The documentary connects Catalan housing cooperatives with the most advanced theories of the movement for a global economic decline

The UK's news network, and the world's largest, illustrates the documentary with the co-operative housing experience of Cirerers

The British BBC, the largest news broadcaster in the world, has uploaded a documentary on its portal exploring the theory of degrowth as an alternative to infinite economic growth. With the title of "Less is more: can degrowth save the world?" the documentary explores how the theory of degrowth has gained prominence by questioning the limits of capitalist growth. The documentary has the participation of different academics, activists and cooperators from Sostre Cívic.

Degrowth advocates promote the democratization of the economy and the collective management of key resources such as housing, including housing cooperatives. As a case study the documentary stands out Cirerers, our housing project in right of use in the Roquetes neighborhood, in Nou Barris (Barcelona). "It's a place where community life happens a lot", he says in the documentary Happy Esther, partner of Sostre Cívic and neighbor of Cirerers. Alegre also explains that before moving to the cooperative project he had difficulties with the high rents in Barcelona, ​​having to move from one place to another. "Now I know that if I don't want to, I don't have to move again". The cooperative places a strong emphasis on building a community of people who support each other and share household items to reduce consumption. "Apart from reducing the impact of the use of energy and materials, we are also creating community links", he says Nina Turull, work partner and environmental technique de Sostre Cívic.

"About two years ago I came across a book about 'degrowth', and I was instantly fascinated by the concept and how it brought together crucial issues such as climate change, social justice, a just economic transition and North/South relations", declares the producer of the documentary Alvaro Alvarez Ricciardelli. "When I discovered that many of the academics and activists working on degrowth were based in Barcelona, ​​I saw an opportunity to make a documentary there. I presented the idea to the BBC, who were very interested from the start", he adds.

The producer explains that he chose to focus on initiatives happening in the city of Barcelona to make the documentary easier to follow and understand. "The city has many examples of collective management of resources, such as cooperatives, which connect directly with the idea of ​​the importance of common goods in the theory of degrowth", Explica. "Catalonia has had strong links with cooperatives for many years; in fact, this year Catalan cooperativeism has celebrated 125 years. I knew that the city had many examples that I could show, and I also knew that for such a conceptual documentary it was important to have examples that could be grounded and connected to real issues for many people, such as housing”.

About the project of Sostre Cívic explains: "I was particularly excited to discover Cirerers. I thought it was a great project to bridge the gap between academia and the real world for the audience. As the managers explained to me, Cirerers is part of a larger 'umbrella' cooperative like Sostre Cívic which manages several projects in the city and the region. In addition, they benefit from being in an area where cooperatives of many different types are interconnected, creating a true cooperative ecosystem”.

The documentary interviews several defenders of the theory of degrowth from the UAB and the London School of Economics. All suggest reducing less necessary forms of production and increasing the supply of regenerative food, recycling and renewable energy.

Degrowth and cooperativism

Alvarez Ricciardelli he believes that the documentary shows that there is a connection between the concept of degrowth and cooperatives. "I think the connection between degrowth and cooperativism is really interesting because it brings together issues that we urgently need to address", he says "It also shows that when people are responsible for their own economic projects, they not only consider the environment, but also the importance of building a welfare economy that can benefit everyone", he adds.

Although not mentioned in the documentary, the mathematician, statistician and economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen he is widely regarded as the main intellectual figure who inspires the decrementist movement. In 1971 he published The Entropy Law and the Economic Process, where he argued that all natural resources are irreversibly degraded when used in economic activities. A year later, another group of academics published The limits of growth, which also argued that the limits of growth on the planet would be reached sometime within the next 100 years. These works inspired a generation of academics to question the benefits of economic growth, especially when measured in terms of GDP.

Critics of the degrowth theory argue that it underestimates the need for technological investments and social feasibility, which would cost a lot and make people's lives worse. Many also argue that degrowth would be a risky experiment in the absence of good examples of how to move away from capitalism. The documentary presents both sides of the argument, concluding that time is running out and that "urgent changes are needed if we want to safeguard the future of humanity".

The documentary Less is more: Can degrowth save the world? ("Less is more: Can 'degrowth' save the world?") can be viewed online, in English, on the BBC website: https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0jg7gxh/less-is-more-can-degrowth-save-the-world-