The Covid-19 pandemic has shed a bright light on two realities of the early 21st century. First, human well being, starting with human health, is a widely shared value across societies around the world and very different political systems are willing and able to prioritize it over conventional economic indicators, chief among them economic growth. Second, human prosperity is meaningless and can essentially vanish in a few years if it does not acknowledge its natural underpinning: well-being and sustainability are complements, not substitutes.
The worldview of this class is that human communities should better connect human well-being to resilience and sustainability via new ways to assess prosperity and bring those visions to life by integrating them into new policies using practical tools such as narrative-building, well-being surveys and budgeting. Building these new well-being policies means also building on existing experiences around the world (from New Zealand to Finland).
The purpose of this class is to introduce students to the on-going global “Well-being transition” and equip them with analytical and empirical tools to take active part in it. The class will indeed also work as a lab where students will learn how to imagine, design and build their own well-being vision.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understanding the different dimensions of human well-being
2. Understanding the connections between human well-being and sustainability
3. Learning about well-being policies around the world
Professional Skills
1. Learning how to use indicators and metrics to change policies
2. Learning how to use narratives and frameworks to change policies
3. Learning how to implement public policies