Month: April 2024

In the battle for a sustainable future, negative messages tend to steal the spotlight. Folks are constantly barraged with what they should not do rather than being shown practical examples of active steps they can take to make a positive difference. 

We spoke with Roger Higman, Director of Network of Wellbeing, about how this network is connecting people passionate about wellbeing for all and providing tangible ways to contribute to a sustainable world.

What inspired you to start advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

I have over 30 years of experience campaigning on environmental issues. Previously, I worked in a variety of positions at Friends of the Earth in London, where I ended up with the responsibility for integrating messages on economics, fairness, and the environment into a coherent whole. 

In doing that, I came to the conclusion that many of the debates that we engaged in (and even the structure of our organizations) focused almost exclusively on the problems we were concerned with: climate change, biodiversity loss, chemical pollution, and so on. As a result, it was easier for us to say what we were against than what we were for. Moreover, those positive visions that had been developed, such as sustainable development, tended to focus on what society should be like rather than what individuals could aspire to. As such, they were difficult to explain and often left a vacuum in which the public heard only negative messages, like “don’t drive,” “don’t fly,” “don’t eat meat,” “don’t use plastics,” and so on. 

So, when I started learning about wellbeing, I was hooked. Here was something we could all aspire to that needn’t cost the Earth. Looking deeper, especially at the evidence from positive psychology, I realized that if we directed societies toward wellbeing, we could create fairer, sustainable civilizations through which everybody could thrive.

For the last nine years, I have been the Director of the Network of Wellbeing (NOW). Our mission is to connect people, support projects, and inspire action for the wellbeing of people and planet. That has enabled me to host debates on the Wellbeing Economy and create practical projects that give an idea of what a Wellbeing Economy might look like in practice.

What do you consider to be your biggest success as an advocate and professional in this space? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you?

Three things. 

Firstly, we’ve brought the UK’s nascent wellbeing movement together through events in ways that hadn’t previously been done. In 2017, and then again in 2019, we organized two Building Wellbeing Together weekends at the lovely Hawkwood College in Stroud. It demonstrated that there were people across the UK and beyond who thought along similar lines and was a factor in the setting up of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll). 

Secondly, in 2017, we set up the Share Shed — A Library of Things. This enables people to borrow things they only use occasionally, thereby enabling people to pursue their dreams while saving them money and reducing the consumption of natural resources. A film made at the launch was viewed over 1.5 million times by people all over the world. In 2021, the Share Shed went mobile as the world’s first travelling library of things. It now serves seven towns weekly and is a testament to how a new Wellbeing Economy could help people meet their needs at lower cost to themselves and the planet. 

Thirdly, you may not believe it but, in 2018, someone gave us a retreat centre! Nestled on a hillside in the Devon countryside, Eden Rise comprises two linked 19th-century barns that have been converted to sleep up to 20 people. It is our very own haven for wellbeing and is used for all sorts of yoga, meditation, and personal development retreats.

How do you feel that shifting to a Wellbeing Economy will help make the world better?

When we focus on wellbeing, we focus on what truly matters to people. That means we factor in the importance of fairness, work-life balance, public space and public institutions, vibrant and supportive communities, and respect for natural ecosystems and the benefits they provide. The world has enough for everyone’s needs but not for the greed of those who want it all. By focusing on wellbeing, we can meet people’s needs — the physical ones, for fresh air, water, food, shelter, and so on; and the emotional needs for connection, love, friendship, meaning, purpose, and more. And we can do so in ways that preserve the Earth so that future generations can meet their needs too.   

What are some of the challenges you typically face in advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

The world is the way it is because somebody benefits from it. There are vast corporations and their shareholders with an interest in the resource-intensive, polluting, unfair economy we have now. These institutions have a stranglehold on political discourse and will resist change. Yet, we can subvert and resist that stranglehold. By discussing and demonstrating what could be, we show people that a better world can exist. By demanding and pressing for changes to policy and practices, we bring that better world into existence.   

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects related to your work/the Wellbeing Economy you’d like to share?

This year, we’re focusing on our offer to our audience. We have almost 30,000 people following us, including over 5,000 who have signed up for our monthly newsletter. We know that these people have a passion for wellbeing and many work professionally to deliver it in practice. We’re working to improve our offer to them. We know they want more online events (because they’ve told us) so we’re working to set these up. 

But, we’re also keen to explore whether we can inspire these people to act — by connecting them with each other. At the moment, we struggle to reach our audience on social media. The algorithms seem to be against us. For example, over 700 people have signed up for our Building Wellbeing Together group on Facebook, but a typical post is only seen by about 50. So we’re exploring whether we can set up our own online social network. We hope that, by connecting people with like-minded, passionate people, they will become advocates for our mission and, as a result, a host of new ideas will bloom.       

What can people do to help spread word about or take action toward transitioning to the Wellbeing Economy? How can they support your mission?

We have a presence on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. People can follow us on social media or sign up for our newsletter. 

We also welcome contributors to our blog and love to publicize events organized by others.

We live through collaboration and are open to suggestions for partnerships of all kinds.

This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine:

Overcoming today’s challenges and building a better life for all requires economic and systems-level change. To mainstream approaches that place wellbeing at the centre, governments need frameworks and objectives that align with our greatest needs and provide opportunities for everyone to flourish.

We spoke with Dr. Gary Gillespie, Director and Scottish Government Chief Economic Adviser, about how the Scottish Government is following a wellbeing framework to pursue a just transition to a green economy and reduce inequalities.

