Transcript Wellbeing Wales Network

Exploring Sustainable
Wellbeing Toolkit
by Dafydd Thomas
Wellbeing Wales Network
Network Coordinator
Non well-being
“I mean, your health really does suffer on here. Everything
does. I mean, I look about 40, I’m 23. Why? Because I live
here. Nobody would take a house on here, nobody. Who’d
want it? ‘Cause it’s just hell really, it’s horrible. But I’m here, so
that’s that, isn’t it?...”
Single mother on a housing estate in Lancaster
Professor Gareth Williams
Cardiff University School of Social Sciences
Major new ‘happiness test’ for the people of Wales
The nation’s “happiness” would be officially
measured under plans to protect and promote
the wellbeing of Welsh people.
Proposals by the Assembly Government to gauge
overall life satisfaction have been welcomed by
health experts and business leaders as a bold way
of building a better balanced country.
Western Mail 1 March 2010
France to count happiness in GDP
“Happiness, long holidays and a sense
of well-being may not be everyone’s
yardstick for economic performance,
but Nicolas Sarkozy believes they should
be embraced by the world in a national
accounting overhaul”
Financial Times 14 September 2009
Easterlin Paradox
“The Gross National Product counts air
pollution and cigarette advertising, and
... the destruction of the redwood and
the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic
sprawl ... Yet [it] does not allow for the
health of our children, the quality of
their education, or the joy of their play
... the beauty of our poetry or the
strength of our marriages ... it measures
everything, in short, except that which
makes life worthwhile.”
Robert Kennedy 1968
Kidz R Us
www.wellbeingwales.org
[email protected]
Please note:
Listening to this presentation will not improve your wellbeing.
Getting involved will.