Models, Assessment and Policies for Sustainability (MAPS)

CUSP partnering in new EU Horizons project to investigate key policy levers for a transition to a postgrowth economy
July 2024

Image: courtesy of Denis Kovalev/Unsplash

CUSP researchers at the University of Surrey are joining a newly formed international consortium of esteemed research institutions and practice partners to contribute their research and modelling expertise to the new MAPS project: Models, Assessment and Policies for Sustainability.

Funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, the research network is coordinated by the University of Barcelona. Other partner organisations include University of Pisa, the Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento in Portugal, University of Leeds, Corvinus University of Budapest, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Tampere University, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and the ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies. 

Bringing together leading experts in postgrowth economics from across Europe, the project aims to strengthen policy proposals that are not only environmentally and socioeconomically meaningful but politically feasible and synergistic in nature. 

Complementing the funding from Laudes Foundation, the EU grant allows CUSP researchers to continue their pioneering work in conceptualising and modelling the macroeconomic outcomes of a postgrowth transition. Leading the work package at CUSP, Andrew Jackson will advance his investigation into the potential impacts on public debt dynamics and how monetary and fiscal policy might be used to prevent unsustainable increases in the public debt-to-GDP ratio. Mitigating potential effects on inequality will also be part of his inquiry. The MAPS project is further co-funding research by Christine Corlet Walker, Dario Leoni and Ben Gallant, who will deepen our analysis of growth dependencies in the pension and healthcare systems. By employing macroeconomic modelling, as well as qualitative and quantitative analysis, the team hopes to further develop policy options towards growth independence. With the new funding, Dario will also be able to deepen his work around Post Growth and the North-South Divide.

We will be sharing updates as and when they arise. For further details about the grant, please see the EU Horizons website. For inquiries about this strand of work, please email info@cusp.ac.uk.