What inspired you to start advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

My advocacy of the Wellbeing Economy reflects, in part, a strong political desire in Scotland to put the Wellbeing Economy as a key focus of the Government’s objectives. This has been reflected in the continued evolution of economic strategy in Scotland since 2015; the growing recognition of the combined challenges of rising inequality, climate, and nature loss; and the interdependencies and need to frame a system response which focuses on collective wellbeing across economic, social, and environmental domains, consistent with safeguarding future generations.

As an economist advising and working in government, it has been great to work toward the Wellbeing Economy, drawing on new thinking and approaches from across academia and other countries. In my role, my focus on the Wellbeing Economy is through the lens of the economy. It is clear we need a successful economy to deliver our wider outcomes — providing opportunities for employment, good jobs, income, and participation across the country while supporting our transition to net zero, reducing inequality, protecting and restoring nature, and investing in public goods.

Although the Wellbeing Economy is often viewed as a new or novel approach, its roots can be traced across many areas. Adam Smith, Scottish political economist from the 17^th century — often regarded as the father figure of modern economics — argued that governments should be viewed in direct proportion to the extent to which they improve the happiness or wellbeing of their citizens. Therefore, advocacy of the Wellbeing Economy reflects a tradition of seeking to improve citizens’ outcomes, which I am happy to continue. 

What do you consider to be your biggest success as an advocate and professional in this space? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you?

I have been surprised at how quickly the idea and concept of the Wellbeing Economy has developed as an operating framework for governments and also as a catalyst for broader change across communities.

Personally, I would highlight Scotland’s role in the creation of Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo), alongside Iceland and New Zealand in 2018, the expansion of the group, and the ongoing international interest in governments working together to achieve similar aims.

Scotland’s National Performance Framework, which was updated in 2018, with its central purpose to enhance wellbeing and provide opportunities for all to flourish, is now set in legislation and is regarded as Scotland’s wellbeing framework. This is also reflected in the cross-party political interest and growing consensus on this approach in Scotland and internationally.

I would also highlight the “Why governments should prioritize well-being” TED Talk by our then–First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, given in 2019, which has had over 2.5 million views.

Another major highlight was the appointment of a Scottish Government Minister, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy in 2023, which reflects the centrality of this approach within the Scottish Government and its three missions: equality, opportunity, and community. The current focus is on mainstreaming this approach, working with the business community, and establishing an expert advisory group to shape this work.

Finally, the continuing work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in developing frameworks and sharing policies to support the Centre on Well-being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE), alongside the growing interest of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in this area who have reviewed the different approaches taken by WEGo countries, is another noteworthy success.

How do you feel that shifting to a Wellbeing Economy will help make the world better?

At the heart of the Wellbeing Economy approach is the recognition of the need to change our economic model, given the broader challenges we face. The recognition of the interconnected nature of those challenges means economic transformation is critical if we are to meet our global climate and biodiversity obligations and secure a safe world for current and future generations. These crises are already changing the global economy and how we live, so the only constant is change. We, therefore, need to play our part in pursuing a just transition to a green economy while maximizing the economic opportunities it brings and making sure those opportunities are accessed and shared fairly across society. High levels of inequality and poverty are incompatible with a strong, resilient economy and society. Therefore, achieving a Wellbeing Economy will improve outcomes for people and planet.

What are some of the challenges you typically face in advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

One of the biggest challenges is defining the vision of the Wellbeing Economy so that it can be easily understood by different people, and the benefits can be recognized. We have been working in partnership with the business community in Scotland to develop a clearer description of what the Wellbeing Economy means for businesses as they are crucial for our success.

Change of this scale is by its nature extremely challenging, be that for large institutions and governments, small businesses, or individual citizens. Therefore, changing how we think about problems — drawing on system theory — and recognizing the importance of place and community participation, and ultimately, changing cultural norms, are crucial.

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects related to your work/the Wellbeing Economy you’d like to share?

There are so many policies to share. I would highlight our Wellbeing Economy Toolkit and Monitor, the just transition plans for sectors in Scotland, the place-based work relating to community wealth building, fair and inclusive workplaces, and the work with the business community as key economic policies. However, wider policies, such as The Promise implementation plan, Scottish Child Payment, expansion of free childcare, educational attainment, and supporting policies to reduce inequality and child poverty are all key.

What can people do to help spread the word about or take action toward transitioning to the Wellbeing Economy? How can they support your mission?

People should feel empowered, as they are needed to take part for any change to happen. There are lots of community-led initiatives happening all over the world making real progress on building a Wellbeing Economy. International organizations and initiatives like the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) and the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) are doing great work at both community and national levels. Here in the UK, we also have organizations like Carnegie UK and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) which are driving action toward wellbeing-focused policies in both national and local governments.The Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo) are showing the influence of small countries working together for a common cause, but, ultimately, we can all contribute and need people to be catalysts for change. All journeys start with a first step, so feel empowered to engage, question, and challenge. Think about changing one thing in your life or business as every action has an impact and leaves a trace.

This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine:

Sustainable development and purpose are intrinsically linked, and organizational purpose lends clarity and direction to the role companies can play in making a positive impact. Yet, business-as-usual and profit-centric models are hard to dethrone, especially when belief gaps exist around the power of purpose in business.

We spoke with Pat Dwyer, Founder of The Purpose Business, about how this company is getting more businesses in Asia on board with organizational purpose and propelling them toward a sustainable future.

