Gross National Happiness: A better way to measure development?
How do you measure the success of a nation? For most countries, development is dependent on Gross National Product: the amount of goods and services they produce and own. But for the past four decades, Bhutan has been using an alternative index: Gross National Happiness.
Focusing on societal happiness, spiritual wellbeing, environmental conservation and moral values, the philosophy has vastly improved the quality of life in Bhutan and turned it into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Dr Saamdu Chetri, the Executive Director of the GNH Centre in Bhutan, explained the concept of Gross National Happiness and how Australia can take a leaf out of Bhutan’s book at the community level. You can see Dr Chetri speak at the Sydney School of Life on Tuesday, June 27.
