Wellbeing and sustainable societies

Mònica Guillén Royo

Outline

• Wellbeing

• Sustainability: wellbeing now and in the future

• Evidence on wellbeing and sustainability

– Economics of happiness [global/personal]

– Positive psychology [personal]

– Development studies –HSD- [local]

• Exploring wellbeing and sustainability in Lleida

• Final reflections on smart cities

30.10.2017 3

Wellbeing

‘Wellbeing is a state of being with others, where human needs

are met, where one can act meaningfully to pursue one's

goals, and where one enjoys a satisfactory quality of life’

(McGregor 2007).

Global level: sustainable development

‘Development that meets the needs of

present generations without

jeopardizing the possibilities for future

generations to fulfill their needs’

(UN World Commission on Environment and

Development 1987)

Sustainable community

‘Places where people want to live and

work, now and in the future. They

meet the diverse needs of existing

and future residents, are sensitive to

their environment and contribute to a

high quality of life. They are safe and

inclusive, well planned built and run,

and offer quality opportunity and good

services for all’ (Office of the Deputy Primer

Minister –UK-, 2005)

Smart city

‘A Smart City is a city seeking to

address sustainability issues via ICT-

based solutions on the basis of a

multi-stakeholder, municipally based

partnership’ (CEN-Cenelec 2014).

‘Smart cities are designed to promote

urban development and resilience,

while safeguarding environmental,

social and economic sustainability,

making use of intelligent

technologies’(ISO 2014;IEC 2014).

30.10.2017 6

Local level: sustainable communities

Evidence on WB and sustainability (I) :Economics of happiness

In one given year…

Income IS related to happiness but:

• Inequality

• Family relationships

• Unemployment and health

• Governance (corruption, freedom,

participation…)

The natural environment also effects on

happiness:

• pollution and airport noise (-)

• greenery around schools and hospitals (+)

• being outdoors in open and green spaces

(compared to urban) (+)

In the long run…

Economic growth IS NOT related to

happiness in rich, poor or middle-income

countries

30.10.2017 7

Evidence on WB and sustainability (II): Positive psychology

• Wellbeing = satisfaction of psychological needs (competence, relatedness and

autonomy, Ryan and Deci 2001).

• Studying the relationship between people’s values, pro-environmental behaviours

and wellbeing (Kasser 2017). When people prioritise materialistic values (personal

image, financial success, popularity) against non-materialistic goals (community,

affiliation, physical health…):

– The lower the satisfaction of psychological needs

– The less they engage in cooperative and generous social behaviour

– The less they engage in ecologically-friendly behaviours (using public transport,

walking or cycling, reusing paper, buying second-hand, recycling, eating seasonal

food and less meat, etc.)

30.10.2017 8

Evidence on SWB and sustainability (III): Human Scale

Development

Manfred Max-Neef’s approach to Human Scale Development

• Wellbeing = satisfaction of universal human needs (subsistence, protection,

affection, understanding, participation, idleness, creation, identity, freedom)

• Needs are expressed through ways of BEING (attributes),HAVING (institutions,

values, technologies, forms of organization), DOING (actions) and INTERACTING

(environments).

• The way needs are expressed [satisfiers] in a particular context can promote or

hinder needs satisfaction.

• For example: sensors and apps to get real time information on traffic congestion

can be detrimental for people/environment if more people decide to use the car

instead of public transport when there is little traffic.

• Bottom-up participatory discussions as the strategy to elicit whether satisfiers are

harmful or synergic both for people and the environment (inter-dependent).

30.10.2017 9

Matrix of human needs and satisfiers

30.10.2017 10

Å VÆRE

(egenskaper-

individuelle eller

kollektive)

Å HA

(institusjoner,

normer, verktøy)

Å GJØRE

(handlinger

personlige eller

kollektive)

Å BEFINNE SEG

(rom eller miljøer)

OVERLEVELSES-

BEHOV (Mat,

helse, etc)

BESKYTTELSE

KJÆRLIGHET

FORSTÅELSE

DELTAKELSE

FRITID

KREATIVITET

IDENTITET

FRIHET

Illustration: Wellbeing and sustainability in Lleida in 2009

Population: 131.731

Area (km2): 212,3

GDP p.c.: 126 (Cat=122 Spain=104 EU-

27=100)

Economic activity: Services(71%),

construction (11%), industry (13%),

agriculture (4%)

Goal of the study:

To explore the usefulness of the HSD approach:

1) to understand the inter-linked factors that

hinder and promote wellbeing in a particular

location.

