New Zealand’s wellbeing budgets are part of the global movement towards wellbeing economies

New Zealand made headlines after announcing its first Wellbeing Budget in 2019. The country continues to lead the way in delivering wellbeing budgets, setting spending priorities to meet wellbeing goals.

Some economists continue to press for the traditional practice of developing strategies to promote economic growth. Justin Connolly is a founding member of the Aotearoa New Zealand hub of WEAll. He has responded to that criticism in a powerful article for the Newsroom. 

The article recognises that delivering a wellbeing economy will be hard work and will take time to deliver. This does not mean, however, we should return to the old ways. Instead, systems science can help us to deal with the complex issues of transforming to a wellbeing economy.

The article expands on this, drawing on The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. Senge has long championed a systems approach for dealing with complex problems. This approach is currently experiencing a resurgence across business and civic society.

WEAll and other global movements are also developing new insights on how to design policies to support a wellbeing economy. A good example is WEAll’s Wellbeing Economy Policy Design Guide.

Thus, New Zealand’s wellbeing budgets are part of this global movement towards wellbeing economies. They respond to the multi-faceted, inter-generational task of challenging how our economies fail to deliver wellbeing. Both for the planet and for us who live on it, now and in the future.

Justin concludes that wellbeing budgets in New Zealand will necessarily continue to evolve. So will how we measure and manage our current and future prosperity. We all are invited to engage in the discussion and help shape those future systems, recognising that this is a long-term game.

The full article can be accessed here.