Professor Milena Büchs

Profile

Professor Milena Büchs specialises in sustainable welfare, social-ecological policy and just transitions. Milena’s research focuses on questions such as 1) how can we develop greener and more growth-independent welfare states and social policies; 2) how can the distributional and wellbeing impacts of climate policies be improved; 3) how can we understand and promote transitions towards postgrowth / wellbeing economies?

Milena joined SRI in 2016. Prior to that, she was lecturing at the University of Southampton in Sociology and Social Policy (2005-16). During winter semester 2023, she was a guest professor at the University of Vienna.

Research interests

Current research projects

Co-I in the Horizon Europe project MAPS “Models, Assessment and Policies for Sustainability” (2024-2028). I lead the work package on “Safeguarding Social Outcomes in a Postgrowth Context”.

Co-I in the Horizon Europe project ToBe “Towards a sustainable wellbeing economy”. Our work package conducts wellbeing economy case studies in the global north and the global south to understand drivers and barriers to transformation.

Co-I on the Competence Centre on Just Transitions, Hans-Böckler Foundation (2023-2026).

Previous research projects (selection)

PI of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie project “ShaRe – The potential of Sharing Resources for mitigating carbon emissions and other environmental impacts” (2019-2023), MSC Individual Fellow: Dr Diana Ivanova

Co-I in the UK Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS) (2018-23). In a paper I led for Nature Energy, we demonstrate that targeting high energy use can achieve substantial emission savings, even if fuel poverty is addressed.

PI of the ESRC project "Who emits most" which examined the inequality of carbon emissions of UK households, and estimated implications for distributional effects of market-based climate mitigation policies. The dataset from that project is available from the UK Data Service. 

• Models, Assessment, and Policies for Sustainability (MAPS)
• ShaRe: The potential of Sharing Resources for mitigating carbon emissions and other environmental impacts
• Towards an economy for sustainable well-being: Integrated policies and transformative indicators (ToBe)
• Transforming essential provision systems through eco-social corridors (HABITATION-CORRIDORS)

Qualifications

• PhD in Social Policy, Humboldt University Berlin (Summa cum laude / Distinction)
• MSc Sociology with Political Science and Economics, University of Berlin (Distinction)

Research groups and institutes

• Sustainability Research Institute
• Economics and Policy for Sustainability
• Social and Political Dimensions of Sustainability
• Energy and Climate Change Mitigation

Current postgraduate researchers

• Catherine Graves
• Mathilde Rainard
• Sop Satchwell
• Gina Moran
• Tom Webb (he/him)