My presentation at the Mastersymposium „Ethik & Nachhaltigkeit“, FH Salzburg, 17.10.2026

From „limits to growth“ to „no limits to hope“

The great challenges of our time can be symbolised in 4 Cs: climate, capitalism, conflicts and computers (AI). These challenges are systemically intertwined and one of the interconnectors is that there are “limits to further economic growth” the Club of Rome warned about more than 50 years ago. In 2022, the Club published “Earth4All – A Survival Guide for Humanity”, which presents a vision of a world where wellbeing and prosperity are achieved for all on a stable planet. But where does this optimism come from?

Only seven years after „Limits to Growth, in 1979, the Club had published another report, in Salzburg by the way, entitled „No Limits to Learning“, which is of similar significance. It refers to the gap between systemic complexity and human capacity to deal with that complexity as the ‘human gap’. ‘Learning’ must bridge this gap. Individual learning is too slow to keep pace with the speed of change.  It must be anticipatory and must be done collectively. What is needed is ‘societal’ anticipation, which not only foresees the future but also ‘co-creates’ it.

Building on that the Club of Rome together with the World Environmental Education Congress recently launched „No Limits to Hope“, a global initiative that aims to inspire educators, learners and citizens alike to pursue a global shift in learning paradigms to address humanity’s most pressing challenges.

My  talk will present this work carried out over the last six decades together with concrete initiatives in Austria and worldwide that spread hope by making very practical steps into a better present.