We will introduce the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI). Up to now no UBI has been implemented anywhere in the world. Therefore we will inform about the experience of some Basic Income pilots and Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) trials which have some characteristics of UBI. There is empirical evidence from these experiments that cash recipients start new businesses to respond to needs in their communities and become more entrepreneurial and innovative in their activities. We will explore whether UBI should be paid in a local rather than a national currency in order to promote ethical consumption and strengthen local communities. There are good conceptual reasons to assume that a UBI will facilitate the democratisation of organisations including corporations. This is described as the ability of UBI recipients to say NO. We will discuss these questions in small groups and summarize our group findings in a plenary.

Timing:

Presentation (10 mins) followed by small group sessions (30 mins) and final plenary session (20 mins)

Facilitators:

Jonny Douglas (UBI Lab Network and Sheffield), Alison Hawdale (UBI Lab Manchester), Reinhard Huss (UBI Lab Leeds), Daniel Mermelstein (UBI Lab London)