On 20th March it will International Day of Happiness. This March also marks 50 years since Robert Kennedy made a famous speech spelling out the inadequacy of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of societal progress, saying that, “it measures everything, in short, apart from that which makes life worthwhile”.
In the lead up to International Day of Happiness, we will be joining together with Happy City to highlight how a fairer economy will lead to more happiness and wellbeing for all. We’d love you to be involved, including by entering a #HappyBeyondGDP photo competition and joining us at a free webinar on how society could be happier beyond GDP.
#HappyBeyondGDP: Take part in our photo competition!
Our economy is obsessed by GDP growth and consumerism, which has fueled great inequality and put the planet we live on at risk. It’s been set up to ‘count’ war and natural disaster, but fails to count what really matters; like green spaces, clean air, strong community connections and time with loved ones.
Together with Happy City, we are launching a photo competition to show what the current economic model is missing. To take part you simply need to share a great photo of something positive that GDP doesn’t measure – in other words, something that contributes to your happiness and wellbeing but that does not have a financial price tag – along with a story telling us why this matters to you.
To enter:
- You can submit your entry to the photo competition via this Google Form,
- Or submit it directly on Twitter or Instagram – making sure you post your entries with a short story / explanation and the hashtag #HappyBeyondGDP and with Happy City and the Network of Wellbeing tagged (@HappyCityUK and @NetwrkWellbeing on Twitter and @happycityinitiative and @networkofwellbeing on Instagram).
One winner will receive a £50 voucher to invest in more beautiful photography, and all entries that meet the brief will be promoted on social media.
You can send multiple entries to this competition, and please note that entering this competition means we may reuse your images (always credited to you) in order to promote similar positive campaign messaging in future.
Check out the short film below, and the full text of Kennedy’s speech for more inspiration!
Free webinar exploring how society could be happier beyond GDP
Here at NOW, we’ve been running a monthly webinar series exploring different aspects of personal and collective wellbeing. On 20th March, you are welcome to join Happy City and Network of Wellbeing for a free webinar to mark International Day of Happiness and the anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s famous speech.
Happy City have been championing ways we can be happier beyond GDP and build a fairer economy for all. They recently launched a new Thriving Places Index to help address provide a new local framework of indicators to measure what really counts; namely those factors which make our communities happy, healthy and well.
During this webinar we will discuss:
• The problems with the current economic model of measuring progress only in terms of GDP;
• The potential solutions, including the new Thriving Places Index in the UK;
• How we can work together to create a fairer, greener future for all.
Join us – simply register for your free place here and please join and share the event on Facebook, too!