What inspired you to start advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

In 2015, when The Purpose Business (TPB) was established in Hong Kong, the concept of organizational purpose was a pipe dream. At best, it was seen as trivial and no more than a marketing ploy. Despite strong headwinds, we were resolute in our conviction that sustainable business practices and the overarching goal of enhancing the wellbeing of people and planet can only be achieved by starting with clarity and activating a company’s intrinsic “why.”

Our journey began in the early days of corporate social responsibility (CSR), then the best expression of business contribution to social good. We recognized CSR as a first step was largely limited and didn’t encompass the business model transformation necessary for sustainable business practices to thrive. We saw an educational and belief gap around the role and power of purpose in business, presenting us with an exciting opportunity to lead the way in integrating purpose-driven practices in Asia.

We are determined to demonstrate that purpose is a critical lever for strategic change, not a peripheral consideration, and we are committed to guiding leaders to bridge the gap between corporate aspirations and action in order to propel organizations toward a sustainable future. 

What do you consider to be your biggest success as an advocate and professional in this space? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you? 

TPB was born out of our genuine belief that businesses in Asia will one day be responsible business exemplars, surpassing the most admired Western companies. Within our first two years, TPB was working with Asia’s most established homegrown brands, listed companies, and multinationals who wanted localized impact. We’ve witnessed remarkable shifts in our clients over the past eight years, moving from extreme conservatism to viewing sustainability as a strategic imperative. 

We’re also experiencing, in real-time, the positive impacts of our efforts to advance organizational purpose as a tool for responsible businesses in Asia, both through our client work and educational outreach. We are particularly proud of our “Purpose and Values” work with the Philippines-based company, Universal Robina Corporation (URC), one of the largest branded consumer food and beverage product companies in the Philippines. Together with our strategic partner Within People, we helped URC to craft its purpose statement and related values and ambition to be a beacon for the company as a responsible business actor.

We knew from the start that raising awareness and investing in education for our wider audience — focused on corporate sustainability imperatives and the critical role of organizational purpose in driving change — had to be a key part of our offerings. We were among the first to introduce orientation sessions on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia, hosting events in Hong Kong and Manila to inspire companies to align with these global goals. 

Part of our ongoing educational offerings include our signature “Breakfast with Purpose” events, which feature highly engaging speakers and facilitate intimate dialogue touching on some of the most pressing sustainability issues. 

How do you feel that shifting to a Wellbeing Economy will help make the world better?

Sustainable development is intrinsically linked to purpose. If sustainability is about securing an equitable future that espouses wellbeing for all people and planet, then organizational purpose brings clarity to the role that businesses play in delivering positive impact. The cost of clinging to short-term profit maximization is untenable. Industry leaders who understand this are stepping forward, using organizational purpose as a strategic tool to stay ahead and align with societal and systemic pressures. 

Amidst the complexities of sustainability, purpose provides clarity and direction. It’s not just about ratings or superficial metrics; purpose positions us to make better investment decisions, rethinking business models that have traditionally been profit-centric. This shift allows us to move beyond shareholder supremacy, focusing on the wellbeing of all stakeholders. A truly purposeful organization is the gold standard for enterprises aligned with a sustainable future — it offers a blueprint for businesses to thrive while contributing positively to the planet and its people.

What are some of the challenges you typically face in advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

Old habits die hard, and this is even truer for entrenched business-as-usual models. Globally, there’s broad consensus that our current path is unsustainable, and while there’s general agreement on what sustainability requires, the path to achieving it is less clear. Organizational purpose offers a way forward, serving as a moral compass for businesses and prompting crucial decisions, particularly at the C-suite level. However, this transformation challenges deep-seated successes built around traditional leadership styles.

Implementing purpose as a core strategy involves rethinking business models and operational processes, and this requires an overhaul of everything we currently know. Resistance to change, whether due to skepticism or inertia, is a natural obstacle, especially when nothing seems to be broken. We know that ultimately we need to shift business models to longer-term thinking — and that includes accepting the cost of capital, investing in longer-term horizons, and non-stop education and effective communication.

Measuring the impact of purpose-driven initiatives demands a mindset shift in the way we think of reward structures and returns on investment, along with the utmost transparency. While financial metrics are well-established for traditional business models, quantifying long-term societal and environmental impacts remains a challenge. Developing robust metrics for these areas is crucial for validating the approach and encouraging wider adoption.

In Asia, advocating for purpose is further challenged by continued population and economic growth, which translates into an increasing demand for resources and energy. As the world’s largest energy consumer with an industry-heavy economy, companies in Asia face the complex challenge of balancing growing energy needs with the imperative to decarbonize. 

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects related to your work/the Wellbeing Economy you’d like to share? 

As we live up to our purpose of guiding leaders to elevate businesses in Asia as a force for good, we intend to be the convening entity of Asia’s brain trust of purpose in action. This means engaging with, learning from, and facilitating the open exchange of experience and learnings, as well as addressing the challenges that purpose transformation confronts in our ever-growing markets.

To this end, we were thrilled to kick off 2024 with a webinar on how to put purpose into action, featuring case studies and best practice sharing from purpose-driven companies from the UK and Asia.

This is just the first of several educational events we have planned for 2024, with purpose and sustainability at the forefront.  

What can people do to help spread the word about or take action toward transitioning to the Wellbeing Economy? How can they support your mission?

It’s essential to first understand and internalize the concept of organizational purpose. This is a radical shift away from business-as-usual models. It puts aside profit maximization as the key driver for business and considers how a company contributes to the broader wellbeing of people and planet. How is shared stakeholder value created to ensure resilience and productivity for generations to come? 

