Linking Sustainability And Happiness

The book offers critical discussion, constructive insights and informed guidance for future research and applied work that can move us closer towards a sustainable society. This is the first comprehensive edited book linking sustainability and happiness. By doing so, it frames modern society’s pursuit of happiness as the ultimate wicked problem challenging sustainable life on earth. Chapters in the book focus on topics such as food systems, neighbourhood developments, project facilitated gathering and dialogue, beauty, and the happiness movement as an alternative to GDP. This book is of great importance to both academics and practitioners working at the intersection of sustainability and happiness.

In this innovative and cogent presentation of her concept of sustainable happiness, Catherine O’Brien outlines how the leading recommendations for transforming education can be integrated within a vision of well-being for all. Solution-focused, the book demonstrates how aspects of this vision are already being realized, and the potential for accelerating education transitions that enable people and ecosystems to flourish. Each chapter assists educators to understand how to apply the lessons learned, both personally and professionally. The aim is to support educators to experience themselves as change-makers with growing confidence to implement new teaching strategies and inspire their students to become change-makers as well—engaged in deep learning that develops character, connections with life, and invigorating collaborations that revitalize the very purpose of education.

Happiness, Well-being and Sustainability: A Course in Systems Change is the first textbook bridging the gap between personal happiness and sustainable social change. The book provides a guide for students to increase their skills, literacy and knowledge about connections between a sense of well-being and systems change. Further, it can help students live a life that brings them happiness and contributes to the well-being of others and the sustainability of our planet. The book is presented in seven chapters covering the subjects of systems thinking, personal and societal values, measuring happiness, human needs, ecological sustainability and public policy. In addition, each section includes engaging exercises to empower students to develop their own ideas, prompts for group discussion, suggestions for additional research and an extensive list of resources and references. The book is written in the context of systems thinking with a style that is approachable and accessible. Happiness, Well-being and Sustainability provides essential reading for students in courses on happiness, social change and sustainability studies, and provides a comprehensive framework for instructors looking to initiate courses in this field. A website to support the professors teaching the book is available at : https://www.happycounts.org/coursebook.html

We're bombarded by messages telling us that more, bigger, and better things are the keys to happiness-but after we pile up the stuff and pile on the hours, we end up exhausted and broke on a planet full of trash. Sarah van Gelder and her colleagues at YES! Magazine have been exploring the meaning of real happiness for eighteen years. In this much-needed volume, they marshal fascinating research, in-depth essays, and compelling personal stories that lead to a life-altering conclusion: what makes us truly happy are the depth of our relationships, the quality of our communities, the contribution.

If the political and social benchmarks of sustainability and sustainable development are to be met, ignoring the role of the humanities and social, cultural and ethical values is highly problematic. People’s worldviews, beliefs and principles have an immediate impact on how they act and should be studied as cultural dimensions of sustainability. Collating contributions from internationally renowned theoreticians of culture and leading researchers working in the humanities and social sciences, this volume presents an in-depth, interdisciplinary discussion of the concept of cultural sustainability and the public visibility of such research. Beginning with a discussion of the concept of cultural sustainability, it goes on to explore its interaction with philosophy, theology, sociology, economics, arts and literature. In doing so, the book develops a much needed concept of ‘culture’ that can be adapted to various disciplines and applied to research on sustainability. Addressing an important gap in sustainability research, this book will be of great interest to academics and students of sustainability and sustainable development, as well as those studying sustainability within the humanities and social sciences, such as cultural studies, ethics, theology, sociology, literature and history.

The book bridges the gap between happiness and sustainable social change, providing a guide for students to increase their literacy and knowledge about connections between a sense of well-being and systems change. It can help students live a life that contributes to the well-being of others and the sustainability of our planet.

This volume brings together multiple diverse perspectives from around the globe on quality of life and community well-being from a place-based perspective. It provides both conceptual and applied explorations across disciplines, ideas and perspectives to foster more interest and research in community well-being. Topics include surveying at the community level, child friendly communities, collective impact, grieving, and happiness. Those working in the areas of public policy, community development, community and social psychology, as well as planning and development will find this volume particularly useful for the array of perspectives, research, and analytical approaches presented.

This book outlines an innovative way for us to fundamentally transform our society and help save the planet. It explores the powerful human drive for happiness and how this drive could be used to motivate transformational change towards sustainability and a better world.The human drive for happiness has long been acknowledged as one of the most motivating forces on earth. As such, it has the potential to significantly influence the success of our sustainability endeavours. Drawing on research from the areas of psychology, neurology and social change, this easy-to-read book explores the nature of our drive for happiness and how it affects many things-from sustainability issues to our own individual behaviours and the often neglected issue of 'political will'. Importantly, it shows how the drive for happiness has the inherent power to challenge and change the current dominant paradigm of our society, a paradigm that has brought us to the brink of ecological and societal collapse. The book examines how governing for ecologically sustainable happiness consciously and purposely could resolve many of the problems we currently face and enable peace, sustainability, prosperity and happiness to flourish in our communities.This book is highly recommended for anyone who is even a little worried about our collective future, and it is essential reading for anyone who is actively involved in trying to make the world a better place. The book provides insight into how the drive for happiness could make our social and environmental endeavours more effective and successful. Importantly, it presents a new and practical approach to sustainability that our ailing planet and fraying democracies have need of in these troubling times.