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June 26, 2018

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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

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📣 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.⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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📖 Read the article:⁠
newstatesman.com/spotlight/economic-growth/2025/03/calling-for-growth-is-not-the-same-as-delivering-it⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
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—⁠
#PostGrowth #TimJackson #BeyondGrowth #WellbeingEconomy #EcologicalEconomics #CareEconomy #SystemChange #NewStatesman #PolicyReform #EndOfGDP #ReimagineEconomics


#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."⁠
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🗓️ 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.⁠
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More info via ➡️ cusp.ac.uk.⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
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#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.”⁠
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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.⁠
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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?⁠
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🌀 Care, in this vision, is not sentiment—it’s structure. It’s a principle for redesigning the systems that shape our lives.⁠
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🎧 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. ⁠
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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
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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
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#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
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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
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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.⁠
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🔍 Reviewing 60 studies from 1975–2022, four key themes emerge:⁠
⁠
🌳 Contact with nature⁠
🧠 Person–environment fit ⁠
🎨 Aesthetics ⁠
📍 Relationship to place ⁠
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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.⁠
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📖 Full paper via cusp.ac.uk/publications⁠
🔗 Link in bio⁠
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cc #EnvironmentalPsychology #FlowState #NatureAndWellbeing #MentalHealth #GreenSpaces #WellbeingResearch #EudaimonicWellbeing #NatureBasedInterventions #BuiltEnvironment #PsychologicalFlow #PlaceMatters #CUSPResearch⁠
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Image: courtesy of ling_gigi / Unsplash (modified)


🌱 POST GROWTH: The Science of Wellbeing Within
🌱 POST GROWTH: The Science of Wellbeing Within Planetary Boundaries⁠
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A comprehensive review by leading experts in the sustainability science field is challenging the long-held assumption that economic growth is necessary for societal progress. Published earlier this year in THE LANCET PLANETARY HEALTH, this paper explores the rapidly advancing field of post-growth research and presents a compelling case for prioritising human wellbeing and ecological sustainability over endless economic expansion.⁠
⁠
Key advances discussed in the review include:⁠
— Ecological macroeconomic models⁠
— Policies for decoupling welfare from GDP⁠
— Resource-light systems that still support thriving lives⁠
— The politics of transition and justice between Global North & South⁠
⁠
📖 Full paper via cusp.ac.uk⁠/publications
🔗 Link in bio⁠
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cc ⁠#ProsperityWithoutGrowth #Postwachstum #PostCroissance #Omgroei #PostCrecimiento #LifeAfterCapitalism #Degrowth #Decroissance #Decrecimiento #BeyondGDP #BeyondGrowth #PostGrowthEconomy #SystemChange #WellbeingEconomy #EcologicalEconomics #RethinkingEconomics #NewEconomics #ManagingWithoutGrowth #NewEconomy #GrowthDependency #InclusiveProsperity #RethinkingProsperity #SecularStagnation #PostConsumerism #DoughnutEconomics #CircularEconomy #SustainableWelfare #PlanetaryBoundaries #CareEconomy #TheCareEconomy HT @icta.stories @proftimjackson @drjasonhickel @wellbeingeconomyalliance @doughnuteconomics⁠
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Image: © fcsacaffeine / Getty images (licensed with Canva)⁠
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"The Question What shall we do about it? is only
"The Question What shall we do about it?  is only asked by those who do not understand the problem. If a problem can be solved at all, to understand it and to know what to do about it are the same thing."—Alan Watts, 1951 ⁠
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#WisdomOfInsecurity #AlanWates #AlanWattsQuotes #QuoteOfTheDay #Wisdom #TheCareEconomy #ÖkonomieDerFürsorge #PolicyMaking #PostGrowth #PostGrowthPolitics #LifeAfterCapitalism #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #WellbeingEconomy #Degrowth


“Care is a principle, not just a sub-sector of t
“Care is a principle, not just a sub-sector of the economy, not something that we wave around to try and claim the moral high ground for, but a principle. And the basis of that principle is restorative.

Ultimately, this way of thinking about care is a kind of a red pill. We’ve lived in the growth matrix for a long time. And it has created unpayable healthcare bills. It has created dysfunction. It’s driving us towards war. It’s a point in time in which we have to be prepared to look at the things as hard as we can in the way that they are presented to us in the world. And to explore into that depth and into that misery, even when it confronts our own prejudices.

And ask, in fact, whether the future for sustainable consumption and indeed for humanity might have much more to do with this idea that we are organic beings in search of balance. And that care is the restorative force that will lead us there.”

🎥 Full video via → cusp.ac.uk (🔝 or follow link in bio)

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#TheCareEconomy #PostGrowth #LifeAfterCapitalism #ProsperityWithoutGrowth #Degrowth #BeyondGrowth #PostWachstum #ÖkonomieDerFürsorge #WohlstandOhneWachstum #Postcroissance #Decroissance #decrecimiento #WellbeingEconomy #CareEconomy #HealthEconomics #Care #PhilosophyOfCare


Parliamentary Work

APPG Logo
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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