Research at the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity

At the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP), our mission is clear: to build a prosperous and sustainable global future rooted in fairness, justice and a long-term understanding of humanity’s place within the Earth’s systems. 

We challenge dominant economic paradigms by recognising that economies and societies are inseparable from the health of natural systems, and that genuine prosperity must remain within planetary boundaries, while advancing social equity and intergenerational justice. 

Of particular importance to our approach is the way in which we integrate non-academic expertise into knowledge generation by engaging with governments, policy makers, business, civil society, the arts and local communities. 

Our transdisciplinary approach – integrating social sciences, ecological economics, and systems thinking – enables us to co-design context-sensitive pathways toward sustainable, regenerative and inclusive prosperity.

We follow the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics. Read our statement on voluntary compliance.

Research themes

Our research is organised in four core research themes.

These themes are grounded in tangible work. They are supported by long-standing projects, innovative short courses, and collaborations at both national and international levels. 

Each theme encompasses “dense moments” of research and practice – high-impact initiatives that sustain and expand our impact.