People can advocate for this shift at every level, but it’s particularly crucial at the C-suite level. Leadership must champion, articulate, and live purpose in every decision and policy. This isn’t just about having a purpose statement; it’s about evaluating how much of your business is shifting toward sustainability and purpose, and how deeply these values are embedded in your operations and culture.

Ultimately, whether we are thinking through our lens as individuals or as employees, it’s about aligning with the greater good — shifting the focus from “what’s in it for me” to “what’s in it for all.”

This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine:

Crises surrounding collective wellbeing are sharply felt in urban contexts, where loneliness, isolation, and anxiety are commonly reported. Efforts need to be made to reorient businesses and our economy around positive impact so those living in cities can feel healthy, safe, and secure, all while protecting the environment for generations to come.

We spoke with Duncan Newbury, VP of Brand and Global Marketing Director at Therme Group, about how this global wellbeing pioneer is creating wellbeing experiences that foster health, connection, and community.

What inspired your founders to start advocating for the Wellbeing Economy? 

At Therme, we are passionate about inclusive and accessible wellbeing. We believe everyone should have access to the highest quality wellbeing experiences regardless of their background or abilities.  

The modern Therme concept began in Germany as a technology-driven, person-centric approach to wellness. It has since been successfully introduced in Romania, with Therme Bucharest. We are now working toward delivering the concept in cities across the world to create a positive wellbeing impact for people and planet.  

Globally, we are seeing a crisis of wellbeing and nowhere is this more obvious than in our cities. Research has shown that people living in cities disproportionately suffer from mood disorders and anxiety, and that prolonged loneliness (a common affliction in modern cities) can have the same impact on mortality as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. We want to help create a future where humans can thrive in urban contexts. That means creating businesses and a wider economy that positively impact not only individual wellbeing but also communities and nature.

What do you consider to be your biggest success as an advocate and professional in this space? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you? 

Together with our strategic partner, Thermengruppe Josef Wund, we welcome millions of guests each year to our wellbeing resorts. Building a community around these locations of people who are committed to wellbeing has been a hugely satisfying part of our work. We are now working closely with stakeholders across the globe to deliver new Therme locations.  

One of the biggest successes of delivering the Therme concept has been how communities have reacted to it and integrated wellbeing into their daily lives. Though our concept is new to many people, we have seen an openness toward and acceptance of the experiences we offer. For example, in Therme Bucharest, our aqua fit classes and Aufguss sauna rituals have been hugely popular activities. There is an appetite for new experiences, but ones which are based on the fundamental human need for connection to water, nature, and each other. 

How do you feel that shifting to a Wellbeing Economy will help make the world better? 

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) describes the Wellbeing Economy as: “designed to serve people and planet, not the other way around.” Looking beyond GDP to delivering wellbeing represents a fundamental shift in how we frame success.  

In shifting to a Wellbeing Economy, we can bring the focus of success toward connection, community, and the enhancement of physical and mental wellbeing. By centring these elements and placing them within the context of supporting the natural world, we can create a future where we can all thrive.  

The path we’re currently on as a global community is not sustainable. By putting wellbeing at the foundation of successful communities, we can drive sustainable economic growth. This means we need to reframe how we see success away from historical ideas of GDP and growth and toward more human and planetary values. For example, if we shift criteria to an emphasis on factors such as health, life satisfaction, social cohesion, cultural diversity, and environmental impact, we create cities that people want to live in, places where they feel healthy, happy, and secure. If we do this, communities — and by extension, economies — will thrive.  

What are some of the challenges you typically face in advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

Our facilities include multiple saunas, adult-only and family areas, indoor and outdoor thermal and mineral pools, evidence-based nutrition, aqua fit classes, waterslides and wave pools, spa treatments, sports events, and art and cultural programming. All these elements are set amongst thousands of biodiverse plants and managed by seamlessly integrated state-of-the-art technology.  

Herein lies a challenge: as a multi-sensory experience, you can only fully understand it by going and experiencing a Therme. It isn’t easy for us to explain the wealth of what Therme has to offer to those who aren’t familiar with it without bringing people to one of our facilities.  

On the flip side of this, we have found that once people come and experience Therme, they are incredibly positive and want to return, alongside wanting to bring a Therme to their own city. After visiting, they can see that by combining scale and sustainable technology, we can deliver exceptional quality at an affordable price point.

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects related to your work/the Wellbeing Economy you’d like to share? 

We are moving into a very exciting new phase for our company. As well as continuing to innovate at our existing locations in Germany and Romania, we are developing the Therme concept in cities across the globe. In the UK, planning permission for the updated design of our new facility in Manchester has been approved, and we are working closely with our strategic partner Thermengruppe Josef Wund to deliver a new location in Bad Vilbel close to Frankfurt, Germany.

We will be delivering our first North American location at Ontario Place in Toronto, Canada, and we are working closely with the local government in Washington, DC, to explore site options for a project in the city. We also have a project in development in Incheon, South Korea, and are exploring options for further locations in Asia Pacific and the US. 

Additionally, we have partnered with a number of thought leaders and academic institutions. Most recently, we partnered with the University of Surrey, one of the world’s leading universities for tourism studies and research, on a project that seeks to transform the tourism industry’s emissions measurement and carbon trading with crypto-based systems. With the aim of forming a more sustainable future, the initiative will produce new digital platforms that significantly increase the tourism industry’s ability to measure and reduce its carbon footprint.

The partnership represents Therme’s goal of contributing toward the green economy of the future. A significant proportion of our carbon footprint is generated by guest travel. Therefore, gaining an understanding of our footprint and how to reduce it is crucial. By investing in research, we can also make the findings available to the wider industry so that, collectively, we can make steps toward a more sustainable and healthier future. 

