Dean's lecture “Decrease — a rational way to prosperity” at EksoCU UŁ

We cordially invite you to the Dean's lecture entitled “Decrease — a rational way to prosperity”, which will be delivered by Zofia Łapniewska, PhD, professor of the Jagiellonian University, feminist and environmental economist, working at the Institute of Economics, Finance and Management of the Jagiellonian University and co-chair of the Polish Economic Network. The lecture will take place on October 28, 2026, at 13:15 in room C101.

“Decrease: The Rational Path to Prosperity”

Does the economy have to grow indefinitely so that we can live well? The lecture will address one of the most important questions of modern economics and present degrowth not as a utopia of sacrifice, but as a rational strategy for building prosperity within the limits of one planet.

In the first part, Prof. Łapniewska will explain why an economic model based on continuous growth and debt is unsustainable, referring to the concept of social metabolism and to data on energy consumption, materials and emissions — also in relation to Poland against the background of the European Union and the world. The second part, conducted from the perspective of feminist and ecological economics, will shift attention from the valued market sector to unpaid care work and ecosystem services, on which our success depends. The speaker will discuss key concepts: sufficiency, care, intergenerational justice and the “triple debt” — ecological, social and embodied — also in the relationship between the global north and the global south.

Finally, a positive scenario for the transformation of the Polish economy will be presented: shorter working hours, development of local economies, sharing of resources and investments in nature. The lecture is an invitation to reflect on another, qualitatively better model of life and to discuss the question, how much does “enough” actually mean?

About the speaker

Zofia Łapniewska, PhD, professor at the Jagiellonian University — feminist and environmental economist, working at the Institute of Economics, Finance and Management of the Jagiellonian University and co-chair of the Polish Economics Network. She is one of the representatives of the “new economy” in Poland, combining scientific research with social commitment. In her work, she reaches for feminist, institutional, ecological and degrowth theories, questioning the neoliberal paradigm and the belief in the neutrality of economics as a discipline. Its achievements are the search for an economy based not on the continuous expansion of production and consumption, but on care, social justice and respect for planetary boundaries. It explores the commons, cooperatives, care economics and environmental transformation, restoring the visibility of unpaid reproductive work overlooked in the GDP account. She is the editor of the recently published book “Degrowth po polsku”. More information: econ.uj.edu.pl/instytut/teaching-staff/scientific-teaching staff/zofia-lapniewska