In Ruchir Shama’s opinion piece last month, he wrote about recent efforts to move “beyond…
Exciting Development in the Happiness Movement: The Happiness Roundtable
On June 30th, GNHUSA was an honored and enthusiastic participant in an exciting new international, collaborative effort to advance the happiness movement: The Happiness Roundtable. Founded and curated by Paul Rogers and Laura Musikanski, Executive Director of the Happiness Alliance, the first roundtable included 3 remarkable hours of international conversation — from Seattle to Australia to Bhutan, Italy, England onto Vermont, New Mexico and more — re building a common happiness agenda, strategies that have been successful, building a grassroots movement, and the principles underlying all our work.
From that conversation, Laura and Paul pulled together a beautiful and inspiring document, “Happiness Roundtable Recommendations.” To give you just a taste, the Recommendations begin: “We align with a growing body of evidence that recognizes the planet’s climate and natural capital are gravely and irreversibly threatened by economic policies that prioritise wealth accumulation over natural and social systems. We believe Bhutan’s concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) and the knowledge of indigenous peoples around the world offer solutions to global and local problems. In this belief we know that generosity, compassion and kindness are as much born to us as competitiveness, greed and hierarchy, and that what we practice directly relates to who we are and the future of life on our planet.”
Read the full document here.
You can also watch videos of the participants, described as “Activists Providing Solutions For Happiness, Well-Being & Sustainability.” They included Dr. Saamdhu Chetri, who founded the Gross National Happiness Centre Bhutan and led it for five years; Alex Nunn, a facilitator with Action for Happiness; Stefano Bartolini, a professor of Economics at the University of Siena; the co-convenors, Laura and Paul; and, I am honored to say, myself, as a representative of GNHUSA. For a full list of the first Roundtable participants and their key ideas for building the happiness movement, click here.
It was an amazing group — and, just the beginning. Laura and Paul are already organizing the next set of Roundtable participants who will include GNHUSA co-founder and chief Happiness Walker Paula Francis; Canadian economist and author of The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth, Mark Anielski; and John Havens, Executive Director of The IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems.
It’s another step on the profound journey which is the happiness, wellbeing, and sustainability movement. If you would also like to be part of this work, to, as the Roundtable lays it out: “point the way for activism in the happiness movement through deed and word (and) ensure integrity and provide direction through our voices and actions,” you can. Register your interest in a seat at a Happiness Roundtable emailing Email laura@happycounts.org and progers02@gmail.com.