What can people do to help spread the word about or take action toward transitioning to the Wellbeing Economy? How can they support your mission? 

At Therme, we function a little differently. We are a connected, interdisciplinary ecosystem of companies, ventures, and partnerships. This approach allows us to challenge accepted norms, be more fluid in our actions, and work together to deliver our vision. Developing partnerships with like-minded individuals and companies that are committed to advancing wellbeing at an urban level and throughout the world is something we actively seek. 

We’re eager to hear from everybody and create forums of discussion that are not only about us but that explore our industry as a whole. We encourage anyone curious about new wellbeing environments to come and visit one of our destinations. Therme is really something that has to be experienced to be truly understood, and we’d love to welcome you!

This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine:

The roots of our economic system run deep, perpetuating environmental, climate, and social crises. However, we have more power to rewrite our economic story than most people realize. With creativity, open-mindedness, and collaboration, we can build an economic system that helps people and planet thrive.

We spoke with Tara Campbell, Wellbeing Economies Manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, about how the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Canada is building a hub to champion the global Wellbeing Economy movement in Canada.

What inspired you and your leadership to start advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

My work advocating for wellbeing economies is housed at an environmental non-profit, the David Suzuki Foundation. Some people are surprised when I tell them what I do and for whom: why is an environmental non-profit weighing in on economic issues? It makes sense when we understand that our current profit- and growth-seeking economic system is a massive force structuring our relationship to the environment. This search for growth leads to endless extraction, planned obsolescence and throwaway culture, and alienation from land and place. 

As an organization, our mission is to equitably protect nature’s diversity and the wellbeing of all life, now and for the future. We know that to transform society’s relationship to the environment we have to work on the roots of that relationship. We see our economic system as one of the roots perpetuating the intersecting environmental and climate crises we find ourselves in today.

This interest in the economy led to an affiliation with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) — a global collaboration of people working for transitions to economies that prioritize people and planet. WEAll has been doing some amazing work over the past few years developing new public narratives around the economy. WEAll understands that this global movement will be mediated through place-based organizing. As part of that effort, we are currently working on launching a WEAll Canada hub.

We are motivated by the idea of wellbeing economies not only because we see them as necessary for the environment, but also because we know they will make life so much better! The dominant economic system simply doesn’t meet people’s needs. Even in a wealthy country like Canada, many people struggle to find affordable housing, food, and energy. Many others struggle to find decent and meaningful work. We know it doesn’t have to be this way, and we want to tell a different story of what our economic system could look like.

What do you consider to be your biggest success as an advocate and professional in this space? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you?

We are working on a complex challenge that is massive in scope and it’s nearly impossible to attribute changes happening in the world to our actions. Because of this, we try to work on actions to create pathways for change, enabling conditions rather than outcomes. Our largest impact in this space has been cultivating meaningful relationships between individuals and organizations working for economic transformation and creating containers for imagination.

One of my most memorable recent projects, Toronto Imaginal Transitions, involved working with a small group of diverse community organizers and innovators to gather, build trust, and push the boundaries of their imaginations around what a Wellbeing Economy could look like in Toronto. One of these gatherings manifested as a magical dinner party where artists, organizers, entrepreneurs, and a city councillor spent an evening dreaming together. While this didn’t immediately lead to any big shifts in the local economic system, we worked on the conditions for change by planting seeds of these ideas and creating the foundation for collaboration.

How do you feel that shifting to a Wellbeing Economy will help make the world better?

Our economic system prioritizes profit and growth over community needs, including our need for a healthy environment. Transitioning to a Wellbeing Economy inverts this. The priority becomes meeting not only the needs of people but also that of the land and non-human creatures with whom we share the planet. It is important to stress here that prioritizing needs means not simply the needs of those of us in the Global North or those of us who are settlers.

While pathways for economic transition are always a source of debate, my view is that it will require everyone to get involved and deliberate over what we want and how to get there. This means that in addition to creating a viable future for our shared planet and ensuring everyone has enough to live in dignity and comfort, the transition to a Wellbeing Economy might see an expansion of the realm of democracy too.

I don’t see the transition to a Wellbeing Economy as an austere vision. I suspect that if we prioritize wellbeing over economic growth we will develop deeper networks of care, work less, and have more freedom over our time. I like to see this from the perspective of philosopher Kate Soper, who advocates for an “alternative hedonism” — a different vision for the good life that doesn’t depend on consumption.

What are some of the challenges you typically face in advocating for the Wellbeing Economy?

For many audiences, I find even suggesting the economic system could be different is often quickly rejected as unachievable. There seems to be a common sentiment that we have tried other economic models, they haven’t worked, and this is the best we have or that the system is too big to change. I think one primary purpose of our hub will be to support people, organizations, and institutions to see the current economic system as something that humans have designed. We can design it differently. 

There are a lot of myths and challenges to overcome, but we don’t need to start with a blank slate. There are so many functioning systems to point to as places of learning: the Cleveland Model, Indigenous economies, mutual aid networks, worker co-operatives, etc. Creativity, open-mindedness, and collaboration are how we will overcome the challenges we face as we push for change.

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects related to your work/the Wellbeing Economy you’d like to share?

Many like-minded people are working for economic transition in Canada, which is really encouraging! We have been mapping the Canadian landscape of people, organizations, and networks working for wellbeing economies in some way or another, and we will be releasing an interactive map later this year. You will be able to find that on our website once it is released. We hope the map can be a tool for anyone looking to get inspired by all the work already happening.

