The Price of 5 A Day?
Fruit and veg prices are set to rise 170% by 2050 due to the climate crisis.
UBS Hub
The UBS Hub is a new initiative within Autonomy’s Public Futures Lab, dedicated to advancing Universal Basic Services (UBS) through rigorous research, strategic advocacy, and practical implementation.
The UBS Hub provides robust evidence, policy design, and innovative communications to place UBS at the heart of public debate and policymaking. Our activities include:
Data & research
Producing detailed costing models, impact analyses, feasibility studies, and comprehensive reports that underpin the case for UBS.
Pilots & trials
We work with local authorities to design and help deliver innovations in service provision
Advocacy & communications
Developing compelling narratives and strategic campaigns to bring UBS into mainstream political and public discourse.
Network & collaboration
Convening policymakers, local authorities, academics, designers, technologists, and civil society organisations to develop and pilot UBS solutions in practice.
The concept of UBS — providing universal access to essentials like healthcare, education, housing, transport, and more — has become increasingly urgent amidst ongoing economic instability, the cost-of-living crisis, and environmental threats. UBS offers:
Equity & participation
Ensuring that basic needs are met universally, removing barriers to participation in society and the economy.
Resilience & sustainability
Protecting communities from market volatility by securing essential services through collective provision.
Freedom & prosperity
Allowing citizens to thrive, not just survive, by guaranteeing a shared foundation of high-quality public infrastructures.
Our vision goes beyond basic provision: we’re redefining public services through the lens of Public Luxury — a concept that envisions abundant, elegantly designed, and collectively-owned infrastructures.
Meet the team
Julian Siravo
Autonomy Co-Director
Julian leads Autonomy’s urban research, focusing on issues like ageing populations, future care models, and adaptive workspaces. He co-authored the ‘Working Nights’ report and brings architectural insights to designing services for vulnerable night workers. His free time is spent cooking for his friends and wild camping.
Phil Jones
Senior Researcher
Phil is a Senior Researcher. His expertise lies in precarious work, clickwork, crowdwork and the surrounding policy options. He is the author of Work Without the Worker (Verso, 2021).
Liam Mullally
Researcher
Liam has has worked on a range of Autonomy projects, and is the author of blog series exploring cyber-utopianism and the history of the internet. He is also a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, where his research focuses on the history of computing, information theory, and the politics and philosophy of noise. He has experience as a copywriter and journalist.
Luiz Garcia
Quantitative Economist
Luiz is a quantitative economist versed in heterodox and mainstream theories. With the Autonomy Data Unit (ADU), he assesses work relations through micro and macroeconomic modelling in multiregional and multisectoral scenarios.
Interested in collaborating, supporting our work, or joining our growing network?
Contact Julian Siravo, UBS Hub Lead: julian@autonomy.work
Coverage of our report on tourism and public luxury in the Mirror
Coverage of our report on tourism and public luxury in the Mirror.
The Future of Tourism: Holidays as Public Luxury
Read the new report from our UBS Hub setting out a new vision of tourism in terms of public infrastructure.
On the horizon: climate-induced inflation and the price of food
Read our new report on the rising phenomenon of “climateflation,” analysing how climate-related shocks around the globe are set to significantly drive up food prices in the UK.
Cooperative public services in practice: lessons from Argentina’s Empresa Pública de Alimentos
Read our briefing about how the how the Empresa Pública de Alimentos (EPA) in Rosario, Argentina is redefining food distribution, blending cooperative ownership with municipal support.
Coverage of our report on ‘Climateflation’ in the Guardian
Coverage of our report on ‘Climateflation’ in the Guardian
Associate Director Tatiana Pignon writes about our extreme temperature research for Mediapart
Associate Director Tatiana Pignon writes about our extreme temperature research for Mediapart
Interview: Implementing Universal Basic Services (UBS) in Camden
Hugh Smith from Camden Council talks to our UBS Hub about the organisation’s pioneering work into Universal Basic Services.
Universal Basic Services: Building public luxury
Read our new report setting out a transformative vision for Universal Basic Services (UBS) as a foundation for collective flourishing.