2) To enable the emergence of wellbeing and

sustainability enhancing strategies.

Participants:

Ordinary citizens from 10 of 11 districts recruited

through ads at public library, local shops,

neighbourhood associations and ’word-of-mouth’

47 participants in 6 discussion groups (23 of them

joined the final session)

Some characteristics : women (62%), married

(64%), university education (32%), unemployed

(9%), pensioners (25%), average age 48, average

personal income 9.615 EUR

Method: 3 phases of participatory workshops

Phase 1. Negative matrix

BEING HAVING DOING INTERACTING

SUBSISTENCE Lack of physical and mental healthUnemployment, overcrowding of public services, destruction of local orchards

Not working, not promoting available benefits, excluding, generating confusion

Lack of shelter for unemployed

immigrants, extinction of orchards,

contamination of agricultural products

PROTECTION Individualism, lack of responsibility

Heavy traffic, insecurity, health care

overcrowding, food contamination, lack

of information, short duration of unemployment benefits

Complicating administrative procedures, lack

of involvement, lack of relationship with

neighbours/community, mistrusting, rushing

Private security reinforcing isolation,

lack of involvement to fight vandalism,

dehumanised spaces, non-local police

AFFECTION

Lack of self-esteem, lack of

communication, uprooting of immigrants,

aggressiveness, fear to show one’s vulnerability

Long working hours, lack of time,

lonely/isolated old people

Mistrusting, hurrying, materialist values,

closeness, not being able to communicateHurry, lack of time, loss of local

commerce, delocalised nursing homes

UNDER-STANDING Being driven by rumours, self-centred

Lack of information, lack of institutions/

organisations that convey honest

information, ideologies, negative attitude, lack of time to educate children

Tampering with information, misinforming,

downplaying people’s efforts compared to institutionalised actions, overprotecting

Administrative complexity

PARTICIPATIONIndividualism, lack of commitment and

maturity, impotence, disinterest, passing responsibilities over to institutions

Lack of social education, red tape, lack

of time

Preventing independent initiatives, group

exclusion, downplaying participation, controlling

Lack of cooperation between

administrations, lack of support for local

initiatives (centralisation)

IDLENESS

Being constrained (by public institutions

and culture) in the choice of leisure

activities

Long and irrational working times,

family education, lack of education in

the use of new technologies and wide availability

Vandalism in public spaces, not coordinating

leisure activities with people’s timetables, not respecting, living with haste

Lack of family-oriented leisure, dirt, lack

of respect for public spaces

CREATIONBeing dismissive of creativity and the

creative, loneliness, mistrust, lack of self-esteem

Lack of time, lack of institutional and social support

Guiding activities towards prestige and profits, isolating, not supporting, putting hurdles

Isolation, lack of spaces to disseminate

own creations

IDENTITYInstability, over protectionism,

authoritarianism, social isolation Precarious jobs, cultural normsNormalising, criticising, stressing differences, promoting uniformity, relinquishing to others

