WEAll Weekly Update – March 19

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

WEAll Policy Design Guidebook

“This guide has been co-created by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) to support visionary policy makers, to build more just and sustainable economies for people and planet.”

Being Bold: Building Budgets for Children’s Wellbeing – Dr. Katherine Trebeck

“The report argues that the Scottish Government’s stated aims of improving wellbeing across society and addressing the fact that one quarter of children live in relative poverty cannot be met unless we create conditions for our youngest children to be healthy and supported from the outset.”

Chasing Carbon Markets: The Deception of Carbon Markets and “Net Zero”

“Net zero” is a smokescreen, a conveniently invented concept that is both dangerous and problematic because of how effectively it hides inaction. We have to unpack “net zero” strategies and pledges to see which are real and which are fake. Fake zero strategies rely on offsets, rather than real emission reductions. Real zero strategies require emissions to really go to zero, or as close to zero as possible

Mindset Shifts: What are they? Why do they matter? How do they happen?

This report is intended as a resource for all those working on and funding mindset shifts.The research yields clear lessons and recommendations for how advocates, activists, funders,and other practitioners can maximize the impact of their efforts to change how we thinkabout social issues in order to change the contexts and structures that shape our experiencesand realities

SBTI … Net Zero Targets … TCFD … ESG Investment … resistance bubbles up that ‘trust us, we’re big’​ is not sufficient any longer

It is clear that ‘business as usual’ is not sufficient any longer (and hasn’t been for long), and remaining incremental ‘steps in the right direction’ are wilful predatory delay and not part of the solution. Now, do we have the tools at hand to react sufficiently and responsibly?

Devastatingly pervasive: 1 in 3 women globally experience violence

“Violence disproportionately affects women living in low- and lower-middle-income countries.  An estimated 37% of women living in the poorest countries have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their life, with some of these countries having a prevalence as high as 1 in 2.”

Health Verses Wealth?

“This briefing, by drawing attention to the longer term interactions between public health and the economy, dispels the myth that measures to protect public health are necessarily detrimental to economic well-being. Whilst difficult choices do have to be made, this ‘health versus wealth’ mentality is shown to be a false dichotomy.”

The Key to Good Collaboration, by Mark Gough

“So why then, when almost every organization claims that “collaboration is key”, do we often feel that it is an annoyance, a necessary evil and that it slows down progress?”

Changing Words to Change Society: The Marriage Equality Case in the US

By focusing on what Susan Blackmore calls memes, core ideas that help shape culture, like words and phrases, we wanted to visualize whether a controversial issue like marriage equality and the language used to describe it changed over time

Participation and Change: Lessons From the Future

“Participatory processes are giving us glimpses of how we can mainline public opinion into decision-making and regulate for the type of climate action that would match public concern. I am certainly excited by the developments and momentum in participatory and deliberative democratic processes. But how confident are we that these types of process will always truly reflect a public mandate?”

Building the Transition Together: WEAll’s Perspective on Creating a Wellbeing Economy

There is not one blueprint for a Wellbeing Economy; the shape, institutions and activities that get us there will look different in different contexts, both across countries and between different communities within countries. However, the high-level goals for a Wellbeing Economy are the same everywhere.

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WEAll Weekly Update – March 12

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

Changing Words to Change Society: The Marriage Equality Case in the US

By focusing on what Susan Blackmore calls memes, core ideas that help shape culture, like words and phrases, we wanted to visualize whether a controversial issue like marriage equality and the language used to describe it changed over time

Participation and Change: Lessons From the Future

“Participatory processes are giving us glimpses of how we can mainline public opinion into decision-making and regulate for the type of climate action that would match public concern. I am certainly excited by the developments and momentum in participatory and deliberative democratic processes. But how confident are we that these types of process will always truly reflect a public mandate?”

Building the Transition Together: WEAll’s Perspective on Creating a Wellbeing Economy

There is not one blueprint for a Wellbeing Economy; the shape, institutions and activities that get us there will look different in different contexts, both across countries and between different communities within countries. However, the high-level goals for a Wellbeing Economy are the same everywhere.

