Between Theory and Practice – Experiments of Basic Income (Webinar)

About the Event:

Reflections and specific experiments have been ongoing for many years in the search for systemic solutions to provide people with the opportunity to meet basic life needs in times of instability, exacerbated amid junk contracts, rapid climate change and structural inequalities. Unconditional basic income is one such form, tested by certain public authorities, but also by non-governmental and research organisations, both in so-called developed countries as well as some countries of the global South.

This webinar focuses on the experiences of basic income in several countries – their goals and results, but also the political context of each case. A more general academic comparative view will complete a political and activist approach. We invited a European university researcher examining UBI experiments, their political and social context and overtones, but also a Kenyan Green politician from a so-called developing country where innovative social policies have been pursued both by the authorities and through the experiments of social aid and research organisations.

Context:

The Green European Foundation has been working and conducting research on the topic of UBI for a few years as part of a transnational project involving many countries. This year, the project is entitled “CHANGE OF MINDSET. Civil society dialogue around UBI, social justice and climate impact”.

On May 26^th, the webinar “With UBI we would be less afraid of coronavirus” opened a series of four meetings on this topic, organised by GEF and with the support of Strefa Zieleni. Participants of the first webinar chose the topics of subsequent meetings, the first of which is an exploration of unconditional basic income experiments and derived social policy solutions in various countries.

Speakers:

• Jurgen De Wispelaere – policy fellow at the Institute for Policy Research (University of Bath) and a visiting scholar at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.
• Martin Ogindo – Party leader of the Green Congress of Kenya.
• Moderation and comments by Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart and Wojciech Kłosowski.

Practicalities:

This is an open event accessible to an international audience. English-Polish translation will be provided.

We will use the Zoom video conferencing platform. It is recommended to join the webinar via a PC. You don’t need to install additional software. However, for the best user experience and full participation features, we recommend to install the Zoom Desktop App, which is free.

Please register and join the webinar via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rM7YcboBRNmUC3brggoaAg