We’ve also started a collaboration with Dark Matter Labs, a global non-profit building infrastructure for a new civic economy. Dark Matter Labs has been piloting an initiative called Cornerstone Indicators,  which involves bringing a community together to reimagine the metrics and indicators used to strive toward community wellbeing. They have experimented with this approach in Sweden and Scotland, and we are interested in piloting this with a community in Canada this year. We are also developing open-source tools that anyone could use if they are interested in these kinds of approaches.

What can people do to help spread word about or take action toward transitioning to the Wellbeing Economy? How can they support your mission?

We have been in an incubation period with the WEAll Canada hub for a while now and are getting ready to open it up for engagement soon. If the notion of a Wellbeing Economy is of interest, please come join and participate! This could be by subscribing to our newsletter or X (formerly Twitter) account to stay informed about wellbeing economies–related news, or coming to events and building relationships with other people advancing wellbeing economies throughout the country.

This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine:

Wellbeing Economy, Purpose-Driven Organizations, and Meaningful Work: Making Sustainability Real

By: Dr. Victoria Hurth and Professor Lorenzo Fioramonti

There is increasing fear about the economic, social, environmental, and institutional crises the world faces (also known as the polycrisis), and answers seem to be getting more plentiful, technical, and confusing. So much time is spent debating different strategies (e.g. technologies and policies) to move away from this chaos and achieve sustainability, but we almost always forget to debate and pin down the actual shared goal of sustainability, that is, our ultimate objective. We also overlook the importance of identifying the parameters we want to stick within while achieving this objective. This renders our strategy — hydrogen or electric cars, tax cuts or tax rises — along with the incentives and policies to enact them potentially useless, or worse, counter-productive because it is these two aspects — the objective and parameters — that should set the basis of strategy. If these two core aspects of direction are not clear and not shared, then we may seem to fundamentally disagree when we actually do not. We may just have different ideas about the best way to respond to the challenge (the strategy), while agreeing that the objective and the direction of travel is right. The lack of clear, shared direction also means there is no way to be accountable for success or failure — success can only be judged in relation to achievement of the objective within the parameters.

In other words, without this clarity it just isn’t possible to innovate as a collective, agree on how to judge relative strategic options, and ensure they are carried out. In turn, it isn’t possible to govern. The key functions of governance (ISO 37000) are 1) direction: setting objectives and parameters; 2) oversight: checking if we have achieved the objectives within the parameters; and 3) accountability: are we accountable to significant others for whether we have achieved the objectives within the parameters and what corrective actions will be taken. This is true if you are governing the world, a nation, a company, or even your own life. So, without the direction, the rest is irrelevant: we literally can’t govern well without it.

What is most frustrating is that the world has been silently singing in chorus that wellbeing (the good life/flourishing) is the ultimate outcome we are all after and that the health of the social and environmental systems that we rely on to achieve this objective are the minimum parameters we need to stick to. 

Apart from wellbeing for society as a whole being the underlying point of an economy (see the first chapter in almost any economic textbook), this was also the global shared objective brought to us by international leaders with the 1987 Brundtland Report (also known as “Our Common Future”). It summarized an urgent warning about the unsustainable world we were creating and how sustainable development was about ensuring the needs of the current generation were met without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. As satisfying universal human needs underpins wellbeing, what the report set out was that the goal of sustainability was about achieving wellbeing over the long-term and for everyone and not just a few, i.e., long-term wellbeing for all. The report also made clear that our collective long-term wellbeing requires healthy social and environmental systems and that these were being destroyed in the process of what we were calling “development” or “progress.”

Humanity’s planetary-wide crises have only deepened since then. Instead of reminding us that we need to govern very deliberately for sustainability (long-term wellbeing for all within healthy social and environmental systems), we focused instead on the strategy, breaking this into three pillars, or 17 SDGs, and picking off those we could make work within our current economic assumptions. These strategies were never going to work without reminding ourselves and governing specifically at all levels against the objective (long-term wellbeing for all) within the parameters of healthy social and environmental systems. 

We are reaching the end game. People are starting to realize that we are at risk of losing what is most precious before we have really clarified what it is.

We believe these crises will continue to deepen unless we can acknowledge en masse that:

1) It is a defunct basis for governing the market economy that is causing unsustainability and that a new market economy needs to be urgently born (or else lose the market economy and end up in a command-and-control reality); 

2) We need to govern this new market economy by objectives and parameters that are very specifically aligned with a sustainable future, locking in success; and

 3) We know how to bring about and govern this new economy — but we need to come together with far more clarity and unity of voice to make it happen.

The Economy: Humanity’s Operating System

Let’s start from the most basic (and important) question: What is an economy? If you think about it, an economy can be considered an operating system for society. It is the key system we need to govern if we want to take our shared resources and turn them into something useful for society. In particular, the economy is a collective system of role allocation, which sets rules through which certain actors are allowed to access, allocate, and transform common resources. Similar to software or a board game, an economy embeds the objective to be achieved, the parameters for achieving it by defining the roles we play, how to measure the value that is generated, and how to reward participants according to their contributions to “winning.”

However, for some time, and supercharged in the last 50 years, we have the wrong objective and wrong parameters and therefore the wrong strategy. We have assumed that financial income is the core goal — the thing we need to grow, at a household, company, country, and international level — and we have assumed that stocks and flows of financial capital are the most important parameter. Why? Because we assume money is a valid proxy for wellbeing outcomes. We therefore tend to view gross domestic product (GDP), financial profit, and household income as our tickets to a good life, and we have assumed that social and environmental systems, stakeholders, and non-financial forms of capital are limitless and immune to harm.

