Towards a Low Carbon, High Well- being Future Creating Resilient Rural Communities – Constrained Choices with Infinite Possibilities Ceiliuradh 28th th October 2009 Chris Pienaar nef (the new economics foundation)

Living better, using less  What do we want?  Economic growth – mixed blessings  Measuring what matters  Towards a low carbon, high well-being future

What future do we want? Economics as if people and the planet mattered: Well-being Social Justice Inter-generational justice* * Brundtland formulation (UN): “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Understanding well-being  Individual’s subjective experience of their life  A ‘dynamic process, emerging … through the interaction between their circumstances, activities, and psychological resources. Aside from feeling ‘good’, it also incorporates a sense of individual vitality, opportunities to undertake meaningful, engaging activities which confer feelings of competence and autonomy [and] is also about feelings of relatedness to other people’

Psychological resources Functioning well and satisfaction of needs Experience of life e.g. to be autonomous, competent, and connected to others e.g. resilience, optimism, self- esteem, personality e.g. material conditions, opportunities, social norms e.g. happiness, satisfaction, interest, boredom and distress Enabling conditions Foresight Mental Capital and Well-Being Project Understanding well-being

Living better, using less  What do we want?  Economic growth – mixed blessings  Measuring what matters  Towards a low carbon, high well-being future

Impacts of growth on…  Environment  Inequality  Well-being

Earth in 1959

Earth in 2009

Growth and environment Economy Environment Society Economy Neoclassical model of economy Ecological economics model “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman… or an economist” Kenneth Boulding

Gone too far < 1 planet living > 1 planet living

Impacts of growth on…  Environment  Inequality  Well-being

Growing incomes?

Growth isn’t working  Worldwide, during the 1990s, for every $100 added to the value of the global economy, only 60 cents found its way to those living below the absolute poverty line of $1 a day. Growth isn’t Working, 2006

Impacts of growth on…  Environment  Inequality  Well-being

Scarce gains…

 Among richer countries, little correlation between GDP and well-being. Threshold Hypothesis  Recent studies by the Chief Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank show that economic growth correlates negatively with well- being

Living better, using less  What do we want?  Economic growth – mixed blessings  Measuring what matters  Towards a low carbon, high well-being future

National Accounts of Well-Being  Based on data from European Social Survey, 2006  c. 40,000 respondents in 22 countries  Over 50 questions on well-being

National Accounts of well-being: a structure

Personal well-being

Social well-being

Living better, using less  What do we want?  Economic growth – mixed blessings  Measuring what matters  Towards a low carbon, high well-being future the fair and equitable distribution of social, environmental and economic resources between people, countries and generations

Good lives do not have to cost the earth some challenges  Reduce over-consumption  Understand the regions fair share of resources and interdependence between localities  Understand what supports a good life  Actively decide – explicit, consistent policies / behaviour  Civic society, third, public and private sectors working towards a common & just purpose  Framework of outcomes across local, sub-regional, regional and national – social, economic, environmental outcomes

Sustainable Outcomes Framework 1. Activity 2. Output 3. Service level outcomes -social -economic -environmental - Low carbon - Well-being - Social justice 4. Local Authority Community outcomes -social -economic -environmental - Low carbon - Well-being - Social justice 5. Regional level outcomes -social -economic -environmental - Low carbon - Well-being - Social justice Sustainable Community strategy, Local Area Agreement Commissioner & service user priorities National Outcome frameworks Not pre-determined to support innovation

Living better, using less, sharing more Action to support resilience characteristics – supporting action in communities, and at appropriate scale Ability of a system to absorb shocks  Self-organise : strong social organisations, activism, mutual models, democratic voice  Innovate: understanding of common purpose (economic & environmental literacy), open opportunity to delivery in different ways  Learn: feedback loops, supported to experiment, co- produce

A resilient community? Resilience can broadly be defined as the ability of a system (social, economic or ecological) to cope with external shocks as they arise. In measuring a system’s resilience, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research refers to indicators that demonstrate the system’s ‘ability to (a) absorb shocks and retain its basic function, (b) self organize (social institutions and networks), and (c) innovate and learn in face of disturbances

A different approach Invitation to the Local Economy Workshop – How Communities Can Help Each Other to Build Economic Sustainability Plugging the Leaks Programme; Enterprising Communities Framework Making Spaces Delivery Model Economic and Environmental Literacy Tools Coaching Approach Networks

You: monthly actions you can take Your community: Become involved in the transition town movement, Use the Sustainable Communities Act Use the tools and approaches at Your business: Balanced scorecard – looking at your triple bottom line outcomes, deciding what you want to do about them. Your Organisation: actively seeking to create positive local economic, social and environmental outcomes from your mainstream spending and core business. Good Corporate Citizenship Sustainable procurement Good lives don’t have to cost the earth 