2026 ANZSEE Biennial Conference
Description
Location: Massey University, Wallace Street, Mt Cook, Wellington 6021, New Zealand - Aotearoa
XV Biennial Conference - Regenerative Futures, Imagining Alternatives, Transforming Systems
The conference program and timetable are currently being finalised.
There will be an ANZSEE dinner and AGM ANZSEE members and observers welcome.
We have a great line-up of keynote speakers:
Professor Bob Costanza, Professor of Ecological Economics, Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London; Founding President, International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE); Founding Editor-In-Chief Ecological Economics, Societal Addiction and Recovery: Creating a New Science of Collective Behavioural Traps and Transformative Recovery
Professor Anitra Nelson, President-Elect International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE), Honorary Principal Fellow, University of Melbourne, Welcome to XV ANZSEE Biennial Conference – Regenerative Futures and Across Oceans from ISEE’s President-Elect
Professor Erik Gomez-Baggethun, Professor in Environmental Governance at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Senior Associate at the University of Oxford, The Plurality of Values and the Valuation of Nature
Professor Maria Bargh, Professor of Politics and Maori Studies at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington, Hidden and Diverse Economies (TBC)
Professor Joshua Farley, L4E Ecological Economics Lead, Gund Institute for the Environment, University of Vermont, Taking Complexity Theory Seriously and Non-market Food Systems
Dr Marjan Van Den Belt, Ecological Economist, Global Council Member Wellbeing Economy Alliance, Ministerial Appointee of Lincoln University Council, World Oceans Assessment UNCLOS Expert Pool – Aotearoanomics: A Place-Based Economy So That Nature and People Thrive
Emeritus Professor Murray Patterson, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University, Honorary Keynote Address, ANZSEE 2026 Conference Dinner
Dr Mike Joy, The Morgan Foundation Senior Research Fellow in Freshwater Ecology and Environmental Science, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Freshwater Management
The Conference will focus on key research areas linked to Ecological Economics analysis, perspectives, and policies, including:
1 | Beyond Growth and Wellbeing | Post-growth economies, alternative wellbeing measures, macroeconomic reform |
2 | Indigenous and First Nations Economies | Decolonisation, treaty rights, traditional knowledge, land and water stewardship |
3 | Island and Ocean Resilience | Blue economies, sea level rise, Pacific sovereignty, island biodiversity |
4 | Intergenerational Justice and Stewardship | Just transitions, youth, equity, rights of future generations |
5 | Climate, Cities, and the Built Environment | Energy, transport, housing, urban ecology, cost of living |
6 | Ecological Limits, Governance, and Policy | Planetary boundaries, ecosystem services, institutions, environmental law |
7 | Transformative Knowledge — Education, Methods, and Technology | Pedagogy, research methods, STI, arts, and transdisciplinarity |
8 | Other Issues in Ecological Economics | Open theme for emerging, cross-cutting, and novel contributions |
Lineup
Pre Conference Masterclass
One-Day Course: "Grounded Economics" Wellington · 30 September 2026 An ANZSEE pre-conference short course for postgraduates and professionals. Spend a day learning ecological economics the way it should be taught — outdoors, in place, and in conversation with the people who shaped the field. Walk and talk your way through the foundations of ecological economics, ecosystem valuation, degrowth and complexity theory, and applied policy — across Massey University’s Wellington campus and waterfront, opened with a Maori Marae acknowledgement and grounded throughout in Aotearoa’s landscape.
https://anzsee.org.au/2026-conference/
Visit the ANZSEE website for the latest about the conference
Tentative Program
Draft only subject to changes About the conference Our economy can be redesigned to respect nature and show kaitiakitanga, and this October, we're bringing that conversation right here to Pōneke. With our partners WEAll Aotearoa, ANZSEE is proud to present the XV Biennial Conference: Regenerative Futures, Imagining Alternatives, Transforming Systems. Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Wellington, 30 Sept - 3 Oct Masterclass: 30 September Conference: 1–2 October Field trips: 3 October Four days, one shared kaupapa: how to build economies that respect the limits of our finite biosphere while delivering wellbeing for people and planet. Expect a room full of government, researchers and practitioners from across the motu and Australia, all wrestling with the same problems at local, regional, and global scales. The conference brings global post-growth and planetary boundary thinking into conversation with a focus on Oceania, indigenous stewardship, decolonised economic frameworks, climate adaptation, and island and maritime resilience. We're honoured to welcome a line-up of thinkers who've spent careers reimagining what the economy can be. Including the following keynote speakers: ● Professor Bob Costanza, Professor of Ecological Economics, Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London; Founding President, International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) ● Professor Anitra Nelson, President-Elect International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) ● Professor Erik Gomez-Baggethun, Professor in Environmental Governance at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) ● Professor Maria Bargh, Professor of Politics and Maori Studies at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington ● Professor Joshua Farley, L4E Ecological Economics Lead, Gund Institute for the Environment, University of Vermont ● Dr Marjan Van Den Belt, Global Council Member Wellbeing Economy Alliance ● Emeritus Professor