If we grow financial income, for example by liquidating our planetary and social assets, then we have more “tokens” to purchase our wellbeing via consumer goods and services in the market. The assumption is that more of these goods and services are the best way we can increase our wellbeing and that those companies who are increasing their financial income capture from the market must therefore be doing a good job. Why would we buy their offerings otherwise? These companies also provide jobs, which give us more financial income to purchase that wellbeing. At a national level, we judge governments on how many tokens we have and how much our tokens can buy, which means that governments need to be playing this game better than other countries, and GDP and “economic growth” become the anchor that political success is tethered to. Worse, governments are complicit in leading society into this false belief that financial income and wellbeing are good proxies, hence when it comes to who to vote for we are already primed to favour governments that measure up to this view.

In this comfortable abstraction from reality, we have forgotten to check if financial income really is a good proxy for our collective long-term wellbeing and whether or not we were regenerating or depleting the health of the systems we rely on for it. Of course, we are now starting to be force-fed the answer through daily reports of existential threats to humanity’s ability to thrive, or even survive on planet Earth. 

So, from a macro perspective, what is needed is a shift from the current national and global operating systems — that dictate that financial income is the most valuable outcome which automatically results in long-term wellbeing for all and where the resources we rely on for this are unaccounted for — to a new operating system. A new market economy.  A Wellbeing Economy. This economy has high-quality governance at its heart. Stakeholders within it clearly and accountably optimize long-term collective wellbeing (sustainability) and do this while ensuring the health of collective social and environmental assets, stakeholders, and non-financial capital that result from them. Why should actors be given the right to take up precious resources on behalf of the collective if they can’t prove they are innovating for something valuable and that they aren’t asset-stripping these resources in the process?

While setting out the macro level governance of the economy is core, it remains a set of well-thought-out policy intentions unless these intentions are made real with governance within organizations — and that includes all types of organizations: charities, companies, community groups, and government as an organization. This organizational governance mirrors the macro level by being directed toward long-term wellbeing for all (sustainability) as the goal and setting organizational-level parameters that ensure the organization operates within the thresholds of healthy systems, stakeholders, and capital.

Through this system of macro and meso governance, we can also actively address the other big mistake we have made: assuming that, at a micro level, humans are primarily financially-oriented. This fits the existing operating system but represses the fact that we are purposeful creatures seeking meaningful lives and that we know this meaning is primarily derived from feeling like we have made other’s lives better, like picking up a pencil or opening a door for someone and feeling that “warm glow.” So, as Daniel Pink and others set out, while money — always a means to tangible ends — is a known motivator, purpose is a far more powerful one. It is this powerful and relatively untapped energy source that purpose-driven organizations unlock while operationalizing the Wellbeing Economy. Therefore at the micro-level, in the Wellbeing Economy, and made real by purpose-driven organizations, we find fully empowered human beings who perform a wide variety of roles in society. In this vein, and as many have argued over the years, the very concept of work needs a new definition to embrace all forms of value-generating activities, including volunteering, caring, community participation, ecosystem preservation, etc., which have wrongly been relegated to the uneconomic realm by previous approaches.

Sustainability Unleashed and Unsustainability Stopped

In the new market-based operating system, value that contributes to this objective within the parameters is deliberately generated through pursuits at different levels and through multiple pathways. All optimal strategic routes to long-term wellbeing are debated and pursued, like the regenerative approaches to sequestering carbon dioxide through well-considered habitat restoration, or moving to open data practices to restore trust, or raising the minimum wage. These may, or may not, require intermediary financial transactions and the need to create stocks of financial capital and growth in material throughout or at the level of financial transactions. While it is fairly certain that healthy stocks and flows of financial capital will always have a central role to play in investing in long-term wellbeing for all, meeting the expectations of stakeholders, and paying the bills, what exact role needs to be fully questioned.

In this new economy, growth of financial activity as a marker of success is no longer measured in terms of stuff we produce and consume regardless of the wellbeing impact. Instead, we measure and drive growth in terms of wellbeing for all and achieving and maintaining the health of the systems, stakeholders, and multi-capital that underpin it for future generations. This means the idea of “value” and “value creation” can have real substance, anchored to what we really care about. With a new definition of value, anchored to long-term wellbeing for all, (sustainability), the idea of “profit” in a Wellbeing Economy would be completely reimagined. No longer limited to financial outputs, profit must equate value-generation at multiple levels and in a multiplicity of forms socially, environmentally, institutionally, and in relation to the ends and resources that really matter.

The nested governance model that we propose can be summarized in the two illustrations below — a clear and sharable (please share freely!) expression of the task we need to undertake if we have a chance of achieving a “sustainable” market economy. And we say “market” economy deliberately. We are pretty sure we need the efficiency, freedom, and democratizing effects of a functioning market economy to address the urgent issues we face and to optimize wellbeing going forward. 

The first diagram summarizes the necessary transition between the current financial growth economy, in other words, the unsustainable business-as-usual (BAU) market economy, and a Wellbeing Economy, in other words, the sustainability-centred market economy. We believe that, unless we are successful at building this new market economy, held in place through a new governance model then, as the unsustainability crises compounds, we may very quickly see the collapse of markets and some form of command-and-control operating system, which has proven so many times to be ineffective. Just think how easy it was for us to be persuaded to give up market freedoms when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Unpicking the Meso Level

This second diagram is an adapted Daly Triangle and bridges the Wellbeing Economy (the whole triangle) to the practical detail of the three major worldviews/organizational “logics” that structure governance and therefore decision-making in organizations in real-time. These logics therefore frame the outcomes and impact that can be achieved by an organization. This is an adaptation of the great work of Herman Daly and subsequently of Donnella Meadows. In emails with Herman Daly the week before he sadly passed, he was very supportive of the work and the bridging of the macro (that he and Donella Meadows focus on with the triangle) with the meso-level of purpose-driven organizations.

