The growth dependence of welfare states: Drivers and policy responses

Professor Milena Büchs is coming to The Diamond at the University of Sheffield on Thursday 19 November to talk about why welfare states depend on economic growth, and whether that link can be broken. The talk is titled The growth dependence of welfare states: drivers and policy responses, and it's part of the 'Rethinking Prosperity on a Finite Planet' series run by the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures.

Büchs is a Professor of Sustainable Welfare at the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds, and the talk draws on research funded by the Horizon Europe MAPS project (Models, Assessments and Policy for Sustainability), on which she leads a work package. She's also a Co-Investigator on the Horizon Europe project ToBe. Before her time at Leeds, she held posts at the University of Southampton and completed her PhD at Humboldt University Berlin; her work focuses on sustainable welfare, eco-social policy, just transitions, and climate justice.

The evening is set up as a hybrid, so you can join in person or from home. For those heading into the city, there's a drinks reception for in-person attendees before the talk, followed by an audience Q&A and some informal networking afterwards. The whole thing runs from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, with the talk itself starting at 5:30pm.

It's free of charge, and the venue is Lecture Theatre 3, The Diamond, University of Sheffield, 32 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield, S3 7RD.