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Event: Seminars

CUSP network

Greener cities for all: creating urban spaces that work for people and biodiversity | Panel discussion, London 20 Mar 2025
Annegeke Jansen | Rutger Hoekstra

Re-assessing global economic history through a prosperity lens | Seminar with Annegeke Jansen and Rutger Hoekstra, Guildford 15 Apr 2024
CUSP network

Post-COP28: What’s next for sustainable consumption? | Seminar, London 15 Dec 2023
Milena Büchs

Post growth—strategies and challenges for change | Seminar with Milena Büchs, London 25 Oct 2023
CUSP network

Rethinking Prosperity: business and welfare in a postgrowth economy | Workshop, Lund, 20 Oct 2023
Elisabeth Dütschke

Sufficiency-oriented lifestyles across Europe | Seminar with Elisabeth Dütschke, Guildford 21 Sept 2023
Franziska Klein

Environmental tax reforms, time use and horizontal inequality | Seminar with Franziska Klein, Guildford 12 Sept 2023
CUSP network

Democratic Economic Planning: How to Do It. | Seminar with Robin Hahnel, London 19 Jun 2023
Duncan Austin

The Limits of Win-Win: Is sustainability a market opportunity or a moral obligation? | Seminar with Duncan Austin, 11 May 2023
Risk management and the sustainability transition | Seminar with Theresa Harrer, postponed
Aaron Benanav

‘Post-Scarcity Economics’ | Seminar with Aaron Benanav, London 23 Mar 2023
Tuukka Toivonen

Regenerative entrepreneurship and interspecies creativity | Seminar with Tuukka Toivonen, London 13 Feb 2023
Adrienne Buller | Nick Taylor

The Value of a Whale: on the illusions of green capitalism—A conversation with Adrienne Buller | London, date tbc
Peter Michaelis

Twenty years of sustainable investment—Rising through ridicule and resistance to relevance | Seminar with Peter Michaelis, Online 12 May 2022
Robert Costanza

What is ecological economics: A brief history and why we need it now more than ever | Seminar with Prof Robert Costanza, Online 9 May 2022
Helle Neergaard | Sarah Robinson

The role and need for existential learning in the entrepreneurship learning process | Seminar with Helle Neergaard and Sarah Robinson, 1 Feb 2022
Peter Bradley

Values, resources and sustainable consumption—an institutional economics framework | Seminar with Peter Bradley, 5 Nov 2021
Kirstie McIntyre | Tim Jackson

Video | What it takes… to be a sustainable business | Surrey seminar with Kirstie McIntyre, 13 May 2021, 1pm
Andrea Werner | Fergus Lyon | Ian Vickers | Patrick Elf

Alternative enterprise models for sustainable fashion | CUSP/CEEDR Seminar, 10 Mar 2021
Helio Mattar

Webinar | Akatu Institute presents Brazilian results of the CYCLES 2020 survey, 3 Dec 2020
Kate Burningham | Sue Venn

What Makes for a Good Life in Woking? | CUSP workshop at #ESRCFestival of Social Science, 10 Nov 2020
Robyn Owen | Theresia Harrer

Sustainable Policy and Practice for Early Stage Cleantech Financing | Seminar with Robyn Owen and Theresia Harrer, 8 Sept 2020
Adeyemi Adelekan | Fergus Lyon | Joanna Masangkay

Video | Repositioning your Social Enterprise for new realities | Strategy workshop, Lagos/Online 16-17 July
Patrick Elf

Dress in protest—exploring how sustainable fashion solutions can be a force for good | Seminar, Recife, 4 Mar 2020
Nick Robins

Podcast | How to build a sustainable financial system | Lecture by Nick Robins
Patrick Elf

Can private companies drive behaviour change for sustainability? | Seminar with Patrick Elf, London 11 Dec 2019
Katia Valenzuela-Fuentes

Video | Socio-environmental injustices and ‘buen vivir’ in coastal cities of Chile | Seminar w/ Katia Valenzuela-Fuentes, London 2 Oct 2019
The polluter elite—challenges and opportunities for transition politics | Seminar with Dario Kenner, Guildford 27 Jun 2019
Charles Seaford

Why Capitalists Need Communists: The Politics of Flourishing | Seminar w Charles Seaford—Guildford, 15 May 2019
Adeyemi Adelekan

Navigating social and commercial objectives in social enterprise | Workshop w Co-Creation Hub Lagos, 25 Apr 2019
Sarah Hafner

Fixing the Green Finance Gap: A system modelling approach | Seminar w Sarah Hafner, Cambridge 27 Mar 2019
The Paradox of Social Impact Measurement | Seminar w Pablo Munoz, London 27 Feb 2019
Could energetic constraints be slowing economic growth? | Seminar w Paul Brockway, Guildford, 7 Feb 2019
Tim Foxon

Energy and Economic Growth: Why we need a new pathway to prosperity | Seminar w Tim Foxon, Guildford, 6 Dec 2018
Ian Gough

Heat, Greed and Human Need | Seminar with Ian Gough, Guildford 1 Nov 2018
Rebound Mitigation — Environmental policy making in the context of rebound effects | Seminar w David F Vivanco, 19 July 2018
Defining and promoting carbon literacy | Seminar w Rachel Howell, 28 June 2018
Climate Justice as economic mobilization | Seminar w Stefan Jacobsen, London 21 June 2018
Thinking About Global Prosperity Measures | Seminar with Matthew Davies, 24 May 2018
Alice Owen

Craft micro-enterprises: Sustainable ‘good work’ or the precarious gig economy? | Seminar w Alice Owen, 28 Feb 2018
Ellen Stenslie

Cleaning up the economy: Business models of environmental social enterprises | Seminar w Ellen Stenslie, 24 Jan 2018
Joan Walley

Local Action for Sustainable Prosperity | Seminar w Joan Walley, 19 Oct 2017
Fergus Lyon | Geraldine Brennan | Robyn Owen

Early stage investing into sustainable green SMEs | CUSP session at SME finance conference, 20 June
Katherine Trebeck | Maja Göpel

Thriving beyond Surviving | Seminar with Maja Göpel and Katherine Trebeck, 15 May 2017
Geraldine Brennan

Circular Economy Business Models and Sustainable Prosperity | Seminar with Geraldine Brennan, 26 April
Jonathan Ward

Sustainable Prosperity and the Cultural Industries | Seminar with Graeme Evans and Jon Ward, 22 March 2017
Culture and climate change | Seminar with Joe Smith and Renata Tyszczuk, 15 Mar 2017
Tim Jackson

Podcast | The link between banking and sustainability | Seminar w/ Richard Werner
Tuukka Toivonen

Sustainable Global Prosperity and Business Models | Seminar with Tuukka Toivonen, 25 Jan
Does Brexit mean Brexit? | Seminar with Andrew Gamble
Marit Hammond

The Political Culture of a Democratic Route towards Sustainable Prosperity | Seminar w/ Marit Hammond
Andreas Malm

Podcast | Time and nature in the Fossil Economy | Seminar w/ Andreas Malm
Phil Catney

Cultivating conversation for energy conservation | Seminar w/ Phil Catney
Fergus Lyon

Sustainability and the challenge of transdisciplinarity | Seminar w/ Fergus Lyon and Frances Harris
Aled Jones

Podcast | Global Resource Observatory: the road to Dr Apocalypse | Seminar w/ Aled Jones
David Evans

Podcast | Constructing and mobilising ‘the consumer’ | Seminar w/ David Evans
Richard Blundel

Is small still beautiful? SMEs in visions of a green economy | Seminar w/ Richard Blundel
Angela Druckman

Spending time in a low carbon society: Less stuff, more fun? | Seminar w/ Angela Druckman

About

The Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) is a cutting-edge research organisation core-funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and the Laudes Foundation. It takes the form of a rich international network, drawing together expert partners from academic and non-academic institutions as co-producers of the work programme. The overall research question is: What can prosperity possibly mean in a world of environmental, social and economic limits?—We work with people, policy and business to address this question, developing pragmatic steps towards a shared and lasting prosperity.

Contact

Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity
University of Surrey
Guildford GU2 7XH

Email: info@cusp.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1483 684316

Newsletter

A list of past newsletters can be found on the publications page. For future editions, please subscribe via Sender.net.

Instagram

“Care is the foundation for life itself. But in

“Care is the foundation for life itself. But in the market, it’s treated as a second-class citizen.”⁠
⁠
In his new book »The Care Economy« CUSP director and renowned ecological economist @ProfTimJackson offers a timely and deeply personal manifesto for a more humane future—one where care is central, not sidelined. From the rising burden of chronic disease to the gender politics of care, this book confronts the structural violence baked into our pursuit of growth at all costs.⁠
⁠
💡 What if we designed our economy to heal—not harm?⁠
⁠
Irreverent, insightful, and boldly hopeful, #TheCareEconomy is now available in the US and globally.⁠
⁠
Further details and discount code for the English edition via ➡️ the-care-economy.com⁠
⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
⁠
___⁠
cc #PostGrowth #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #HumanRights #BeyondGrowth #Degrowth #ÖkonomieDerFürsorge #WellbeingEconomy #CareEconomy⁠
#Postwachstum #PostCroissance #Omgroei #PostCrecimiento #LifeAfterCapitalism #Decroissance #Decrecimiento #SystemChange #BigFood #BigPharma #HolisticMedicine #EcologicalEconomics #RethinkingEconomics #NewEconomics #GrowthDependency #RethinkingProsperity #PostConsumerism #DoughnutEconomics #SustainableWelfare cc @politybooks @wellbeingeconomyalliance @sociologysurrey @institutesustainability

"Totalitarian politics … use and abuse their own

"Totalitarian politics ... use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of factual reality, from which the ideologies originally derived their strength and their propaganda value ... have all but disappeared."—Hannah Arendt, 1967⁠
__ ⁠
#QuoteOfTheDay #HannahArendt #CriticalThinking #Totalitarianism #TheOriginsOfTotalitarianism #TheLifeOfTheMind #BanalityOfEvil #MenInDarkTimes #Wisdom #Reflection #HumanCivilisation #Humanity #HumanRights #Politics #Peace #Futures

🎙️Corporate Bodies: Podcast series about the

🎙️Corporate Bodies: Podcast series about the strange world of #work.⁠
⁠
Episode 2—The head and brain | How do decisions get made in an organisation? Who has power and control—and are they the same people who bear the consequences of their decisions? In this second episode of Corporate Bodies, we explore governance and limited liability—a form of legal protection for shareholders and owners of companies that prevents individuals from being held personally responsible for their company's debts or financial losses.⁠
⁠
Full episode via ➡️ cusp.ac.uk or wherever you get your podcasts from (🔝 or follow link in bio).⁠
⁠
A B O U T⁠
⁠
Limited liability is something Kate and Mark previously identified as one of the “original sins” that impacts the way we run companies today. Here, they talk about their own experience of how power shifted at Shared Assets in a moment of crisis. ⁠
⁠
They also interview Sarah McAdam, a Co-Steward at the Transformational Governance Collective, who talks about how we can take a much wider view of governance, what healthy power looks like, how we can distribute power more widely in organisations, and whether we should be able to consent to giving and receiving power. ⁠
⁠
—⁠
cc #CorporateBodiesPodcast #WorkplaceCulture #Podcast #OrganisationalDevelopment #NewEconomics #SustainableBusiness #AlternativeBusiness #SocialEnterprise #SocEnt #wellbeingeconomy #TheCareEconomy @sharedassets⁠
⁠
Corporate Bodies is a production by Mark Walton and Kate Swade, edited by @_katierevell. Artwork by @hanorbb. Supported by @CUSP_uk.⁠

