Campaign groups will discuss how to create a fairer, more just world
A coalition of Scottish civil society organisations is hosting a major conference and debate about how to build a better economy that works for both people and the planet.
The ground-breaking public discussion will aim to widen the debate about the economic future of Scotland by presenting ideas which can bring greater equality and promote wellbeing while respecting our environmental limits.
Among the expert speakers responding to questions posed by social justice, environmental and trade union organisations will be Ann Pettifor, formerly of Jubilee 2000, Richard Murphy of Tax Justice Network, Tim Jenkins of the New Economics Foundation, Professors Richard Werner and Malcolm Sawyer and Molly Scott-Cato MEP among others.
It will be chaired by Anatole Kaletsky, former economics editor of The Times.
Conference organiser Matthew Crighton of Friends of the Earth Scotland said: “People are fed up with poverty, unemployment and the growing inequality in a wealthy country such as Scotland. People are alarmed at the way economic forces are driving climate change and environmental destruction.
We’re a rich country with a growing economy but working people have experienced greater poverty and worsening conditions
“Yet the mainstream voices on both sides of the debate about the future of Scotland are limiting their aspiration to some minor tweaking of the discredited ways in which our economic policies and financial system have been allowed to function.”
Dave Watson ofUnison Scotland said: “We’re a rich country with a growing economy but working people have experienced greater poverty and worsening conditions, as seen in the rise of zero-hours contracts, while public services are reduced.
“Trade union members are keenly aware of these contradictions and we’ll welcome imaginative ideas about how to channel the economy in a different direction.”
Alys Mumford of Jubilee Scotland added: "Along with other non-governmental organisations we recognise that the economy is at the heart of most of our work.
“Without radically reshaping it, we cannot hope to solve the huge problems we campaign on - from global debt and tax, to welfare issues here in Scotland, we all need to work together to reinvent our economy, and these events are a really exciting place to start."
The conference takes place on 10-11 September at Glasgow University.
