The beginning of the 21st century is often seen as a moment of upheaval: political, technological, social, economic, and environmental. Though coping with its uncertainties can be testing, beyond the noise lies great potential. That is why the next edition of the Green European Journal will look past any single theme and instead think forward into the future.
We are calling for contributions that cast a hopeful, yet realistic, gaze into the future to imagine a green Europe in 2049. For a political journal, this exercise means both reckoning with the broad trends as they stand today, with particular attention to humanity’s place in our planetary ecosystem, as well as building the ground for change. With this edition, the Green European Journal hopes to push the debate forward and harness imagination as a political tool to match the many challenges to come.
Climate change is the most urgent among them. But the future implications of growing inequalities, apparent breakdown of the postwar global order, and democracy’s evolution are all unknowns. From a European perspective, societies are ageing, political divides are stark, and a once-dominant continent needs to adjust to a multipolar world.
Our tools for action, individual and collective, are powerful too: the enthusiasm and energy of people eager to effect change, technologies at our disposal for greater efficiency and interconnection, and complex and robust shared institutions to coordinate efforts.
It is in this spirit that we are calling for scenarios, be they essays, stories, art works, comics or policy papers, that imagine what a green Europe 2049 would look like. Please do not feel constrained, we are open to working in a range of formats and eagerly await your ideas and suggestions.
Approach
What aspect of a future society you would like to depict? Here are some broad categories, which readily overlap and interrelate:
- Consumption, production and distribution
- Work, care, study and time
- Community, home and space
- Living and communicating with each other
- Food and health
- Climate, energy and resources
- Exchange, trade and money
- Europe and the world
- Politics, democracy and government
- Nature and animals
- Justice, gender and racism
- Movement and migration
Editorial requirements
The 18th edition of the Green European Journal has no intention of publishing only theoretical and academic articles. Far from that, we want to publish lively texts, interviews, and visuals to stimulate thought, debate and imagination. All kinds of contributions that pursue this aim and go beyond daily politics to contribute to European and local Green vision or approach to the future are welcome.
Potential contributions should be sent to laurent.standaert@gef.eu and jamie.kendrick@gef.eu.
We strongly advise you to send a brief summary, a presentation of the author, and the overall length in English of the proposed article, before submitting an article, or a final draft.
Please send pitches, ideas and contributions by the 19th November 2018.
The Green European Journal currently accepts submissions in English, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish. Articles in other languages should be accompanied by an abstract in one of the above languages.
Before submitting an article, please read our Editorial Guidelines carefully.