Exploring Sustainable Wellbeing Toolkit

by Dafydd Thomas

Wellbeing Wales NetworkNetwork Coordinator

Non well-being“I mean, your health really does suffer on here. Everything does. I mean, I look about 40, I’m 23. Why? Because I live here. Nobody would take a house on here, nobody. Who’d want it? ‘Cause it’s just hell really, it’s horrible. But I’m here, so that’s that, isn’t it?...”

Single mother on a housing estate in Lancaster

Professor Gareth WilliamsCardiff University School of Social Sciences

What makes you happy?

What makes you happy?• Popular use of the term ‘well-being’ usually

relates to health but…• ‘…Well-being’ suggests something more than

physical health, and also something more than good mental health…

• …philosophical use is broader: ‘how well a person’s life is going for that person’

• ‘happiness’, ‘flourishing’; that which ‘makes life worthy of choice and lacking in nothing’ (Aristotle)

DefinitionsHedonic Wellbeing = consists of pleasure or happiness *Eudaimonic Wellbeing = realised in achieving the individual’s potential *(Ryan and Deci (2001))Subjective Wellbeing = an individual’s assessment of their own circumstances, what they think and feel (harder to measure and influence) **Objective Wellbeing = the social and material attributes that contribute or detract from an individual or community’s wellbeing **Process or Outcome? **(Felce and Perry (1995))

Definitions (cont’d)Quality of life is about the non-material aspects of human wellbeing, and includes subjective and objective featuresWell-being or welfare, is broader than quality of life: it comprises both material resources and non-material aspectsSustainability, which considers whether an activity or condition can be maintained indefinitely, is about whether wellbeing can last in the future (OECD 2010)

Evidence for Different Outcomes – Priority Fields The Young

FoundationHEALTH

SPORTS AND THE ARTS

COMMUNITY

ENVIRONMENT

FAMILY ANDCHILDHOOD

EDUCATION

WORK AGEING

Why well-being?

‘Well-being provides a strong test of the extent to which policies are coming together to reduce inequalities and to promote sustainable development. A high-level of well-being is a feature of strong and vibrant communities’Welsh Assembly GovernmentHealth, Social Care and Well-Being Strategies: Policy Guidance 2003

Policy drivers for well-being

• Health inequalities and inequities• Sustainable development• Community regeneration• Ageing population• Chronic disease and ‘ways of life’• Economic activity/inactivity

Layard• Be socially connected• Be physically active• Take notice of your

surroundings and savour them

• Keep learning• Give Regularly

Buddhist Hermit• Learn to meditate• Cultivate altruism• Practice mindfulness• Make space for spirituality• Find a spiritual teacher

NEF’s Five a day• Connect• Be active• Take notice • Keep learning• Give

Network Activities• Exploring Sustainable

Wellbeing Toolkit • Literature Search• Partnerships• Communications

What next - questions?

www.wellbeingwales.org

dafydd.thomas@wellbeingwales.org

Please note:

Listening to this presentation will not improve your wellbeing.

Getting involved will.