Guia Prático e Interseccional Para Cidades Mais Inclusivas – Sarah Gamrani (#36×36)

Covid-19 and 21st century public ownership

“In place of extraction, we need to mainstream generative forms of enterprise: purposeful business serving social and environmental needs, providing decent, rewarding forms of work, and building sustainable, equitably shared wealth.”

The Biggest Payoff From Stockton’s Basic Income Program: Jobs

People who received the cash reported less pain, anxiety and fatigue, and spent more time with their kids. But perhaps the most significant change associated with the program was its effect on their work status: Among recipients, the rate of full-time employment leaped 12 percentage points over the course of just one year.

L’Internationale Online

“This collection draws upon the complexity of ethical, ecological and political frameworks and reveals other perspectives on the current crisis through critical essays, storytelling, science fiction, biomorphic design, audiovisual traces of artistic practices and allegorical maps”

Budget 2021: Five priorities for a green and fair economic recovery | APPG letter to the Chancellor, 1 Mar 2021

“Every decision that the Treasury makes should be through a climate, nature and equality lens, and this budget must be the start.”

Relationship-to-Profit: A Theory of Business, Markets, and Profit for Social Ecological Economics – Jennifer Hinton

“The result is a new theory about how relationship-to-profit (the legal difference between for-profit and not-for-profit forms of business) plays a key role in the sustainability of an economy, due to the ways in which it guides and constrains actors’ behavior, and drives larger market dynamics.”

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WEAll Weekly Update – March 5

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

L’Internationale Online

“This collection draws upon the complexity of ethical, ecological and political frameworks and reveals other perspectives on the current crisis through critical essays, storytelling, science fiction, biomorphic design, audiovisual traces of artistic practices and allegorical maps”

Budget 2021: Five priorities for a green and fair economic recovery | APPG letter to the Chancellor, 1 Mar 2021

“Every decision that the Treasury makes should be through a climate, nature and equality lens, and this budget must be the start.”

Regenerative Agriculture White Paper Sets Out Pressing Research Priorities

“The white paper is the result of intensive collaboration and consultation with more than 200 people from June to November 2020. Collaborators include farmers and growers, researchers, primary industry bodies, banks, retailers, non-governmental organisations, government departments, large corporates, consultants, marketers, overseas researchers and educators.”

Why Understanding & Embracing Suffering is Important to Flourishing and Fundamental Peace

“The key message is simple – it is neither necessary nor desirable to eliminate human struggles and frailties to pursue a flourishing human life. Creating a proper attitude and response to our limitations, challenges, and suffering is the best way to a flourishing life.”

Relationship-to-Profit: A Theory of Business, Markets, and Profit for Social Ecological Economics – Jennifer Hinton

“The result is a new theory about how relationship-to-profit (the legal difference between for-profit and not-for-profit forms of business) plays a key role in the sustainability of an economy, due to the ways in which it guides and constrains actors’ behavior, and drives larger market dynamics.”

21st Century Sustainable Enterprise Force Field

“The desired state for a company is being a truly sustainable enterprise that partners with other organizations to lead society to a more just, safe, healthy and resilient future. The 21st century sustainable enterprise force field is a dashboard of sustainability-related forces that affect companies”

UNCTAD Technology and Innovation Report 2021

Human development has been spurred by changes in technology. But so has inequality. Today’s staggering inequalities began to appear with the industrial revolution. The pace of technological change is accelerating due to digitalization and frontier technologies. New technologies can have severe downsides if they outpace a society’s ability to adapt.

2019/2020 Action Plan For The Office of The Youth Envoy (OYE)

“The Youth Envoy mission is to lead advocacy and champion youth agency in the prioritization of youth issues within continental, and other decision-making and
governance spaces.”

Beyond Race and Rota (January 2021) It Takes a System- The Systemic Nature of Racism and Pathways to Systems Change

There are three central pillars to race thinking as a mental model. The first pillar is that humanity can be differentiated along the lines of the category called ‘race’. The second is that there exists a racial hierarchy in which being white is the highest form of humanity. The third is that populations racially minoritised as ‘other than’ white are deeply and irreversibly biologically and/or culturally flawed. In other words, the racial order is largely fixed.

