About Dr Katherine Trebeck
Katherine is mainly based in Australia, but every now and again makes it back to her beloved Scotland. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she loves Australian gum trees, the rain, and the Scottish mountains. When life allows she is invariably cooking for friends, ideally accompanied by a glass or two of Aussie wine and almost inevitably some old school music!
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SELECTED VIDEOS
Post growth in practice
Examples in Canberra filmed for the PGI
Building a wellbeing economy from the city up
Auckland conversations
Addressing today’s crises
European Policy Centre policy dialogue
The economic basis of happiness
Happiness and its causes conference
Wealth of Nations 2.0
Opening remarks to WEAll Scotland’s conference
Jim Chalmers has promised a wellbeing budget – what could it look like?
Interview for ABC 730 Report
Global Ethical Finance Initiative
Conversation with Kaisie Rayner
Vandaag het gesprek met Katherine Trebeck
Erno Hannink interview.
Why the future economy should focus on well-being and not just GDP.
ABC News.
What a wellbeing economy can do for all Australians
George Institute webinar.
What comes after neoliberalism?
Debating Europe discussion alongside Yanis Varoufakis & Martin Wolf.
Reflecting on the WEAll journey
Interview with WEAll Scotland’s Frances Raynor
Delivering wellbeing with Doughnut Economics
Conversation with Kate Raworth & Sophie Howe, hosted by WEAll Cymru Wales Hub
Keynote for Institute of Directors annual conference
Building an Economy of Wellbeing
Interview for Victorian Council of Social Services
Understanding the Wellbeing Economy
Brussels Economic Forum debate
“For a sustainable post-covid recovery, this forum believes we should replace GDP with an alternative well-being indicator”. June 2021
Keynote to Australia 21 conference
Wellbeing budgets and the Wellbeing Economy Agenda
ZERO conference on Wellbeing Economy
From 45 minutes (but the first section is worth watching!)
Power to the People: Wealth & Wellbeing
Development Trusts NI conference
Campaign launch for a new parliamentary petition
Hosted by Caroline Lucas MP & the APPG on Limits to Growth
Scottish Climate Assembly
Why our measures of progress need to change to address the climate emergency
New Economy Discussion
What is the Wellbeing Economy and why should we value the wellbeing of people and the planet more? Hosted by Pakhuis De Zwijger.
Scotland: The Recovery
Exploring how Scotland can move forward to build an inclusive post-pandemic society and well-being economy
For more videos see my video archive here
SELECTED PODCASTS
Why is a ‘well-being economy’ important?
Research is being done globally into the idea of a wellbeing economy, starting with a wellbeing budget, and the concept is already being trialled.
How does it work? And could it help relieve the rising cost of living?
#115 FEPS Talks
In this FEPS talk episode Katherine Trebeck, co-founder of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, and Andreas Dimmelmeier, Policy Analyst on Climate and Environment, introduce and debate about the concept of a Wellbeing economy.
Kicking Policy Goals
On the final episode of Policy Forum Pod for 2022, Katherine Trebeck and Millie Rooney join us to reflect on this year’s big policy issues and consider the opportunities for change that lie before us.
How a ‘well-being’ based economy can save the planet
Katherine Trebeck presented at the RCS Convergence Conference last July and her compelling session there and this interview centres around the economies of the world, their often misguided methods of measurement and indicators of ‘success’, and introduces the principles of the ‘wellbeing economy’, focusing on more human and community-centric measures of success and prosperity.
Rethinking Economics to Create Shared Prosperity
As the impacts of climate breakdown intensify, the cost of living crisis takes hold globally, and levels of inequality remain stubbornly high, it begs the question: is our economic system working to meet the needs of people and the planet?
For more podcasts see my podcast archive here
BLOGS & ARTICLES
For Blogs and Articles pre-dating 2018 please click PDF button below
BOOKS
Towards Sustainable Well-Being: Moving beyond GDP in Canada and the World
Towards Sustainable Well-Being (edited by Anders Hayden, Céofride Gaudet and Jeffrey Wilson) examines existing efforts and emerging possibilities to improve upon gross domestic product as the dominant indicator of economic and social performance. Contributions from leading international and Canadian researchers in the field of beyond-GDP measurement offer a rich range of perspectives on alternative ways to measure well-being and sustainability, along with lessons from around the world on how to bring those metrics into the policy process.