Closing up in groups

FREEDOMCloseness, conservatism, fear, lack of

anonymitySocial norms, stereotypes, prejudices

Labelling people, manipulating,

stigmatising diversity

Architectonic barriers, public spaces not

adapted to wheel chair users

Phase 2. Utopian matrix

BEING HAVING DOING INTERACTING

SUBSISTENCE Modesty, solidarityParticipatory democracy, communal

property, basic needs coverage

Protection of local agriculture, sharing,

working, providing basic income for the needy

Proper housing, integrated hospital

care, breaking the city into smaller units

PROTECTION Self-confidence and trusting others

Time and space for ourselves,

guaranteed subsistence,

understanding of relationship with nature, real information

Civic educationCivic-mindedness and civic

education, time and space for quietness

AFFECTIONUnderstanding, openness, simplicity,

proximity, solidarity

Work with one’s inner self/spirituality,

time, non-materialist values Time to devote to others, promote the

community, being exposed to contact with others

Time and space for relatedness

UNDER-STANDINGPerspective, transparency, objectivity, communication

Real information, plural education,

possibility of seeing one’s community from the outside, empathy

Promoting intuition, ourselves and others,

simplifying life, valuing people for what they are

Subsistence society, transparency

PARTICIPATION Gratification, willing, generosity

Direct participation, open ballots,

simplicity, proximity of institutions,

education focused on promoting participation

Education promoting participation, supporting initiative

Citizens-administration interaction, proper leisure centres

IDLENESS Simplicity, curiosity, understandingRational working schedules, less

distractions such as TV Maintain and respect facilities, promoting

leisure activities in the districtsTreating public spaces as private,

free activities for young people

CREATIONAcceptance, inclusion of different

generations, cooperation, no expectations

Education policy that promotes

creativity, labour flexibility, basic

needs guaranteed, time for chilling out, non-materialist goals

Inform and promote creative activitiesFlexible timetables of courses and

centres

IDENTITYRespect, acceptance, tolerance, self-

esteem, conscious of and knowledgeable about one’s identity

Culture, knowledge, education that

explains diversity, tolerance, participatory society

Promoting the community, getting involved, respecting

Public spaces of tolerance

FREEDOMTolerance, acceptance, honesty with

oneself and others, fearlessness

Few needs, safety, education

promoting tolerance and respectKnowing, trusting, understanding,

respecting

Spaces of respect

Public security

Phase 3: Strategies

Phase 1. Negative

matrix

Phase 3. Synergic

bridging satisfiers

Phase 2. Utopian

matrix

Inter-linked satisfiers

Complexity and

confusion

Isolation

Time pressure

Flexible and rational

working times

Direct democracy

Promotion

allotments/local

agricultural products

Value change (non-

materialistic)

Simplicity and

subsistence (basic

income schemes)

Community focus

(participatory

democracy)

Time sovereignty

Two synergic satisfiers are already in place!

Initiative for time schedule reform in

Catalonia (Reforma horària) –civil society

organisation launched January 2014

Time schedule reform towards 2015 adopted by

Catalan parliament

• Shorter lunch break (max. 1 hour) and opening

hours in retail

• Synchronising school and parents’ timetables

• Putting forward prime television times

• Institutional support for flexi-time and telework

- Benefits: better health, increase leisure time, lower

daily pace, more opportunities for civic engagement,

higher productivity better work-life balance.

Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from

telework and less daily commute.

The Guardian (15/10/2017): Catalonia’s fight

is driven by a passion for neighbourhood,

not nationhood by I. Bernat and D. Whyte

‘The international community still fails to recognise

that the region has witnessed an unprecedented

revolution in participative democracy that started

long before the referendum, and will almost certainly

outlast any constitutional settlement. […] The social

and solidarity economy has been developed by local

movements for at least 20 years, but the economic

crisis and the relatively recent political project of

municipal socialism have boosted its momentum.

One of the most outstanding projects has been

Som Energia, a co-op of consumers that uses

only energy from sustainable sources. Guiamets,

a small town governed by the CUP, has contracted all

the energy to this co-op.’

30.10.2017 17

But additional inter-linked satisfiers are still missing!

Inter-linked harmful and synergic satisfiers

Participatorydemocracy

Final reflection on smart cities

Sensors (waste bins/containers, sewer), apps (real-time information

on traffic, parking slots, etc.), cameras (safety), and other

technological innovations characterizing smart cities will contribute to

wellbeing and sustainability if they are implemented together with

the regulations, public programs, individual/group initiatives, political

and infrastructural changes identified by/with citizens in a

participatory manner.

• Accounting for interconnectedness reduces risk of rebound

• Dual strategy captures knowledge from society –but who leads?

30.10.2017 19