📣 It’s time to stop chasing growth for growth

📣 It’s time to stop chasing growth for growth’s sake.⁠
⁠
In his latest article for the New Statesman, CUSP co-director @ProfTimJackson lays it out plainly: calling for growth is not the same as delivering it—and more importantly, it’s not the same as building a liveable society for all.⁠
⁠
Decades of GDP obsession have failed to deliver meaningful progress for people or the planet. We urgently need to move beyond the broken logic of expansion-at-all-costs and start designing an economy that places care and human dignity at its centre.⁠
⁠
An economy that understands health not as a commodity, but as a balance. That sees care not as a cost, but as the foundation of a just and resilient society.⁠
⁠
📖 Read the article:⁠
newstatesman.com/spotlight/economic-growth/2025/03/calling-for-growth-is-not-the-same-as-delivering-it⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
⁠
—⁠
#PostGrowth #TimJackson #BeyondGrowth #WellbeingEconomy #EcologicalEconomics #CareEconomy #SystemChange #NewStatesman #PolicyReform #EndOfGDP #ReimagineEconomics #TheCareEconomy #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #WohlstandOhneWachstum #ÖkonomieDerFürsorge #Degrowth

#HowTheLightGetsIn | CUSP director @ProfTimJackson

#HowTheLightGetsIn | CUSP director @ProfTimJackson will be speaking at this year’s @howthelightgetsinfestival in Hay-on-Wye⁠
—a unique philosophy and music festival bringing together leading thinkers, writers, musicians, and performers for a weekend of ideas and inspiration.⁠
⁠
🗓️ On Sunday 25 May, Tim joins Ingrid Robeyns and Cahal Moran to "dismantle the jargon-laden fortress of mainstream economic thought and propose bold new frameworks for fairness, sustainability, and human flourishing."⁠
⁠
🗓️ On Monday 26 May, he’ll be in conversation with Catherine Liu, hosted by Isabel Hilton, exploring what it means to build an economy that truly values care and wellbeing.⁠
⁠
More info via ➡️ cusp.ac.uk.⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
⁠
__⁠
#TheCareEconomy #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #PostGrowth #LifeAfterCapitalism #Degrowth #BeyondGrowth#SystemChange #WellbeingEconomy #EcologicalEconomics #RethinkingEconomics #NewEconomics #ManagingWithoutGrowth #NewEconomy #GrowthDependency #InclusiveProsperity #RethinkingProsperity #CareEconomy #PhilosophyFestival #Sustainability #HTLGI2025 #HTLGI

📚 “Prosperity is better thought of as health

📚 “Prosperity is better thought of as health than as wealth. And the economy, as care rather than growth.”⁠
⁠
In his new book The Care Economy, CUSP co-director @ProfTimJackson challenges the logic of a system that profits from illness. Drawing on personal experience and deep research, he explores how over-medicalisation, chronic disease, and the pursuit of profit have distorted our understanding of care—and undermined real wellbeing.⁠
⁠
What if instead of treating symptoms with ever more drugs, we focused on the conditions for healing—in our bodies, our communities, and our economies?⁠
⁠
🌀 Care, in this vision, is not sentiment—it’s structure. It’s a principle for redesigning the systems that shape our lives.⁠
⁠
🎧 This audio snippet is from a recent conversation Tim had with Rune Lykkeberg from @informationdk. ⁠
Full recording → https://www.information.dk/2025/04/tim-jackson-omsorg-kraft-bringe-vores-samfund-tilbage-balance⁠
⁠
🔗 Link in bio. ⁠
⁠
___⁠
cc #TheCareEconomy #CareEconomy #PostGrowth #WellbeingEconomy #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #LifeAfterCapitalism #Degrowth #BeyondGrowth #PostWachstum #ÖkonomieDerFürsorge #WohlstandOhneWachstum #Postcroissance #Decroissance #decrecimiento #HealthEconomics #Medicalisation #OverMedicalisation #Financialisation #Naturopathy #healingpowerofnature #Care #Cure #PhilosophyOfCare #RethinkingProsperity @sociologysurrey @wellbeingeconomyalliance @politybooks ⁠@oekomverlag
⁠
Illustrations are based on photos by Peter Nygaard Christensen, Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, Ritzau Scanpix, and Mathias Hoeg. HT @informationdk

