Because of the psychosocial impact of COVID-19, the importance of well-being has come into very clear focus. Countries around the world are beginning to set budgets and develop policies with the goal of increasing well-being. But well-being is not your standard epidemiological concept. Our traditions, values and beliefs, in other words, our culture, play a big role both in how we perceive our own well-being, and in how governments might seek to improve it.
A particular challenge is how we might look to measure well-being. Could the tools that authors, artists and journalists use to reflect on human emotions help us to better understand the state of well-being in a community or even a country?
Join our panel of experts to find out more. From the role of culture in well-being indicators, to deep grassroots engagement with well-being in cities across the European Region, this webinar explored the role culture played in defining, measuring and advancing well-being.
The webinar panel was moderated by Alonzo Plough (Chief Science Officer and Vice President of Research-Evaluation-Learning at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) and included:
- Anna Alexandrova (Reader in Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge)
- Jonny Steinberg (author and Professor of African Studies at the University of Oxford)
- Nancy Hey (Executive Director, What Works Centre for Wellbeing, United Kingdom)
- Nils Fietje (Research Officer in the Insights Unit at WHO/Europe).
To find out more about how the research into well-being is transforming the way governments and actors across all sectors are shaping policies, actions, budgets and narratives, sign up here and receive a free copy of the forthcoming book from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Oxford University Press, “Well-being: expanding the definition of progress.
