The Degrowth Doughnut (a modification of the original Doughnut visualization of boundaries and foundations created by economist Kate Raworth) can be considered a visualization tool for assessing the current environmental and social capacity of a country to transform into an ecologically and socially sustainable modus operandi. Its sufficiently rich set of criteria, including cultural, socio-economic and biophysical indicators, gives us an overall picture of the problems to be dealt with and the strengths to build on in the immediate future. Its simple boundary-threshold structure presents limiting and aspirational targets in a single image. As such, it is also a tool that can aid eco-social policymaking to prioritize decisions and seek synergies between choices made. This research will present the Hungarian Degrowth Doughnut and use it as a case study when applied to the aims and expected impacts of Hungary’s operational National Clean Development Strategy. We will illustrate the degrowth-relevant priorities and assess the adequacy of the responses proposed by the Strategy, providing a critical analysis of the national policy options. Behind such climate and sustainability strategies are always a wealth of important value choices and moral considerations. Is there a safe and just operating space in the minds of the Hungarian policymakers? To what extent, if at all, are the fundamental principles of post-growth theories incorporated into a Hungarian sustainability strategy? We believe that a case study like this can also provide inspiration for further practical application of the Degrowth Doughnut elsewhere.

While debate is heating up regarding the development of AI and its perceived impacts on human society, policymaking is struggling to catch up with the demand to exercise some regulatory control over its rapid advancement. This paper aims to introduce the concept of entangled AI that emerged from participatory backcasting research with an AI expert panel. The concept of entanglement has been adapted from quantum physics to effectively capture the envisioned form of artificial intelligence in which a strong interconnectedness between AI, humans, society, and nature is reflected. Entanglement assumes that AI should serve nature, social well-being, justice, and the resilience of this intertwined network simultaneously and promote a dynamic balance among these factors. This approach allows us to understand the pervasive role of this technology and the scope of human agency in its development. The study shows how such concepts seem to transcend the dominant discourses related to expectations, technological determinism, and humanism. An additional aim of this paper is to demonstrate how backcasting can contribute to generating useful understandings of the future of AI and fruitful insights for policymaking.

It is now becoming widely accepted that our economy has reached the limits both in terms of the carrying capacity of our planet and in terms of bringing real social justice to the table. Degrowth is a research area that aims to transcend mainstream approaches. While moving beyond the growth paradigm would entail serious changes in all areas of social life and Degrowth research extends into most of them, the transformation of sports is not among them. Neither is Degrowth a recognised concept among those who deal with sports. The participatory backcasting research introduced in this paper attempts to fill this void. In the backcasting project, master students of sports economics envisioned the sustainable future of sports and identified potential intervention steps that lead towards such normative states. This paper describes the results and assesses those elements that aim for strong sustainability. The results show that relocalisation and the sharing economy are the most accepted Degrowth concepts in a normative scenario on sustainable sports in this group. At the same time, the paper offers frameworks of thoughts for those who want to move beyond the slogans of sustainability either as responsible citizens or in positions related to the world of sports.

The emerging concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI) in some ways always relates to sustainability. In the transition towards sustainability, the authors need to build responsibility for both society and the environment in higher education and management education. Non-formal approaches to learning provide an opportunity to transform a student’s ‘head, heart and hand’, including at the social level as well. This paper showcases the role of experiential and transformative learning in higher education practice. Two of their courses are described and analysed, which are intended to familiarise students with the problem of sustainability within economic higher education. The authors share the theoretical and practical experiences of designing, teaching and assessing these courses. They aim to contribute to the discussion on how business education could be producing useful and credible knowledge that addresses problems important to nature and society.