Laura Musikanski - The Happiness Policy Handbook How to Make Happiness and Well-Being the Purpose of Your Government

Praise for The Happiness Policy Handbook

Whether youre new to happiness science and the happiness movement or have been on board for a while like me, and whether youre an elected official, policymaker or ordinary citizen, youre bound to learn a great deal and be inspired by this short but clear and helpful book. Bhutans revolutionary concept of Gross National Happiness is well-explained here, with its multiple domains of wellbeing and its highly useful policy tools that can offer guidelines for leaders at every level of government. Written by three leaders in policy, community development, and the happiness movement, this book offers powerful reasons for getting involved with happiness science and making happiness instead of GDP growth the goal of government, as Thomas Jefferson once declared it should be. Read it, and thenput it into practice!

John de Graaf, co-author, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic,
and co-founder, The Happiness Alliance

I am a strong advocate for practical and value-added solutions that organizations can use to make a difference. I see the Happiness Movement at the individual and societal levels as a companion to the Sustainability Movement in the business community. Businesses need to help governments create the requisite conditions for societal happiness and wellbeing. This book shows governments how and why to apply happiness criteria to its processes to create a more socially just, economically inclusive, and environmentally restorative society. If governments required businesses to report on their contributions to those ends, we would dramatically accelerate our journey toward a happy, resilient and truly sustainable society. Hoorah to Musikanski, Phillips, and Crowder, and for showing us the way!

Bob Willard, author, The New Sustainability Advantage
and Sustainability ROI Workbook

The pursuit of happiness was enshrined in Americas Declaration of Independence and, more recently, in Bhutans pursuit of Gross National Happiness. It may be tempting to dismiss all of this as wishful thinking, but if we want the world to embrace sustainability, happiness and sustainability have to become two sides of the same coin. I recommend this book as a guide to how this might be done.

John Elkington, author, The Breakthrough Challenge,
Co-Founder and Chief Pollinator at Volans,
Co-Founder of SustainAbility, and
long-time champion of the Triple Bottom Line

The future of governance is in happiness and wellbeing more than in economics and finance. This book will be handy for development experts, project managers, legislators, policymakers, and community and corporate leaders. It provides templates that can be adapted locally.

Dasho Karma Ura, President,
The Centre for Bhutan Studies
and GNH Research

The Happiness Policy Handbook is a great overview of wellbeing and happiness activity taking place globally so far linking to Sustainable Development Goals and positive psychology and how to bring the learning into our collective decision making.

Nancy Hey, Director, What Works Centre for Wellbeing

The Dubai government has always kept the happiness and welfare of its residents at the core of any strategies or policies launched. I am proud to share our story as part of this book which provides clear and concise step-by-step actions to help governments across the globe implement citizen-centric policies, ensuring greater happiness of their people.

Dr. Aisha Bin Bishr, Director General of Smart Dubai

Copyright 2019 by Laura Musikanski, Rhonda Phillips, and Jean Crowder.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Cover Image iStock.

Printed in Canada. First printing September 2019.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Happiness Policy Handbook
should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order
directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772,
or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: The happiness policy handbook : how to make happiness and well-being
the purpose of your government / Laura Musikanski, Rhonda Phillips, Jean Crowder.

Names: Musikanski, Laura, 1964 author. | Phillips, Rhonda, author. |
Crowder, Jean, 1952 author.

Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190127600 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190127619 |
ISBN 9780865719248 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927177 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771423137 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: HappinessGovernment policyHandbooks, manuals, etc. |
LCSH: HappinessPolitical aspectsHandbooks, manuals, etc. | LCSH:
WellbeingGovernment policyHandbooks, manuals, etc. | LCSH: Well-beingPolitical
aspectsHandbooks, manuals, etc. | LCGFT: Handbooks and manuals.

Classification: LCC HN25 .M87 2019 | DDC 306dc23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

DEDICATION

We wrote this book out of a deep belief
in the power of change through positive action,
and so we dedicate this book to you, our readers,
because we believe that collectively we can realize
the happiness movement. Together and individually,
we have demonstrated that there is tremendous capacity
for shaping our world. We believe that you,
with others, can and will shape our world
where all beings have equal opportunity
to pursue happiness.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Our colleagues the world over have inspired us and enabled us to complete this book. It is never enough to say thank you and we hope that our colleagues, family and friends know how very much they mean to us. All of you have certainly increased our happiness!

Authors Welcome

Welcome to The Happiness Policy Handbook. This book provides policymakers, community organizers, and others concerned with present conditions and the future, the means to join the happiness movement. Together we can make a vital difference so that all people have equal opportunities to pursue happiness.

Our hope is that once you have read this book, you will have formed a thorough plan for making happiness the purpose of your government. Over two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson said the purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness, but until now there has not always been a clear path for realizing this vision. The Happiness Policy Handbook is the first book to present easy-to-use action plans for integrating happiness and well-being into governmental processes and institutions. The book includes explanations, graphics, and forms for you to adapt and implement. It is divided into two sections. In the first section, you will learn about the landscape of the happiness movement, including its history, roots, and trajectory. The second section provides accessible action plans, with tools and resources that can be used sequentially or individually as needed. The action plans in the second section can be adapted to fit the circumstances of an area and situation by any level of policymaker, from a president to a governor, mayor, council member, or departmental manager.