Centre for Thriving Places has announced a new project to amplify and celebrate the progress being made to embed wellbeing economics.
Across the UK, local government, business and community groups are fuelling a revolution and reclaiming their local economies.
When aligned with the values and aspirations of the community, these systems can reshape places to drive positive and sustained social and environmental action.
The ‘Wellbeing Economy in Action’ project, with support from Triodos Bank UK and Carnegie UK, will bring these stories to life.
The goal is to create a compendium of first-person narratives which evidence the myriad benefits of taking a holistic approach to place-based change.
The current economic model, measured by GDP growth, puts society and the environment in service to profit, exacerbating unhappiness, inequality and climate breakdown.
In a wellbeing economy, success is measured instead by how well the system serves and supports social, health, cultural and environmental outcomes.
Essentially, if a wellbeing economy is thriving, so is the wellbeing of the local people and environment.
‘It’s easy to feel hopeless in the face of a brutal 24-hour news cycle. Bad news may sell, but there’s a growing appetite for stories of the real shifts that are happening that nourish us and, more importantly, spread a different way of doing things.
‘Across the UK, local groups and organisations are collectively working to shift the long-embedded, exhausted systems that rely on consumerism and profit to define our future. With this new project, the repositioning of local economies towards a much more meaningful and positive future can be given the platform they deserve.’
LIZ ZEIDLER
Chief executive, Centre for Thriving Places
In order to embed deep-rooted and long-lasting change, Centre for Thriving Places works in partnership with local authorities, organisations and individuals to provide practical pathways to improve wellbeing.
Founded in 2010, Centre for Thriving Places was created to change the economic compass from pointing to consumption and growth toward wellbeing economics for people, place and the planet.
This planet and people first vision is brought to life by a multi-disciplinary approach offering strategic consulting, training and evidence-based measurement tools like the Thriving Places Index and Happiness Pulse.
‘Interest in wellbeing economics has grown exponentially and this is a really good news story. Through our sponsorship of this project, we hope to spotlight what is happening on the ground, where local communities are taking back control of their own economies. At Triodos we have always been steadfast in our belief that people and the planet need not be sacrificed for a healthy economy and that, in fact, by prioritising positive societal and environmental impact we can all thrive.’
BEVIS WATTS
Chief executive, Triodos Bank UK
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