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UBI

Dec 05 2019
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Basic Income and the EU level (Brussels)

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About the Event

Within the last three years, the Green European Foundation has organised closed and open events on the topic of Universal Basic Income all over Europe and has produced several publications.

The transnational project is concluded with a closed roundtable meeting of representatives of our expert group from across Europe as well as stakeholders from the European Green Party, the Young Greens and the Green Group in the European Parliament.

The aim is to discuss how the outcomes of the project activities in the past years can be translated in the political process and what concrete recommendations for the political level could be to make concrete forward to make Universal Basic Income a European reality.

This roundtable is on invitation only. 

Oct 14 2019
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Making Basic Income a European Reality (Tampere)

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About the Event

The long lived dream of a basic income has gained relevance in Europe in the last few years. Changing working life and an uncertain economy has sparked the need for social security reforms in many countries. The Finnish basic income study has received world wide coverage. The goals have long been established but how do countries move forward to make it actually happen? Is a European BI possible? Should we approach BI incrementally?

In this seminar, taking place at the 30th European Green Party Council, guest speakers will discuss the status of basic income developments in different countries and outline paths to make the utopia a reality. Both national and Europe-wide points of view will be discussed. The seminar is a chance to spread ideas among the participants and help implement change across Europe.

Speakers

Via video: Jamie Cooke, The RSA Scotland

Pathways to a Basic Income in Scotland and the UK

Jane Millar, University of Bath, UK
Universal Credit: designing and implementing the UK’s new working-age benefit and how this differs from Basic Income

Kim Evangelista, Belgian Green party (Ecolo)
A Basic Income for the young: Inventing tomorrow’s solidarities

Lukas Korpelainen, Visio – Finnish Green Think Tank
A hybrid model for basic social security and the steps for the next 10 years in Finland

 

Speaker Biographies

Jane Millar OBE, FBA, FAcSS is Professor of Social Policy in the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath, UK. Her research interests include the design, implementation and impact of social policy and comparative research on family policy, social security and employment policy, with particular reference to gender and changing family patterns. Her current research examines the impact of Universal Credit on couples, focusing on labour market decisions and family budgeting.

Kim Evangelista is a policy advisor for the Belgian Green party (Ecolo). He is in charge of economic, social and fiscal policies. He worked on a concrete Basic Income proposition included in the political program of the party for the May 2019 election. He studied economics and political sciences, and was later a researcher in applied economics. He worked in both the private and public sector

Lukas Korpelainen is a research coordinator at the Finnish Green think tank Visio. Earlier this year he wrote a report on improving the basic social security system in Finland. The work includes a new model for a basic income combined with means-tested benefits and a realistic first step with economic simulations. He has also helped the Finnish Green party develop its social security policies.

Jamie Cooke is the head of The RSA Scotland and leads on the development of the RSA’s activity in Scotland, through innovative partnerships, projects and programmes. He is also a leading advocate, writer, and speaker on the subject of basic income. He sits on the Executive Committee of Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) and on the Board of Citizens’ Basic Income Network Scotland (CBINS).

This seminar is organised by the Green European Foundation with the support of the Finnish Green think tank Visio.

Oct 09 2019
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Basic Income as a Tool Towards the Ecological Transition (Córdoba)

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About the Event

In a society threatened by different and converging environmental and social crises, Universal Basic Income has more and more support as an instrument to mitigate the great social inequalities that the economic system, based on the infinite economic growth, cannot solve.

On the contrary, neoliberal capitalism is not only opening a widening gap between rich and poor countries, but it is accentuating it within the countries themselves, creating large pockets of poverty. Much has been written about UBI in relation to work, freedom, inequality, gender, but the ecological dimension has hardly been taken into account. For this reason we want to focus on the UBI-socio-environmental sustainability relationship.

Would the implementation of a basic income have positive effects on the protection of the Planet? What would be its relationship with economic growth / degrowth? How would it affect consumption patterns? How should it be financed so that it can be an effective instrument for ecological transition? In this session we will try to answer these and many other questions and contribute to the debate on this forgotten but necessary and urgent aspect of Basic Income.

This event is part of the Basic Income – European Public Debate project and will take place at the Univerde: Capitalism in Front of the Mirror – the Socio-Environmental Response to a Predatory System,

Speakers

– Lucía Baratech – economist specialized in Ecological and Social Economics from the Vienna University of Economics. Member of the Basic Income Network. Consultant for Public Administration

– Jorge Pinto – research associate at the Centre for Ethics, Politics and Society University of Minho, Portugal and co-founder of the Portuguese party LIVRE

– Julen Bollain – economist and researcher, member of the Basic Income Network and of the BIEN (Basic Income Earth Network). Member of the Basque Parliament by Elkarrekin Podemos

 

Jan 31 2019
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Basic Income – European Public Debate

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Project Background

This project was kicked off in 2017 with a series of events across Europe exploring Universal Basic Income (UBI), bringing together various partner foundations and UBI experts, from Belgium, Catalonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Throughout 2018, partners continued to work extensively on the topic with a follow-up project entitled Basic Income for all European Citizens?, in which an expert group met twice and discussed issues surrounding UBI and produced a publication featuring different perspectives on the debates.

Project Objectives and Activities

The aim of the Basic Income project in 2019 is to disseminate the results of the work done in 2018, via four conferences across Europe. All of the conferences will have the same format and focus on a specific angle of Basic Income, considering pros and cons. Possible proposed topics include youth, women, and social movements.

As social inequalities across Europe are increasing, new forms of social security and solidarity are urgently needed. This project will elevate the debate on Basic Income in Europe and at the same time inform those within the project and beyond on the possibilities, limitations and options of a UBI.

The public events, alongside internal meetings and roundtables throughout the year are set to deliver a concrete set of recommendations that can feed into the discussion on the way forward for the European green movement regarding UBI.