Repurpose Your Purpose Podcast Episode 35 is all about Degrowth!
It’s been a long time coming, but I have finally invited a guest to talk on my podcast about Degrowth: what it is, some of the ideas behind it, and why we need a new way of thinking about – and doing – finance.
Steve Rocco has worked in financing roles across traditional and sustainable markets for over 25 years. He was on his way to complete a PhD with the Post Growth Innovation Lab at the University of Vigo (Spain) focusing on a post-growth financial sector when he met Anastasia Linn and Matt Orsagh.
Steve, Anastasia, and Matt went on to co-found the Arketa Institute for Post-Growth Finance, a non profit organization dedicated to crafting a new vision for what genuinely sustainable finance can be, in line with scientific findings on planetary boundaries and human needs.
Here’s a bit more about my guest, Steve Rocco:
Steve brings more than 25 years of experience in finance across a wide range of finance. In investment banking, Steve has worked in capital markets in New York across most asset classes in various institutional sales/relationship management roles.
He left wall street for the Media Development Investment fund and focused on South American. Later as an entrepreneur, Steve was co-founder of Mission Markets, a capital raising platform for impact investments.
In asset management, Steve worked for MainStreet Partners, a London based ESG advisor focused on public markets.
Recently, Steve has had a series of advisory roles with the UN, ADB, USAID, and private investors project focused on the Global South.
In this episode, Steve and I mention quite a few organizations and resources as we talk about Degrowth. Here they are if you’d like to go deeper.
Arketa Institute for Post-Growth Finance and Arketa’s Publication, “By Disaster or Design“
ARKETA: αρκετά: (ar-ke-TÁ) is the Greek word for “enough.”
I love this – we rarely hear business people talk about “enough.” Steve, Matt, and Anastasia are about changing all that. The first thing you read on the Arketa Institute website is “Realizing a world of abundance, by embracing our limits.”
I am in.
I encourage you to read their reports (and watch the webinars related to them). In particular, in this Repurpose Your Purpose Podcast episode, Steve and I talk about their first white paper By Disaster or Design, which “‘summarizes the challenges faced by finance today; introduces a more solid basis for thinking about the economy, finance and sustainability; and offers some direction for our industry’s next steps, towards greater resilience and wellbeing.” You can read and download it here.
Planetary Boundaries – from the Stockholm Resilience Center
The Stockholm Resilience Centre was founded based on the insight that the biosphere, society and the economy should be studied as one system to address the complex challenges that humanity faces (see here)
Over 100 researchers and staff from all over the world contribute to the work, and you can find many resources available on their website to learn more or further your studies.
Here’s an illustration of the Planetary Boundaries framework that Steve Rocco mentions in our conversation. There is an even more impactful graphic of how our planetary boundaries are being crossed more each year. You can see it here.
On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant by David Graeber
An absolute classic, and definitely food for thought.
The Repurpose Your Purpose Podcast Episode 34 – The Meaning of Work
A short episode I recorded about all the meanings work can have for us. While not about Degrowth, it is a good companion piece to my conversation with Steve Rocco.
Listen to the end for a couple of questions to help you tune into new insights on what to do in the next few years, whether you want to change careers or continue with your current one.