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum—even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate."—Noam Chomsky, 1998⁠
⁠
__⁠
#QuoteOfTheDay #NoamChomsky #TheCommonGood #ManufacturingConsent #CriticalThinking #HumanCivilisation #Humanity #HumanRights #Politics #Peace #Futures #Capitalism #PostGrowth #LifeAfterCapitalism #Degrowth #Growthism #War #Chomsky #Philosophy #SocialPsychology

🎙️Corporate Bodies: New podcast series about

🎙️Corporate Bodies: New podcast series about the strange world of #work.⁠
⁠
Episode 1—Birth | What does it mean to set an organisation up? In this first episode of Corporate Bodies, we explore incorporation—the creation of the corporate body and we hear from Mark Walton and Kate Swade about who they are and why they are doing this inquiry together. ⁠
⁠
Full episode via ➡️ cusp.ac.uk or wherever you get your podcasts from (🔝 or follow link in bio).⁠
⁠
A B O U T⁠
⁠
Kate and Mark both started this investigation with the assumption that the company—as a legal vehicle for collective action—is a useful tool for getting things done, and that there are some unexamined things deep in its DNA which contribute to some of the weirdnesses that play out in working life today. They also both have a pragmatic interest in creating nice and healthy places to work!⁠
⁠
In this episode they talk about what they see as some of the original sins of companies today, and why they think delving into history is important for creating healthy working cultures today. ⁠
⁠
Across this series they speak to 10 brilliant people. In this episode you hear from each of them about their experiences and perspectives on setting up new ventures.⁠
⁠
—⁠
cc #CorporateBodiesPodcast #WorkplaceCulture #Podcast #OrganisationalDevelopment #NewPodcast #NewEconomics #SustainableBusiness #AlternativeBusiness #SocialEnterprise #SocEnt #wellbeingeconomy #TheCareEconomy @wellbeingeconomyalliance @sharedassets⁠
⁠
Corporate Bodies is a production by Mark Walton and Kate Swade, edited by @_katierevell. Artwork by @hanorbb. Supported by @CUSP_uk.

Environments and the experience of flow: A scoping

Environments and the experience of flow: A scoping review⁠
⁠
Most studies linking environment and mental health focus on immediate pleasure (hedonic wellbeing). But what about flow—those moments of deep focus and purpose that bring lasting fulfilment?⁠
⁠
A new review by CUSP researcher Megan Cumming et al explores how natural and built environments influence flow states—experiences of total immersion in meaningful activity—and how this shapes our sense of wellbeing.⁠
⁠
🔍 Reviewing 60 studies from 1975–2022, four key themes emerge:⁠
⁠
🌳 Contact with nature⁠
🧠 Person–environment fit ⁠
🎨 Aesthetics ⁠
📍 Relationship to place ⁠
⁠
The findings highlight how flow is deeply tied to place-based meaning and offer insights for designing more supportive, meaningful environments—including in nature-based mental health interventions.⁠
⁠
📖 Full paper via cusp.ac.uk/publications⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
⁠
__⁠
cc #EnvironmentalPsychology #FlowState #NatureAndWellbeing #MentalHealth #GreenSpaces #WellbeingResearch #EudaimonicWellbeing #NatureBasedInterventions #BuiltEnvironment #PsychologicalFlow #PlaceMatters #CUSPResearch⁠
⁠
Image: courtesy of ling_gigi / Unsplash (modified)

Parliamentary Work

CUSP is acting as the secretariat for the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Limits to Growth. The APPG provides a platform for cross-party dialogue and collaboration on shared and lasting prosperity in a world of environmental, social and economic limits. It aims to contribute to a growing international debate on redefining prosperity and developing new measures of progress. The APPG is chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and Clive Lewis MP, and its membership is drawn from both Houses and all main political parties.

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