About the Conference

Current global crises require short-term responses in order to avert immediate threats posed to human security. As a consequence, the long-term goal of “sustainable development” is marginalised in terms of its political relevance and is increasingly perceived as standing in direct opposition to the necessary measures taken under crisis.

In practice, however, climate change represents together with the current financial, energy and food crises acute signs of long-term mis-development. The root causes of these crises lie deep. Their break-out could have been, and their re-occurrence should be prevented through the early implementation of structural reforms.

Eventually, sustainable development remains meaningless without a coherent reflection upon the structural causes of these crises as well as upon our everyday lifestyles. The transition to sustainability therefore needs to translate into our individual lifestyles and our collective consumption patterns.

The Bonn Symposium 2009 calls for such a coherent reflection upon the structural causes of current crises as well as upon the sustainability of lifestyle norms, and presents practical recommendations to safeguard sustainable development in times of crises.