HAPPY CITIES / CIUDADES FELICES. WHAT REALLY MATTERS - LO QUE DE VERDAD IMPORTA.

Hi my dear friends, do you consider your city, town or village a happy one? What do you think it is necessary to be a happy place? Here you can read an article about this subject, happier cities. I hope you'll like it and you'll tell me if you agree.


Hola mis queridos amigos, ¿consideráis que vuestra ciudad, población o pueblo es feliz? ¿Qué es necesario para que sea un lugar feliz según vuestra opinión? Aquí os dejo un artículo sobre este tema, las ciudades más felices. Espero que os guste y que me digáis si estáis de acuerdo.

Info:  from Speak Up magazine.
Photos: amazon.es  /  smartcities.i.ambiente.es  /  internations.org  /  handluggeonly.co.uk. / jericho road.co.uk / blogvocakeyes.org




WHAT REALLY MATTERS   -  HAPPIER CITIES.

Imagine a world where government policy was based around nurturing the happiness and well-being of citizens.  A world where policy-makers concentrated not on economic growth but on the things that most people consider important:  health, education, integrated communities and the environment.  A world in which a government's only goal was to make people thrive.

BORN IN BRISTOL

This is not the blurb on the back cover of a fantasy novel, but a reality that is already starting to happen.  One of the driving forces behind this positive change is Happy City, a charity based in Bristol.  Founded in 2010, its mission is to "make what matters count"  Happy City works to develop innovative measures of progress and delivers training, projects and campaigns to make sure these measures are used in the places where we work and live.

KEY ISSUES

Their Thriving Places Index is another important tool that measures how well places are delivering the local conditions for people to thrive and if they're doing so equitably and sustainably.  This includes key issues such as education and learning, equality and mental and physical health.

Happy City Founder, Liz Zeidler, explained why economic growth and GDP (pib) can never be true indicators of the overall progress of society.  According to Liz, all too often we equate growing consumption with our capacity to flourish, but they are not the same thing.



AN IRRATIONAL VIEW

Liz also points out that GDP (pib) is a measure of how many goods and services we have collectively consumed. Incredibly, many natural and man-made disasters are "good" for GDP, cleaning up an oil spill employs people and things, emergency services, insurance, replaced items.

RETHINKING PROGRESS

These concepts are at the heart of Happy City's activities. Rejecting GDP as a marker of progress or prosperity, their new markers and measures have the wellbeing of people, place and planet as the end goal.  Growing social division and unrest together with the very real possibility of a climate or health crisis are obviously symptoms of a system that focuses on growing cosumption at all costs.

Few politicians are able to ignore these negative signs and trends and what local leaders, from all sectors need is a practical way of making a change.  And that's just what Happy City is offering.



A REAL DEBATE

They publish the Thriving Places Index for all the Local Authority areas in England and Wales every year, with the aim of starting a real debate in communities, businesses and public sector bodies about what sort of society we wanto to live in.  The measures are starting to be included in the policy and practice of some pioneering Local Authorities , Happy City is currently working closely with eight around UK)  They have also recently been used by the UK Government's Office for National Statistics -a clear sign of a change in maisntream thinking.

HAPPINESS PULSE

The "Happiness Pulse" is a tool to measure personal wellbeing in any community, from a few households to entire local authority areas.  Its aim is to give a clear picture of wellbeing, strengths and needs of a community in order to discover how the situation can be improved.  You can take your own happiness pulse and watch the explanatory video by visiting its website  www.happinesspulse.org


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VOCABULARY

-TO NURTURE: nutrir.
-WELL-BEING:  bienestar
-POLICY-MAKERS: legisladores.
-TO THRIVE:  prosperar-
-BLURB:  frase publicitaria.
-DRIVING FORCES.  fuerzas impulsoras.
-CHARITY: organización benéfica.
-GDP:  pib
-OVERALL:  global.
-OIL SPILL:  vertido de petróleo.
-UNREST:  malestar.
-AIM: objetivo.


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SEE YOU!

STAY SAFE AND HEALTHY!