Thrive: fundamentals for a new economy
In ‘Thrive. Fundamentals for a New Economy’, Kees Klomp and Shinta Oosterwaal provide insights into alternative approaches that are sustainable and just for both society and the planet. In twenty-four essays, internationally renowned economic thinkers share the alternatives, such as doughnut economics, wellbeing economics, common good economics, regenerative economics, commons economics, local economics, bioregional economics, indigenous economics and degrowth economics. Each provides a realistic and enticing vision of a thriving future.
Scotland After The Virus
Scotland After the Virus is a book responding to Scotland’s experience of the COVID pandemic and imagining Scotland after the virus.
Edited by Gerry Hassan & Simon Barrow who have previously collaborated with A Nation Changed in 2017 and Scotland the Brave? in 2019, this is their first book to include fiction and poetry as well as nonfiction. The book has sections covering politics, wellbeing, equality, culture and more.
The Economics of Arrival: ideas for a grown-up economy (with Jeremy Williams)
What do people and planet really need from the economy? Is the quality of life undermined by the drive for economic growth at all costs? In this provocative book, Trebeck and Williams describe a new challenge: a move from expansion to inclusion.
New Thinking for the British Economy
Neoliberalism – the set of economic ideas and policies that have dominated politics for the past 40 years – is rapidly losing legitimacy in the face of multiple crises: stagnant or falling living standards, sharply rising inequality of income and wealth, financial fragility and environmental breakdown. At this critical juncture, new ideas about the kind of society we want to live in, and the future we want to see, are needed more than ever.
‘Fletcher and Steve’
Chapter in Knock Twice (edited by Andrew Simms), a new collection of 25 modern folk tales for troubling times. Realising the limits of facts and policy alone to change the world, an innovative group of leading experts on many of the most critical issues facing us – from climate change to inequality and corrupt corporations- has written folk tales for our troubling times.
Tackling Timorous Economics
What is the best way to run a country? How long should a person be obliged to work every day? What will the economy look like after Brexit?
In this new take on the Scottish economy, experts Trebeck, Boyd and Kerevan address how our economy can serve us, as opposed to the people serving the economy. They believe that current economic policies are not aligned with what we as people need in these times of rampant inequality and inequitable distribution, advocating an increased focus on the quality of Scotland’s economy.
Wellbeing and Quality of Life Assessment
Human development may encompass social, cultural and spiritual facets as well as economic improvement, and development organizations are beginning to recognize this fact. But building into programming a wider understanding of development throws up a number of questions: how do our organizations define wellbeing and quality of life?
What do target communities in the global north or south mean by a quality of life? How can we measure change in wellbeing, and attribute it to our programming?
After Independence
At the height of the Scottish Independence debate, After Independence offers an in-depth and varied exploration of the possibilities for Scotland, from both pro and anti-independence standpoints.
Drawing together over two dozen leading minds on the subject, After Independence offers a comprehensive and balanced analysis of Scotland’s current and prospective political, economic, social and cultural situation.
Marketing for Morality? The Scottish Case and the Humankind Index
Place marketing strategies are becoming increasingly sophisticated with city branding, in particular, developing as an important subfield within this literature (Kotler et al., 2002). City branding campaigns often highlight consumption opportunities which may be seen as a means of promoting recovering from the identity crisis caused by de-industrialization. Indeed, Miles (2010) suggests that the consuming city has become central to urban life to the extent that policy-makers and urban planners focus on consumption at the expense of anything else.
Mothering, Poverty and Consumption
Chapter (with Kathy Hamilton and Lisa Glass) in Motherhoods, Markets and Consumption The Making of Mothers in Contemporary Western Cultures (edited by O’Donohoe, Hogg et al).
This chapter focuses on the experiences of mothers in poverty within the context of UK consumer culture. We follow relative poverty definition, referring to those who lack the resources necessary to participate in the normal customs of society and are unable to obtain goods and services needed for an ‘adequate’ and ‘socially acceptable’ standard of living (Darley and Johnson 1985: 206).
PROJECTS
Being Bold: Wellbeing Budgets for Children
Lead author
Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland
Co-Founder
Schumacher Institute
Distinguished Fellow
Wellbeing Economy Alliance
Senior Strategic Advisor
Wellbeing Economy Governments
Instigator
Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP)
Advisory Board Member
What happens when we ask ‘but why?’ and turn our attention to the underlying patterns of power, inequality and environmental impact?
Katherine takes audiences into a conversation about the root causes of today’s great challenges. With a blend of humour and insights of a range of prospects and evidence she makes the complex accessible, sparks new ways of thinking and spurs audiences to explore their role in making the world a better place
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