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WEAll Weekly Update – February 26

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

21st Century Sustainable Enterprise Force Field

“The desired state for a company is being a truly sustainable enterprise that partners with other organizations to lead society to a more just, safe, healthy and resilient future. The 21st century sustainable enterprise force field is a dashboard of sustainability-related forces that affect companies”

UNCTAD Technology and Innovation Report 2021

Human development has been spurred by changes in technology. But so has inequality. Today’s staggering inequalities began to appear with the industrial revolution. The pace of technological change is accelerating due to digitalization and frontier technologies. New technologies can have severe downsides if they outpace a society’s ability to adapt.

2019/2020 Action Plan For The Office of The Youth Envoy (OYE)

“The Youth Envoy mission is to lead advocacy and champion youth agency in the prioritization of youth issues within continental, and other decision-making and
governance spaces.”

Beyond Race and Rota (January 2021) It Takes a System- The Systemic Nature of Racism and Pathways to Systems Change

There are three central pillars to race thinking as a mental model. The first pillar is that humanity can be differentiated along the lines of the category called ‘race’. The second is that there exists a racial hierarchy in which being white is the highest form of humanity. The third is that populations racially minoritised as ‘other than’ white are deeply and irreversibly biologically and/or culturally flawed. In other words, the racial order is largely fixed.

How Waste Monopolies are Choking Environmental Solutions, and What We Can Do About It

“Monopoly power in the U.S. has reached catastrophic levels, affecting every corner of our economy and society. While this crisis is gaining more attention, particularly in the tech industry, there is much more to understand about how it affects our lives.”

Petition to the Government of Canada

“The consensus for the shift to a wellbeing economy is growing. Scientists have called on governments to “shift from pursuing GDP growth and affluence toward sustaining ecosystems and improving wellbeing” to tackle the climate emergency. Business leaders are pressing for an economic reset that recognises human dependence on nature and includes measures of economic performance beyond GDP,  and most citizens agree that the government should prioritise health and wellbeing goals above economic growth.”

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WEAll Weekly Update – February 19

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

Escaping the Growth & Jobs Treadmill- European Environmental Bureau

“Livelihoods matter. Not just for the richest in society. But for all of us. Labour matters. Not just as the means to production but as an investment in the building of society. Work matters. Not just as the means to an income but as the tangible manifestation of our commitment to a collective future.”

Petition to the Government of Canada

“The consensus for the shift to a wellbeing economy is growing. Scientists have called on governments to “shift from pursuing GDP growth and affluence toward sustaining ecosystems and improving wellbeing” to tackle the climate emergency. Business leaders are pressing for an economic reset that recognises human dependence on nature and includes measures of economic performance beyond GDP,  and most citizens agree that the government should prioritise health and wellbeing goals above economic growth.”

Climate Justice Playbook for Business – B Corporation

As the source of the vast majority of the planet’s greenhouse gases, the business sector is uniquely culpable for the climate emergency. The business sector is therefore responsible for demonstrating leadership in eliminating emissions, drawing down carbon as rapidly as possible, and directly addressing the injustices brought about or exacerbated by climate change.

The Power of Corporations in a Digital World – Oxfam Report

“Our key concern is to consider the significance of data and algorithms, the establishment of monopolies, and policy assumptions in competition law. Our touchstone is whether digitalization supports the social and ecological transformation of the economic system or – what we hope to avoid – hampers it.”

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WEAll Weekly Update – February 12

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

Climate Justice Playbook for Business – B Corporation

As the source of the vast majority of the planet’s greenhouse gases, the business sector is uniquely culpable for the climate emergency. The business sector is therefore responsible for demonstrating leadership in eliminating emissions, drawing down carbon as rapidly as possible, and directly addressing the injustices brought about or exacerbated by climate change.

The Power of Corporations in a Digital World – Oxfam Report

“Our key concern is to consider the significance of data and algorithms, the establishment of monopolies, and policy assumptions in competition law. Our touchstone is whether digitalization supports the social and ecological transformation of the economic system or – what we hope to avoid – hampers it.”

Bridging the Divide Between Impact Investing and Native America – Stanford Social Innovation Review

Saying that it’s important to include Indigenous Peoples in decision-making practices is one thing, but if the majority lack capital screens founded on Indigenous principles and practices, how can it translate into action?

The Economics of Biodiversity – Dasgupta Review

“It would seem then that, ultimately, we each have to serve as judge and jury for our own actions. And that cannot happen unless we develop an affection for Nature and its processes. As that affection can flourish only if we each develop an appreciation of Nature’s workings, the Review ends with a plea that our education systems should introduce Nature studies from the earliest stages of our lives, and revisit them in the years we spend in secondary and tertiary education. The conclusion we should draw from this is unmistakable: if we care about our common future and the common future of our descendants, we should all in part be naturalists.”

Crack the Crises – The Global Goals

“Join organisations from across the UK, advocating for a better future for people and planet, have come together in this new coalition. We want to bring people together to tackle these crises by taking individual actions, by supporting others and by asking decision-makers to act.”

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WEAll Weekly Update – February 5

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

The Economics of Biodiversity – Dasgupta Review

“It would seem then that, ultimately, we each have to serve as judge and jury for our own actions. And that cannot happen unless we develop an affection for Nature and its processes. As that affection can flourish only if we each develop an appreciation of Nature’s workings, the Review ends with a plea that our education systems should introduce Nature studies from the earliest stages of our lives, and revisit them in the years we spend in secondary and tertiary education. The conclusion we should draw from this is unmistakable: if we care about our common future and the common future of our descendants, we should all in part be naturalists.”

Crack the Crises – The Global Goals

“Join organisations from across the UK, advocating for a better future for people and planet, have come together in this new coalition. We want to bring people together to tackle these crises by taking individual actions, by supporting others and by asking decision-makers to act.”

The Little Book of Flourishing – The Flourishing Institute

“Resilient children are made, not born. Children become resilient as a result of the levels of stress and nurturing that they experience early on in life. If our early experiences are dysfunctional they will lead to changes in the way we respond and behave. The healthier the relationships a child has, the more likely he or she will be able to recover from trauma and thrive.”

Achieving an Economy of Wellbeing in Europe – Healthy Europe

“All Policies for a Healthy Europe is calling on the EU and its Member States to step up to the challenge and grasp the opportunity offered by the pandemic to effectively move beyond GDP as the main indicator for economic and all other policies”

Quarterly of the European Observatory of Health Systems and Policies – Opinion Piece from Katherine Trebeck “The Wellbeing Economy Agenda”

“Why go back to an economy that treats many of our most essential workers so badly and which implicitly tolerates such inequalities? The economic systems of some countries generate insecurity, despair and loneliness, which spurs desperate searches for ways to cope, whether at the pill box or the ballot box.”

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WEAll Weekly Update – January 29

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

Achieving an Economy of Wellbeing in Europe – Healthy Europe

“All Policies for a Healthy Europe is calling on the EU and its Member States to step up to the challenge and grasp the opportunity offered by the pandemic to effectively move beyond GDP as the main indicator for economic and all other policies”

Quarterly of the European Observatory of Health Systems and Policies – Opinion Piece from Katherine Trebeck “The Wellbeing Economy Agenda”

“Why go back to an economy that treats many of our most essential workers so badly and which implicitly tolerates such inequalities? The economic systems of some countries generate insecurity, despair and loneliness, which spurs desperate searches for ways to cope, whether at the pill box or the ballot box.”

The Alternatives Project – Project Launch – Sign their statement!

“We, the undersigned, believe that current social, economic, political, and educational arrangements reproduce relations of power that engineer profound inequities and will ultimately threaten life on the planet. We stand for alternative pedagogies and for just, regenerative education systems that will support the social transformations we need in order to create a richer, more equitable, and sustainable world.”

The Case for an Ecological Interest Rate – Policy Research in MacroEconomics

Driving all this growth and increased consumption is, of course, our economic and financial system, with money and its price as lubricant and enabler. What can be done about it?

Building a Resilient Economy – WWF, ZOE, NEF & WEAll

“In the wake of COVID, tackling the multiple interlinked crises the world is facing – climate change, biodiversity loss, food and water security, and inequality among others – requires policy makers to answer a key question: where should we focus to help drive this transition most rapidly, efficiently and fairly?”

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WEAll Weekly Update – January 22

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As part of our work to amplify the important work in the Wellbeing Economy movement, these WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

Decoupling Debunked – European Environmental Bureau

“Not only is there no empirical evidence supporting the existence of a decoupling of economic growth from environmental pressures on anywhere near the scale needed to deal with environmental breakdown, but also, and perhaps more importantly, such decoupling appears unlikely to happen in the future”

Growth without economic growth – European Environment Agency

“It is unlikely that a long-lasting, absolute decoupling of economic growth from environmental pressures and impacts can be achieved at the global scale; therefore, societies need to rethink what is meant by growth and progress and their meaning for global sustainability.”

If Not Now, When? – The Social Renewal Advisory Board Report

“We have a crisis of inequality in this nation that we cannot continue to tolerate. A crisis where sticking plasters fail to address negative outcomes. A crisis of performance in a system that reacts to negative outcomes rather than preventing them happening in the first place. Moves towards a wellbeing economy should be the central goal of every government.”

The Tragedy of Growth– David Barmes, Fran Boait| Positive Money 

“We must transform the structures of our economy such that they no longer require GDP growth to temporarily fend off financial, economic, and social crises. If growth is low or negative, these structures – referred to as ‘growth imperatives’ – generate multiple undesirable crises. Rising unemployment, deepening inequality and debt crises are just a few of the common consequences of insufficient growth in our current economic system.”

Transforming Towards Life-Centered Economics: How Business, Government, and Civil Society Can Build A Better World – Sandra Waddock

“This slim volume is not just as thorough and concise a summary of the need to transform our financial system as you will find anywhere. It also clearly envisions how the creation of collaborative value, sustainable stewardship, and an “enough-not-more” mantra can drive a transformational change that will benefit the all as well as the one.”

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WEAll Weekly Update – January 15

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There is so much rich content out there in the world about a Wellbeing Economy. Part of our job is to amplify and connect the various initiatives and work that exists. 

These WEAll Weekly Update blogs will share some of the latest and greatest updates from our membership and beyond every week. Please use the comment box to share any relevant updates from this week and keep the conversation going!

Weekly Reads

Opportunity Knocking – Jessica Rose, Marjorie Kelly | Democracy Collaborative  

“Impact investors and other capital providers could be the agents that help resolve this vicious crisis—stepping in to turn the misfortune of small-business owners into a new start for employee-owners. Capital could be the agent that begins to take employee ownership to scale in this pivotal moment in our nation’s history.”

Building a Resilient Economy – Barth J. and Coscieme L., Dimmelmeier, A., Kumar C., Mewes S., Abrar R., Nuesse I., Pendleton A., Trebeck K | ZOE, NEF, WEAll 

“The following chapters (and the research underpinning them) focus on the role of government and policy in delivering systemic change. We outline where public policymakers should place the emphasis in order to transform the world’s economic and financial systems most effectively to mitigate future environmental crises.”

Humanity Report– James Arbib & Tony Seba | RethinkX 

“We can choose to elevate humanity to new heights and use the upcoming convergence of technology disruptions to end poverty, inequality, resource conflict, and environmental destruction, all for a fraction of the cost we incur dealing with them today. Or we can choose to preserve the failing status quo and descend into another dark age like every leading civilization before us.“

Work-life balance and self-reported health among working adults in Europe: a gender and welfare state regime comparative analysis – Aziz Mensah & Nicholas Kofi Adjei | BMC Public Health

“The pressing demands of work over the years have had a significant constraint on the family and social life of working adults. Moreover, failure to achieve a ‘balance’ between these domains of life may have an adverse effect on their health. This study investigated the relationship between work-life conflict and self-reported health among working adults in contemporary welfare countries in Europe.”

Visions of a Wellbeing  Economy – Anna Chrysopoulou | Standard Social Innovation Review

“To solve the social, economic, and environmental challenges we face today, we need to rethink the status quo. Governments and other institutions around the world need to embrace new ways of thinking and actively engage in widespread systems innovation to make real progress toward a healthier, more prosperous world.”

The Little Book of Education – Wendy Ellyatt 

“If we want to create a better world, we have to start by looking at whether the values that we have been promoting to children through our education systems have been serving the long-term wellbeing and potential, within the context of a sustainable future”

Building Better Systems– The Rockwool Foundation

“System innovation is needed when two conditions apply. First when society faces a systemic challenge which requires a systemic response. Second when society has a systemic opportunity to create a new kind of system.” 

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