SES seminar 2025 11
What Happens to the Savings? Circularity, Sustainability, and Degrowth
SES Seminar Series
Join the seminar:
- Wednesday, November 12, 2025
- 3:30 p.m.- 4 p.m.: Refreshments in the SES atrium
- 4 p.m.-5 p.m.: Presentation in SES room 111
Guest speaker John Mulrow is co-founder and executive director of the Degrowth Institute and an adjunct professor of sustainability and environmental engineering at Purdue University.
From renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles to home composting and sustainable lifestyle models, we have created so much potential for living better together on Planet Earth. Nevertheless, at a global scale, absolute impact reductions are still not happening. Nearly all of the critical planetary boundary indicators are at or nearing dangerous levels, despite decades of progress under the banner of “sustainability.” Guest speaker John Mulrow, PhD, will argue that we should consider degrowth—a deliberate reduction in the size of the economy—as the context in which more circular and sustainable systems can deliver lasting reductions in ecological impact.
John Mulrow is co-founder and executive director of the Degrowth Institute and an adjunct professor of sustainability and environmental engineering at Purdue University. His research program focuses on measuring rebound effects and life cycle impacts related to energy infrastructure. John’s career background spans corporate sustainability consulting, climate action advocacy, and sustainable development. He has led renewable energy and circular economy projects for organizations including Google, McDonald’s, the State of Illinois, and the UN Refugee Agency in Zambia. John holds a PhD and MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University. He was born and raised in Illinois and lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.
From renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles to home composting and sustainable lifestyle models, we have created so much potential for living better together on Planet Earth. Nevertheless, at a global scale, absolute impact reductions are still not happening. Nearly all of the critical planetary boundary indicators are at or nearing dangerous levels, despite decades of progress under the banner of “sustainability.” Guest speaker John Mulrow, PhD, will argue that we should consider degrowth—a deliberate reduction in the size of the economy—as the context in which more circular and sustainable systems can deliver lasting reductions in ecological impact.
John Mulrow is co-founder and executive director of the Degrowth Institute and an adjunct professor of sustainability and environmental engineering at Purdue University. His research program focuses on measuring rebound effects and life cycle impacts related to energy infrastructure. John’s career background spans corporate sustainability consulting, climate action advocacy, and sustainable development. He has led renewable energy and circular economy projects for organizations including Google, McDonald’s, the State of Illinois, and the UN Refugee Agency in Zambia. John holds a PhD and MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a BS in Earth Systems from Stanford University. He was born and raised in Illinois and lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.