LOGIC 1

In the middle of the triangle is the current BAU financial income-focused economy and associated organizational governance. Here the objective of the economy, and organizations, is financial capital accumulation, and what we ask them to spend most time protecting as a means to this end is stocks and flows of financial capital. We have constrained the basis of governance direction to intermediary ends and means. This means strategy is constrained within this, as are the core governance functions of oversight and accountability. This puts the proper innovative goal of long-term wellbeing for all out of sight, and, in fact, off limits because the BAU market economy puts the health of the values shared resources “off balance sheet.”

If you keep expanding such a global system — one that is governed to innovate for self-interested financial value capture fuelled by the wanton liquidations of shared assets, then it is easy to see why we have ended up with an existential threat to long-term wellbeing for all (unsustainability). What is most toxic is that if you are trapped in this way of viewing the world it isn’t easy to change the “investment case” and find a different reason to innovate for a sustainable future. The only arguments that “cut it” are those you can prove are alleviating a threat to short-term financial interest.

LOGIC 2

Given how hard and fast the unfolding social and ecological instability is revealing itself, some governments and organizations are moving to a state of long-term enlightened self-value (ESV). While financial self-interest remains the overarching objective, the governance parameters for decision-making are, in effect, broadened to encompass the health of social and environmental systems, stakeholders, and the health of stocks and flows of non-financial capital. 

This longer-term self-interest allows for a change in the investment case to divert funds that would otherwise be extracted or reinvested for more financial extraction to instead be used to bolster the health of stakeholders, employees, or ecosystem regeneration, for example. This is essentially a “do no harm” approach to a sustainable future. Making a case to invest because the long-term financial interest of the company is ensured because harm to the underlying assets is reduced is one thing, but innovation that actively solves unsustainability? There is no real basis for this. These organizations are therefore partially aligned to a sustainable future. Given how far degraded a whole range of social and environmental systems are, moving business models into a place where they really can claim to “do no harm” is far, far harder than most organizations realize and requires a level of innovation and energy far beyond where we are now.

While the move to ESV has been the major thrust of late (think ESG), we believe we need to be much bolder if we are going to avert the threats we face — and optimize the benefit possible. This is because these ESV organizations still filter their decisions against the goal of financial self-interest. This constrains the ability to innovate, collaborate, and harness the deep motivations of human stakeholders. They may be moving toward doing no harm, but will they get there and what opportunities to solve the desperate threats to long-term wellbeing for all will be forfeited in the process?

LOGIC 3

This is where the logic of purpose-driven organizations comes in — as the aligned vehicle for achieving the Wellbeing Economy. By focusing governance directly on the end goal of the economy — long-term wellbeing for all, purpose-driven organizations, and the Wellbeing Economy they service, in effect, reject the specific assumptions of the BAU market economy. Rather than relying on a BAU economy to auto-produce collective long-term wellbeing — there is active governance of this and the health of the parameters to achieve it. This means that innovation is untethered from static assumptions like the role of organizations in society, who constitutes reasonable partners to collaborate with and what counts as success. Core concepts of the economy like competition law and fiduciary duty can be actively and wisely rewritten to be “fit for purpose.” GDP and financial profits become one partial means to that end and other forms of value-creation become equally or more important. Certainly, helping liquidate one form of value (like an ecosystem) and turning it into financial capital could not be counted as organizational success.

In summary, we know where we have gone wrong, and we know how to fix it. The answer lies in good governance: setting objectives and parameters that are aligned to a sustainable future and adjusting all the “rules of the game” so that we achieve this. This will also enable us to ensure we can collectively judge the most effective strategies of economic and social development, allowing all different players (governments, businesses, and citizens) to collaborate for shared outcomes within shared clear parameters that protect our most precious resources.

The core issue is that we just haven’t been able to say this loudly and clearly. BAU is so powerful and embedded in our cultural subconscious that it is easy to doubt that a new way is possible. What would change this? Co-creating multi-stakeholder clear standards that put the collective view of the new governance needed onto paper, allowing for clarity of direction and the ability to oversee and hold ourselves accountable for these new practices. In this respect, the world now has a catalyst moment to co-create the governance frame to align action and drive accountability for the Wellbeing Economy. The first national standard in purpose-driven organizations, “PAS 808:2022 Purpose-driven organizations. Worldviews, principles and behaviours for delivering sustainability” is very likely to be put forward to be developed as an international standard (ISO), the world’s most highly developed multi-stakeholder consensus-building process. This a chance to unite the field via the 170 national member bodies that make up ISO, and hence their engaged citizens who can feed into and co-own the outcome. Through the ISO process, we move from talking (often obscurely) to engaging and testing views in a fair and action-oriented way.

If you agree with the problem and the solution we set out and want to make it reality, then please freely share the material we have laid out and speak to your national standardization body to find out how to get involved!

Dr. Victoria Hurth is a global expert; thought leader in sustainability, ESG, and purpose governance; and Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Fellow.

Professor Lorenzo Fioramonti is the Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainability at the University of Surrey (UK), a member of the Club of Rome, and a former member of Parliament and Minister of Education, University, and Research in Italy.

This story was featured in the Make The World Better Magazine: