Interest in Universal Basic Income (UBI) has grown significantly in recent years, resulting in a rising number of UBI pilots emerging around the world. Yet, up until now, no global platform existed to create connections across this evolving research and policy landscape.

The newly launched UBI Piloters Network responds to this gap by bringing together researchers, policymakers, activists, and civil society actors interested or engaged in trialling UBI.

The network is convened by researchers from the Department of Social & Policy Sciences (SPS) and the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Bath, in partnership with the University of Freiburg’s Institute for Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS) and the Basic Income Earth Network. It aims to facilitate new collaborations, share key learnings, establish best practice, and support UBI researchers in engaging effectively with policymakers.

Dr Neil Howard, one of the network convenors at Bath, comments:

“We are really excited to bring this network together. All over the world, people are realising that existing social protection systems are unfit for purpose, unable to support us in the face of mounting economic and ecological crises. This is why interest in basic income is exploding, and why new pilots and experiments are launching every week. Our aim is to bring the community of researchers, policymakers, and civil society actors behind these pilots together, to share learnings, to develop best practice, and to support transformative evidence-based policy-making”.

The network curates a monthly newsletter that brings together updates from across the piloting community, featuring updates on recent research, policy developments, potential gatherings, publications, and opportunities for collaboration. It will also host a variety of events, including an online seminar series, a hybrid Winter School on ‘How to Build a Pilot’, and the world’s first ever conference of UBI piloters, to be hosted by FRIBIS in summer 2024.