Murray Patterson, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University ● Dr Mike Joy, The Morgan Foundation Senior Research Fellow at Te Herenga Waka Across the four days, sessions will cover a range of topics from beyond growth, wellbeing, indigenous and First Nations economies, island and ocean resilience, intergenerational justice, stewardship, cities and the built environment, and ecological limits, governance and policy. A masterclass, sessions, keynotes, film screenings and art with plenty of room for the transdisciplinary and the unexpected. Whether you're presenting, learning, or simply want to be in the room where these conversations are happening, this is a chance to help redraw what our economy can be together, as a community. Register now. Agenda for the two day conference, 1 - 2 October Time Session Details Day 1: Thursday 1 October 9am Mihi whakatau ANZSEE welcome Keynote #1: Anitra Nelson - Regenerative Futures and Across Oceans Keynote #2: Maria Bargh ‘Horoi ōu ringa’ – Wash your hands 10.20am Morning tea Breakout session #1 11am Indigenous and First Nations Economies Sharing the success story of regenerative economies and the enhanced well-being of Indigenous peoples in northern Australia Author/s: Kamaljit K Sangha Fish, People and Country: Integrating Barkandji Knowledge and Cultural Values into River Regeneration Economics Author/s: Boyd Blackwell, David Doyle, Sekola Havili, Evan Knoll; Barbara Quayle; John Rolfe; Megan Star; Anthony Townsend, Michael Young Valuing Water Security: A Social Return on Investment Analysis of the Tupu Plumbing and Water Tank Programme Author/s: Hillmaré Schulze, Assessing conservation–agricultural development trade-offs: a case study of the Big Rivers Region, Northern Australia Author/s: Getahun Mengesha, Kamaljit Sangha, Brett Murphy, Muhammad Mazhar Beyond Growth and Wellbeing The fix - the legislative sledgehammer required Author/s: Ganesh Ahirao (Ganesh Nana) The Mechanics of Government Finance in New Zealand: An Institutional and Procedural Analysis of Government Expenditure, Revenue Collection and Securities Operations in New Zealand Author/s: Morgan Edwards An economic system for people and planet Author/s: Gareth Hughes Failure Demand and Disability: Imagining Systems With Whanau Hauā Author/s: EJ Barrett 1pm Lunch Breakout sessions #2 2pm Transformative knowledge Post-growth innovation: Sustainability beyond the sociotechnical imaginary Author/s: Scott Matter, Ben Robra How do we reform economics education to reflect the needs and challenges of today? Author/s: Sally Hett Building the knowledge base for ethical economies: Community Economies Livelihood Framework. Author/s: Katherine McKinnon Ecological and wellbeing economics has no reason to compromise with mainstream economics Author/s: David Sinclair Intergenerational Justice and Stewardship From Welfare to Commoning: Public Housing as a Pathway to Degrowth Author/s: Alex Baumann Less consumption, more living: Aotearoa's transport system as a real-world case study for wellbeing economics Author/s: Tim Adriaansen Promoting Intergenerational Wellbeing: Youth-Led Community- and School-Based Food Security Initiatives Author/s: Derrylea Hardy New Zealand BIOFIN Assessment Author/s: Ian Herbert 3.30pm Afternoon tea 4pm Keynote #3: Erik Gomez-Baggethun The Plurality of Values and the Valuation of Nature Day one wrap up XV Anzsee Biennial Conference Dinner 2026 with presentation from Murray Patterson Southern Cross, 6.30pm Day 2: Friday 2 October 9am Day two welcome Keynote #4: Gareth Hughes The possibilities of a wellbeing economy for Aotearoa Keynote #5: Mike Joy Aotearoa climate mitigation strategies 10.30am Morning tea Keynote #6: Joshua Farley Taking Complexity Theory Seriously and Non-market Food Systems Breakout sessions #3 11.30am Ecological Limits - Spatial Exposure to Nickel Mining and Child Outcomes in Indonesia Author/s: Nadya Setiawati, Muh Fajrul, Rethinking Productivity for Healthy and Sustainable Food Futures Author/s: Juliet Bennett Environmental Legal Personhood through an Economics Lens Author/s: Viktoria Kahui From efficiency to Sufficiency: Economic arguments for regulating absolute environmental limits Author/s: Rhett Martin Workshop Whakaora, Flourishing and Regenerative Futures: A Participatory Exploration of Learning, Value(s) and Place Author/s: Faith Kane, Huhana Smith, Linda Murray, Nicola Brown, Allanah Ryan, Kelly Dombroski, Derrylea Hardy 1pm Lunch and ANZSEE AGM & Elections 2pm Keynote #7: Bob Costanza Ecological Economics, Societal Addiction and Recovery: Creating a New Science of Collective Behavioural Traps and Transformative Recovery Breakout sessions #4 2.30pm Climate, Cities, and the Built Environment Rangatahi Mobility: Transport as an opportunity system for young people in South and West Auckland Author/s: Szening Ooi, Pippa van Paauwe Climate disasters, subsistence agriculture, and rural migration in Guatemala: a mixed-methods analysis Author/s: Constanza Gajardo, Felipe Livert Are EV Incentives Environmentally Prepared? Assessing Adoption and Battery Waste Governance in ASEAN Author/s: Nadya Setiawati, Sultan Rifat Alfatih, Emanual Bria, Transformative The Elephant in the Room - Why degrowth alternatives knowledge matter in organization Author/s: Ben Robra, Alex Pazaitis The Paal Methodology: An Indo-Fijian Diasporic Contribution to Pacific Research Methodologies Author/s: Namrata Chand, Archana Chand, Eric Nabalagi, Rose Richards Networking that matters: Scaling degrowth counter-hegemony through alternative organisational values Author/s: Michael Walker, Ben Robra, Scott Matter Reimagining Common Good HRM through Indigenous Relational Ontologies Author/s: Fiona Edgar, Jekope Maiono, Ross Heath, Natasha Podgorodnichenko 3.45pm Afternoon tea Keynote #8: Dr Marjan Van Den Belt Aoteanomics: a place-based economy where people and nature matter 5pm Conference close Cost of Growth film screening Massey University, 6pm
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity