Making a difference : putting consumer citizenship into action ; proceedings of the sixth international conference of the Consumer Citizenship Network, Berlin, Germany 2009

Abstract

The growing imbalances of social, economic and ecological systems are increasingly visible as prices for food and energy rise around the globe, the availability of many resources declines and the devastating effects of climate change touch the lives of rich and poor alike. The sixth international Consumer Citizenship Network Conference dealt with: Making a Difference: Putting Consumer Citizenship into Action The conference investigated the proactive role of the consumer in the transition to more sustainable human development around the world. Central topics which were focused on were: understanding consumer citizenship behaviour; education for consumer citizenship; and cooperation to further consumer citizenship. The conference marked the conclusion of six years of cooperation between the partners of The Consumer Citizenship Network1 and the transition to new forms of collaboration. 200 persons from 40 countries attended. The conference particularly appreciated the presence of participants from Burkina Faso, Chile, Japan, Kenya, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The conference was organised by The Consumer Citizenship Network, an Erasmus thematic network of educators and researchers. The conference was coordinated by the Hedmark University College, Norway and hosted by the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. The conference was made possible with the support from the SOCRATES programme and the Norwegian Ministry of Children and Equality and the Ministry of Education. The conference Chair was Victoria W. Thoresen, Hedmark University College and Ulf Schrader, Technical University, Berlin. The conference committee consisted of conference manager Dag Tangen; Vera Fricke, Technical University, Berlin; Peter Gnielczyk, the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, Berlin; Bjørg Quarcoo, executive secretary, Hedmark University College and Declan Doyle, peer review committee chairman, Institute of Technology, Carlow, Ireland.