EU Wellbeing Economy Coalition Discussion Paper

By Lisa Hough-Stewart, Implementation Lead at WEAll

Last month, the EU Wellbeing Economy coalition* launched our vision for an economic system in Europe focused on meeting the fundamental needs and rights of all. Today, we are following this up with the publication of a Discussion Paper which explores this vision in more detail, including ideas and recommendations for change.

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Our initial intention was to create a “roadmap” for a wellbeing economy for Europe, but it quickly became clear that there is no single map for this. Building a wellbeing economy means complete economic system transformation, which entails many and varied parallel shifts. The more we discussed the component parts of a Wellbeing Economy for Europe, the more complex our vision became – and this was matched by a breadth of knowledge and experience amongst the coalition members. 

We worked together to articulate a clear shared vision of a wellbeing economy for Europe, which sets out twelve component parts of the new economic system we need. We took the decision to accompany this with a discussion paper to delve into the details of each component and suggestions for policymaking that would take us towards a wellbeing economy, drawing on the expertise of our coalition membership.

Each section in this paper summarises the current state of play in Europe around ten different policy areas, and focuses on potential solutions and ways forward. We hope that it sparks hope, and more importantly sparks policy change towards the wellbeing economy we all need. 

It has been a pleasure to work with coalition members to create the First Edition of this discussion paper – we would like to thank everyone who contributed their efforts and ideas. Following the Beyond Growth conference held at the European Parliament in May 2023, there is more interest and excitement around the wellbeing economy agenda than ever. We hope that this paper makes a useful contribution for policymakers interested in learning more.

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*About The Coalition

The Institute for European Environmental Policy and the ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies founded the EU Wellbeing Economy Coalition, to foster civil society collaboration and help move policy beyond economic growth towards a wellbeing economy. It includes NGOs, think tanks, and trade union organisations: a diverse group with a shared vision of building a Wellbeing Economy at EU level.

If you would like to find out more about the coalition or apply to be part of it, contact Agata Meysner at ameysner@ieep.eu and Christiny Miller at christiny.miller@zoe-institut.de

The vision statement is endorsed (so far) by:

• All Policies For a Healthy Europe
• Climate Action Network (CAN)
• EuroHealthNet
• European Health Futures Forum
• European Policy Centre
• European Youth Forum
• Friends of the Earth Europe
• Generation Climate Europe
• Institute for European Environmental Policy
• Seas At Risk
• The Club of Rome
• The Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll)
• WWF 
• ZOE Institute for Future-Fit Economies