What is Policies for Happiness?

The Policies for Happiness Village is one of the twelve thematic villages of the Economy of Francesco.

As people, families, communities, and citizens of the world, we know that personal and societal well-being are interconnected. To maximise happiness, policymakers must encourage civil institutions to provide the time and space to build meaningful relationships so that all beings can flourish, dream, and bring joy to each other.

Visit the official website of the Policies for Happiness Village at: https://francescoeconomy.org/policies-for-happiness

Projects

Inclusive Mapping

Maps are powerful tools to tell stories. How the story of a place is narrated can influence social life and social inclusion. Typically, when asked to describe a map, what generally comes to mind is the representation of territorial divisions: countries on a global scale, smaller administrative units within a country, or streets, housing blocks. Meanwhile, nature and greenspace are often depicted as empty spaces.

However, maps do not generally tell what is happening between those physical elements: the “life between buildings” (Gehl, 1971) that brings to life the characteristics, assets, needs and resources of communities. Inclusive mapping turns this on its head: instead of mapping divisions, it is about mapping connections, by empowering communities to tell their stories through local and interactive tools that connect people whilst stimulating social interaction.

Such storytelling toolsenable groups to narrate their own stories of place, which brings to light the local stories which are hidden, ignored or invisible. These can include evidencing local connections, networks, and resources; stimulating unity and a sense of belonging via positive narratives. Examples can include the participatory mapping of relational goods; common spaces and green spaces and shared community experiences. Approaches may include: hybrid maps that brings together the spatial (places) and relational (people);playful mapping to stimulate interaction; collaborative knowledge and data production; and taking on a cultural dimension combining art and poetry.

Penguin Model for Happiness in Flourishing Cities

Declining rates of lasting happiness can be seen in modern metropolises around the world, with increasing number of people self-reporting feelings of loneliness, anxiety and depression. The way in which modern cities are designed have created a built environment that compromises human flourishing.

Penguins build sustainable colonies, and not only survive, but thrive in the most inhospitable and challenging environments. If a goal of society is to maximize happiness for everyone, those responsible for economic policy should prefer the path of integral human development and integral ecology, rather than the pursuit of short-term economic growth, which leads to negative social and economic consequences. Through biomimicry of the sustainable colony building behaviour of penguins, we can reimagine cities as places which promote human flourishing and planetary health.

Inspired by the way in which penguins build sustainable colonies, we can re-design our cities to create environments that promote rather than constrain human flourishing. This can be by promoting small-to-medium-sized cities instead of megacities; or by ensuring essential services and spaces are made available in local neighbourhoods, to help people find meaning in their everyday lives, enable people to connect with one another, and to live sustainably and in harmony with our common home.

Children’s Flourishing Index

The Children’s Flourishing Index incentivises decision-makers to implement policies that support and enable children and future generations to flourish. Five decades of studies show that happiness depend on genuine human connection: once people have the basics to live a decent life, it is their relational wellbeing rather than their material wellbeing that becomes the primary source of their happiness.

By measuring the progress of present and future generations in a way that recognises relational wellbeing, the index will go beyond a reductionist, individualist understanding of happiness, to allow us to consider the extent to which a policy or intervention make a positive impact on dimensions like nature, environment and beauty; on whether there are common spaces for meaningful relationships to blossom; giving time to build quality family bonds, love and parental relationships; the ability to remain curious and to have the right to dream; equality between different groups of people.

Considerations developed for picking appropriate metrics include: the availability for comparison across different places; relevance to the intended goal; and timeliness.

Marketplace of the Common Good Workshop

On 29 November, participants at the EoF Global Event, Restarting the Economy, will be able to take place in the Marketplace of the Common Good workshop.

• Find out more about the workshop at Restarting the Economy
• Learn about the Marketplace of the Common Good workshop

Find out more

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