Wellbeing Wales Network E-Bulletin June 2010

Sustainable Development Charter

Earlier in the year, the Welsh Assembly Government’s Cabinet agreed to use wellbeing as one of its five measures of success towards achieving Sustainable Development. This month, Jane Davidson, the Assembly’s Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing explains the rationale behind the Sustainable Development Charter and its role in promoting the long-term wellbeing of people and communities in Wales.

The Politics of Happiness

With the Welsh Assembly elections on the horizon, it’s interesting to read WWF Finland’s manifesto on "The Politics of Happiness." The report claims were living in "times of absurdity," where global governments focus on resource intense economic growth that doesn’t actually make people happier. "We are taking out an ecological debt and destroying future well-being without contributing to our present happiness" claim the authors.

The Politics of Happiness is full of food for thought and challenging policy goals. In the run up to next year’s Assembly elections, it is hoped that this kind of thinking could inform the debate and challenge conventional thinking.

The Open Book on Social Innovation

And finally the Young Foundation in collaboration with the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts have recently published The Open Book on Social Innovation. The reason for the book is the role that the authors believe social innovation can play in cracking some of the most pressing issues of our times – such as climate change, the worldwide epidemic of chronic disease, and widening inequality.