Middle and working-class citizens in nations across the globe are feeling their purchasing power diminish while billionaires hoard historically high levels of wealth. People are looking for economic solutions out of the inequity that are in line with their ecological values and planetary boundaries.

"People are really hungry for solutions [and] really hungry to find alternatives," says Alvaro Alvarez, the documentary filmmaker of the new BBC documentary Less Is More: Can Degrowth Save the World?

Alvarez joins Mongabay's podcast to detail real-life solutions using the concepts behind "degrowth" in the city of Barcelona, which he highlights in the film and which have garnered widespread interest.

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website.

Listen to a previous conversation on degrowth on the Mongabay Newscast here.

Image Credit: La Brugera de Púbol, a sustainable living and educational eco-estate roughly 2 hours from the city of Barcelona operated by Mike Duff. Image courtesy of Alvaro Alvarez.

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Timecodes

(00:00) Degrowth momentum in Barcelona

(06:26) Degrowth and housing cooperatives

(09:01) Growing international support

(13:06) Challenges and criticisms of degrowth

(24:51) Degrowth and global inequality

(32:42) Green gentrification

(39:03) Challenging the 'wealth=success' narrative

(42:24) Keeping inside the planetary boundaries

RegPK | 3. Dezember 2025 | Immer eine gute Idee