge and will be organized in two days:

 

  • November 21 (evening) – Closing event of (E)change Bruxelles project co-organized with Financité

This social event closes the (E)change Bruxelles action-research project co-organized between the Universite libre de Bruxelles and Financite. It celebrates the emergence of the new Brussels local currency ‘La Zinne’. Researchers participating to the research seminar of the 22nd November are welcome to join this social event, although it is not compulsory.

  • November 22: A research seminar (in English) on the following 5 themes:

–          CC and urban resilience

–          CC and civil society

–          Technology and CC

–          CC and entrepreneurship

–          Ethics and CC

The surge of growth of cryptocurrencies and digital money have recently caught the attention of both management scholars and practitioners (Brière et al., 2015; Dodgson et al., 2015; Iansiti & Lakhani, 2017; Lehr & Lamb, 2018; Michelman, 2017; Posnett, 2015; Vergne & Swain, 2017). However, cryptocurrencies are only one of the latest forms of complementary currencies (Blanc, 2016). Before the emergence of cryptocurrencies, complementary currencies were mainly conceived of and issued by citizens, nonprofits, businesses, and even local public administrations, and circulated within a defined geographical region or community (Cohen, 2017; Dissaux & Fare, 2017; Guéorguieva-Bringuier & Ottaviani, 2018; Lietaer, 2001). Also known as local, social, regional and alternative currencies, these complementary currency systems are often developed to respond to societal needs and aspirations that official currencies do not address (Meyer & Hudon, 2017; Fraňková et al., 2017; North, 2007). Specifically, they can be designed to promote sustainable behavior, build community social capital, and foster trade and local development (Blanc & Fare, 2013; Collom, 2007; Gomez & Helmsing, 2008; Marshall & O’Neill, 2018; Seyfang & Longhurst, 2013). For example, inter-enterprise currencies are mainly used in business-to-business networks in order to facilitate the exchange of goods and services between small and medium-sized enterprises (Meyer & Hudon, Forthcoming; Stodder, 2009).

Complementary currencies are socio-economic innovations aiming to address societal challenges of social cohesion, economic inclusion and environmental preservation (Stodder, 2009; Joachain & Klopfert, 2014; Michel & Hudon, 2015, Sanz, 2016). This conference aims to gather researchers and practitioners to explore and debate the potential of complementary currencies for sustainable development and socio-economic resilience (Ulanowicz et al., 2009; Gregory, 2014; Graugaard, 2012). We believe that the topic is one that is predestined for cross-disciplinary research and for thinking beyond established boundaries. We invite conceptual and empirical submissions drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives and diverse methodologies to explore complementary currencies, including researchers working on cryptocurrencies.

For questions, please contact the organisers: Marek Hudon (mhudon@ulb.ac.be); Hélène Joachain (helene.joachain@ulb.ac.be) and Camille Meyer (cmeyer@uvic.ca)

 

Event archive: 5th Biennial RAMICS International Congress

from 11. September 2019 to 15. September 2019, Japan

“Going Digital? New Possibilities of Digital-Community Currency Systems”

Only in the past few years, crypto currencies such as Bitcoin and other altcoins/ tokens have rapidly spread all over the world, expanded its scale, and increased its number. However, we have witnessed in the recent bubble burst of crypto currencies that they have become quite volatile, speculative financial instruments to the extent that they can no longer be called ‘currency’ or ‘money’ to facilitate steady transactions. On the other hand, various social or community-oriented digital coins for promoting local consumption and social investments in the same spirit of community currencies have already been implemented or are currently planned not only in Japan but also in the world.

We are currently approaching a cashless economy where electronic representations of money replace such traditional currency as coin or bank note and the transaction can be done through transfer of digital information. Sweden is close to a perfect model of cashless economy since 99% of payments are conducted without cash. In East Asia, Korea and China are well known as highly cashless economies, where electronic payment systems and digital coins are widely accepted.

Do digital technologies such as blockchain, mining, proof of work and QR code settlement that are used in digital/crypto currencies open up a wide range of non-fiat, private decentralized money systems and create new possibilities for community/complementary currencies? Do they change the basic concepts of geographical ‘community’ or ‘local’ to more ‘community of interest’ or ‘abstractly local’ in value space? Or do they have any positive/ negative effects on natural, ecological and cultural environments surrounding us?

It would be necessary to ask these questions when seeking a better way for integrating/ hybridizing good genes of both crypto currencies and community currencies. We would like to invite a wide range of academicians, researchers and practitioners to join us and give answers to the questions affirmatively or negatively.

More generally, proposals on any topics covered by the scope of RAMICS will be positively considered, that is, on diverse monetary and social exchange systems, such as schemes that contribute to economic diversity, social cohesion, democratic participation and environmental sustainability, like complementary and community currencies.

More information, contact and registration on the organiser’s website

Event archive: Summer School: Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems

from 24. July 2019 to 9. August 2019, Vienna

The Summer School Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems (Vienna, 5 ECTS, completely in English) is open to students and professionals of all fields and offers alternatives to the processes that are putting strains on our economic and eco-social boundaries. In addition to classic and new concepts from the field of economics, students will also hear presentations from natural and social sciences and discuss the actual leeway for economic and monetary reform. Reports from the last years can be found here.

More information and how to apply here.

Event archive: The E-krona and Beyond: The Future of Money and Banking in the Era of Digitalization

on 15. June 2019, Stockholm, Sweden

Which challenges does digitalization pose to money, banking and monetary policy? Should central banks introduce digital cash to respond to these challenges? Which consequences would digital cash have for the economy? Are other or further reforms needed?

We want to build on the success of the conference “The future of money” in Frankfurt last November and once again gathered international experts, central banks, researchers and banks to discuss proposals for how a sustainable money system could be designed in today’s digitized and globalized world.

The conference will be in three parts: (1) the problems of the current development, (2) the e-krona, and (3) alternative solutions beyond the e-krona. All parts will end with a panel discussion.

More Information and registration on the organisers’ website.

Event archive: 1st International European Modern Monetary Theory conference

from 1. February 2019 to 2. February 2019, Berlin

Money matters.

Money is created, money is destroyed. Money is spent, money is earned. Money is borrowed, money is lent. Money is debt that creates income. Money divides us, money unites us. Money is a social, a political and a juridical relationship. We cannot escape it.

 

More information and registration on the website of the organiser

Event archive: Change Finance Forum #2

from 6. December 2018 to 7. December 2018, Brussels

  The forum orgenised by the Change Finance Coalition will bring together:  

  • A movement of civil society organisations and activists
  • A network of academics and experts
  • Sustainable economy and finance practitioners
  • Engaged citizens

  What can you expect?  

  • A great line-up of speakers
  • A unique network
  • A charged atmosphere
We will continue to develop our vision and strategy for a global Change Finance campaign in 2019 and beyond.
More informatino and registration here.