Investigating potential trade-offs between economic growth, societal welfare and environmental sustainability
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Centre for Environment & Sustainability
Abstract
The primary aim of this PhD is to investigate potential trade-offs between societal well-being, environmental sustainability and economic growth. Considering degrowth (or 'planned recession') as a potential route to achieving environmental sustainability, using a comparative case study approach to develop a detailed understanding of the mechanisms which allow some regions to navigate periods of recession with fewer negative impacts on societal well-being than others. This will be augmented by an econometric analysis to understand how these relationships scale up to the country-level. Finally, policy appraisal will be conducted, evaluating specific degrowth policies using a range of social, environmental and economic criteria. This PhD will contribute to the literature by deepening our understanding of how we can achieve environmental sustainability and societal well-being in a low- or de-growth economy.
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P00072X/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2124391 | Studentship | ES/P00072X/1 | 01/10/2018 | 31/03/2023 | Christine Corlet Walker |
| Description | UKRI Policy Internship - Department for Work and Pensions |
| Organisation | Department for Work and Pensions |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I spent 3 months working full-time in the analytical team of the intensive employment support department at DWP. |
| Collaborator Contribution | I was supervised by a member of the analytical team. I was also provided with computer equipment and work space (until COVID moved us to working from home). |
| Impact | I conducted a literature review of the evidence of the link between specific soft outcome measures (e.g. confidence, self-efficacy, etc.) and employment outcomes. I also developed a database of soft outcome indicators, to be used by DWP to evaluate their employment support programmes. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | COP24: climate protesters must get radical and challenge economic growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An article about why COP24 climate protesters need to challenge economic growth. The intention was to engage a broader public audience with the ideas of a postgrowth economy. The article achieved 6776 reads, 58 retweets and 1084 shares on facebook. It was engaged with by people from the UK, France, Germany and the US. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/cop24-climate-protesters-must-get-radical-and-challenge-economic-growth-... |
| Description | Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity, Interdisciplinary Research Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation entitled: "How will the welfare system cope without economic growth?" to an interdisciplinary team from multiple universities and institutions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Department for Work and Pensions talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I presented the outputs of my 3-month internship to the analytical community at DWP. According to my manager: 71 colleagues at all levels within DWP joined the presentation, which demonstrated the level of interest in soft outcomes, and means awareness of soft outcomes and measurement tools has increased greatly. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | European Society for Ecological Economics Biannual Conference 2019 - indicator talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk entitled "Moving away from GDP? Aligning indicators of societal well-being with policy-makers' worldviews as a mechanism for enhanced use". 40 academics attended. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | European Society for Ecological Economics Biannual Conference 2019 - welfare talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation entitled "State Welfare Provision and Environmental Protection after Growth" to an audience of approximately 40 academics. The purpose was to stimulate thinking on the subject of how we might design postgrowth welfare systems. I made new connections to other international institutes as a result of the talk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Green growth is trusted to fix climate change - here's the problem with that |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An article about why green growth won't solve the climate change problem. The intention was to engage a broader public audience with the concepts of degrowth and postrgowth economics. The article achieved 16,631 reads, 46 retweets, and 344 hares on facebook. It reached audiences from the UK, US, Australia and Canada. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/green-growth-is-trusted-to-fix-climate-change-heres-the-problem-with-tha... |
| Description | Institut für Sozioökonomie: Institutskolloquium SoSe 2020, Universität Duisburg-Essen |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk entitled "Welfare systems without economic growth: A review of the challenges and next steps for the field" to an audience f approximately 30 academics from the University of Duissberg-Essen. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | International Workshop: Welfare recalibration and the Ecological Crisis, University of Pisa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a presentation entitled "How will the welfare system cope without economic growth?" to approximately 30 academics. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | London Climate Action Wek talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I gave a talk entitled "Doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Why the economics of today isn't fit for the challenges of tomorrow". The talk was to approximately 70 members of the public as part of London Climate Action Week. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |