The UBI Piloters Network brings together researchers, policymakers, activists, and civil society actors interested or engaged in trialling Unconditional Basic Income (UBI). The space is convened by the University of Bath, the University of Freiburg’s Institute for Basic Income Studies, and the Basic Income Earth Network. We aim to create connection across the UBI piloting field, to build new collaborations, share key learnings, and establish best practice. Sign up to our newsletter here and read on to learn more.
Research, policy, and activist interest in UBI has exploded in recent years, and this has led to a huge rise in the number of global UBI pilots. Yet for all this amazing growth, until now, no global platform has existed for sharing UBI pilot findings, creating community across the piloting field, or supporting researchers to engage effectively with policymaker audiences. The UBI Piloters Network aims to remedy these issues by building and curating the world’s first global network of UBI piloters, taking inspiration from the work of the Basic Income Earth Network and US UBI Community of Practice.
Launched in Summer 2023, The UBI Piloters 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.
The Network also hosts an online seminar series for piloters to share recent findings and discuss emerging developments. It will host a hybrid Winter School on ‘How To Build A Pilot’, and convene the world’s first ever conference of UBI piloters – hosted in Germany in Summer 2024.
If you have ideas for how to expand this work and make it more relevant to you and the UBI piloting community, please do get in touch! We want this to work for the community it aims to serve.
Please also share the Network with piloters far and wide!
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Our Partners
The UBI Piloters Network is a collaboration between the University of Bath (in particular the UBI piloting WorkFREE research team), the Freiburg Institute of Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS – especially the UBI Experiments Team), and the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN). Seed funding has come from Bath, FRIBIS, and the European Research Council.
The University of Bath is a leading centre of UBI research in the UK and is in the process of building a UK UBI Beacon to nurture the next generation of UBI scholars, activists, and engaged policymakers. At Bath, WorkFREE brings together scholars, activists and civil society institutions from India and the UK to pilot ‘UBI+’ in four informal settlements in inner-city Hyderabad, India. UBI+ combines universal basic income (UBI) and needs-focused, participatory community organising in order to support people to increase their power to meet their needs. The two-year pilot seeks to answer a wide range of questions, including ‘What impact does UBI+ have on people’s freedom from exploitation?’ and ‘Can UBI+ support the green transition?’.
FRIBIS is an interdisciplinary network at the University of Freiburg dedicated to research on Universal Basic Income. By bringing together researchers and civil society actors from all over the world, we aim to provide a sound, well-researched foundation for the public and political discourse on Basic Income. In this way, it wants to contribute to transformation towards a more just and sustainable society.
BIEN is a global network of UBI activists and researchers. Drawing on its unique Basic Income expertise built over decades of work, BIEN strives to be a globally trusted, go-to source of information and analysis around Basic Income. BIEN builds connective tissue between people and institutions working on Basic Income, be these activists, campaigners, researchers, governments or civil society organisations. And BIEN aims to catalyse local and global debate and work to push the boundaries of what is possible, all in the direction of a more just, caring society.
The ERC is a major Europe Union research funding agency at the heart of research and innovation across the continent.
Share Your Stories and Contact Us
If you have UBI Piloting New to share, other relevant material to go out in the Newsletter, ideas you want to run buy us, or plans to pitch, please get in touch with us here: piloters@basicincome.org
In order to stand as a candidate, the individual will need to have been a BIEN member for at least a year, will need to say to which post they wish to be elected, and will need to send a picture (suitable for placing on a website) and a personal statement, of a minimum of 200 and a maximum of 500 words, saying why they wish to be elected to that post, mentioning their qualifications and experience relevant to the post and ideas they have about filling it.
Voting will take place at the online General Assembly using the Zoom poll facility. If more than two candidates are standing for any post then a runoff poll will be held between the two candidates with the highest numbers of votes.
The 2023 General Assembly will be held on Saturday, 26 August 2023 at 13:00 British Summer Time (UTC+1).
The window of time to stand for election is now open and closes on the 15th of July. Candidates are encouraged to notify the BIEN EC by the 15th of June of their intention to stand by informing the Secretary of the post for which they wish to stand, and to send personal statements and photographs as soon as possible after that. BIEN’s Secretary, Diana Bashur can be reached at: diana.bashur@basicincome.org
Enquiries about positions can be made informally to the Chair, Sarath Davala, and BIEN’s Secretary.
BIEN is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission in the United Kingdom. Anyone elected to the EC will need to be able and willing to sign the trustee declaration.
