What is the research question you are focusing on 
? Or where do you see research gaps that need to be addressed? Share your thoughts in this thread 
!
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I have been thinking about how to work Wellbeing Economy thinking into my master’s thesis, and have arrived at what I think is quite a difficult topic to address: How does investment look in a Wellbeing Economy?
Obviously, the growth paradigm must be abandoned. However, at least in the transitional period, allocating funding to technological advancements, research, green transition projects etc. seems important. The current model is untenable, but what are the possible alternatives?
My starting points are some of Mariana Mazzucato’s work on public/private collaborations, as well as cooperatives as an alternative to private enterprise. I would be very interested in any thoughts you all have on this topic, and especially on possible case studies that could help illuminate it.
Thank you
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I’m looking at this research question and susiduary questions: “In what ways can urban communities establish deeper relationships with place,
strengthening care and environmental stewardship through bioregioning practices?”
- How do bioregioning practices transform individuals’ relationships with place?
- Does bioregioning increase the will for biospheric egalitarianism?
- Has bioregionalism helped them improve their health?
- Do they feel greater stewardship through their relationship with the place?
- How can bioregioning be used to engage the public to edrvie change to a wellbeing economy?
If Bioregiing is a new concept to anyone reading, this podcast explains it well.
Essentially bioregioning is an ancient tool called indigenous wisdom, that needs a name due to the system the word runs on… It’s a bottom up approach to system change, founded on prosocial behaviours to improve life conditions for all living things.
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That sounds like a really interesting piece of work @BenBleet! Thanks so much for sharing. In which part of the world are you doing your study? There are other people in the WEAll network also focusing on bioregional approaches, so do let me know if you’d like me to connect you with them. You can reach me at margreet@weall.org.
OK, I’m just gonna assume this question is completely open to the public. Lol this question has been living rent free in my head since I read it and I can’t sleep. 
I believe your assumption that the “growth paradigm must be abandoned” is mistaken. My thinking on this is that investment is kinda perfect for a transitional gift economy. Now this requires some context so please just stick with me, I promise it’s leading somewhere 
.
This starts for me by considering the question “How do we prevent the name of Hitler from going the way of Alexander or the USA “founding fathers"?” While understanding that Hitler is just an easy and extreme example of “person who does harm”. After much internal debate and some external confirmation (neither of which I’m gonna address here to keep this from getting too long) I came to the conclusion that creating a decentralized name striking ceremony that is directly tied to your contributions to a society is a plausible solution, especially when combined with modern tech, decentralization and federation similar to what the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy used, and…. social norms…. (Or something, that last one ran away from me, I’m very tired). Essentially, the more tangible good a community feels your contribution did, the longer they go without striking your name. Your deeds are kept and become history but your name dies. As all things should, one might say in a ceremony.
OK, now we’ve established that (though feel free to dig into it) I’ll ask some questions. Could we translate investment and growth into raw material goods, spread out by need and counted as a percentage that goes towards the total length of time you’re remembered for? Maybe you’re even remembered by each group you helped in proximity to how much they feel you helped…?
I don’t have any sources for you off hand, not even sure I have any for this. It might be an original idea, but I’ve read and listened to a lot on this subject, so I’m not at all confident enough to claim that either.
Hope to hear everyone’s thoughts when you have time!
Shawn
Hiya - just thought I’d share a little bit about my ongoing PhD research, and guiding question: How does the discursive power of the wellbeing economy movement enable and constrain the conditions for a post-growth paradigm shift?
It arises from the observation that political economy scholarship often explains the persistence of growth-oriented neoliberal norms through the power that market actors exert over the state, overlooking the mutually reinforcing nature of the state–market nexus. Further, civil society is commonly marginalised and treated as having only a residual influence on economic paradigms – a dynamic ascribed to its comparatively limited structural and institutional power.
But it is within the civil sphere that post-growth imaginaries and paradigmatic challenges most frequently emerge. My goal is to somewhat address that contradiction by re-centring civil society and reflexively considering the active role it plays in determining the outcomes of contests over the legitimacy of economic growth - both as a mode of organisation and way of thinking.
To narrow down a manageable definition of conditions, I’m drawing on Buch-Hansen’s work on pre-conditions for a degrowth paradigm shift (crisis, alternative project, social coalition and passive consent). I treat crisis as exogenous and am building up the evidence base for how the WE impacts the remaining three conditions.
The initial work I’ve done is around conceptualising post-growth as a collection of political projects, which then enables comparison with discursive histories of early Keynesianism & neoliberalism. The messy part now is trying to map the recursive determinants and impacts of coalition building - in a regionally defined case. I’m fortunate to be working with the absolutely fantastic WEAll Aotearoa team on this (and will be spending March with them). So…
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First, apologies if you’re in Aotearoa New Zealand and I’ve been pestering you for an interview.
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I’d love to speak to as many people as possible; so if are someone (of know of anyone) I should speak to about advancing or contesting a wellbeing economy - please do get in touch.
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Happy to share manuscripts, swap notes or chat to anyone who might find this kind of work useful. Also, can speak to or help facilitate introductions in Japan - which is a great example of the tensions between beyond growth narratives and the allure of a return-to-growth.
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Thanks so much for sharing this update, Chris @CJM250 - what a fascinating project you’re working on! And yes - the WEAll Aotearoa team is truly brilliant, so pleased to know you’re working on this with them. Of course, do let us - at the global team - know as well if ever we can be of help.
And I’d love to encourage others in this group to share your updates as well! It’s great to know what everyone is working on, so that we can make cross-linkages where relevant 
.
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