The timeline will be as follows
15 July: final day for receipt of statements of intention to stand, personal statements, and photos. Earlier submission is encouraged. Please write to BIEN’s Secretary, Diana Bashur at: diana.bashur@basicincome.org
30 July : The final list of candidates will appear on this webpage.
26 August: Election by secret ballot at the GA, using the Zoom poll facility. If there is only one candidate for any post, then a confirmatory ballot will be held and the person standing for election will be elected if they obtain more than 50% of the votes cast. If more than two candidates stand for any post then a run-off ballot will be held between the two candidates who receive the highest numbers of votes in the first ballot.
Please note that under paragraph 9 (1) (b) of the constitution the Executive Committee has decided not to receive new applications for membership of BIEN at the GA or within a week of the GA.
A meeting of the Basic Income Earth Network General Assembly will be held online, in connection with the 2023 BIEN Congress, on Saturday, 26 August 2023 at 13:00h British Summer Time (UTC+1).
If you are interested in becoming a member, you can do so by following the few simple steps outlined here. Please note that new memberships cannot be received at the meeting or during the week before it.
Invitation to affiliated organizations to apply to host the 2025 congress. Please apply by writing to the secretary at diana.bashur@basicincome.org.
The following documents will be useful for members to review ahead of this year’s General Assembly meeting:
BIEN’s constitution, as amended following the general meeting of members held on the 17th December 2020 and subsequently agreed by the UK Charity Commission.
BIEN’s internal rules as amended following the general meeting of members held on the 17th December 2020.
A meeting of the Basic Income Earth Network General Assembly will be held online, in connection with the 2022 BIEN Congress, on 26 August 2023 at 13:00h British Summer Time (UTC+1).
This meeting will constitute the Annual General Meeting of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN)
If you would like to have copies of the papers with you at the meeting, please print them out or have them available on your screen.
Draft Agenda
13.00
1
Opening of GA and welcome
13.05
2
Confirmation by the Chair that a register of members present has been taken
13.07
3
Approval of the agenda
13.10
4
Approval of the minutes of the 2022 General Assembly
13.15
5
Matters arising from the minutes not elsewhere on the agenda
13.25
6
Treasurer’s report, annual report and accounts for 2022, and financial statement for the period 1st January to 30th June 2023.
13.30
7
Appointment of auditor: Proposal that Tony Garrood should be reappointed as auditor.
13.35
8
Elections to the Executive Committee: 1. Chair; 2. Vice Chair; 3. Affiliates Coordinator; 4. Academic Research Editor
13.50
9
Report from the Chair and Vice-Chair
14.00
10
Other Executive Committee reports
14.10
11
Report from the Clarification of the Basic Income Definition working group established at the 2019 General Assembly
14.20
12
Affiliation requests received: Sri Lanka
14.30
13
Bath, UK as venue for the 2024 congress
14.40
14
Venue for the 2025 congress
14.50
14
Any other business (which should be notified to the Chair before the meeting begins)
14.55
15
Close of meeting
The rules for running the General Assembly will be those found in BIEN’s constitution. Those rules likely to be relevant to the management of the General Assembly are as follows:
10 (2) Taking ordinary decisions by vote … any decision of the members of the CIO may be taken by means of a resolution at a general meeting. Such a resolution may be passed by a simple majority of votes cast at the meeting …
11 (3) (a) The charity trustees … must give at least 14 clear days notice of any general meeting to all of the members … (b) If it is agreed by not less than 90% of all members of the CIO, any resolution may be proposed and passed at the meeting even though the requirements of sub-clause (3) (a) of this clause have not been met. This sub-clause does not apply where a specified period of notice is strictly required.
11 (4) Chairing of general meetings. The person nominated as chair … shall, if present at the general meeting and willing to act, preside as chair of the meeting. Subject to that, the members of the CIO who are present at a general meeting shall elect a chair to preside at the meeting.
11 (5) Quorum at general meetings. No business may be transacted at any general meeting of the members of the CIO unless a quorum is present when the meeting starts. … the quorum for general meetings shall be the greater of 3% or three members. …
Basic Income, Solidarity Economy and Social Protection
The 24th BIEN CONGRESS in Maricá & Niterói – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 27-29 August 2025
Maricá provides unconditional transfers to almost half of its population. 7 other cities in the state of Rio de Janeiro have already created their own local currencies inspired by Maricá’s Citizens Basic Income. Our other host city, Niterói provides transfers benefiting more than 100,000 individuals.
Pre-congress events: Latin America Day: 25 Aug. & Early Career Day: 26 Aug.
