"So far, the legitimate concerns [of the climate movement] have not been a resounding success. The grand narrative of progress had prevailed and replaced social cohesion, relationships and successful spirituality with more and more things." - University Professor Verena Winiwarter
The crisis of civilization in the form of global heating and mass extinction is showing that things cannot go on as before. More and more voices are calling for reorienting our societal goals to incorporate scientific findings about what makes us happy. The good news is that often, what we need to be able to continue living as part of the planet's ecosystems are the very things that make our lives better anyway. Examples of this are good relationships, non-material values, meaning in life, nature, and other factors that have one thing in common: They are not bound to exploitation and often cannot be measured in GDP. We call this reorientation of the economy "well-being economics.”
New approaches and concepts for concrete implementation often emerge in local communities, such as villages, cities, and neighborhoods, as well as intentional communities (such as community housing projects and NGOs).
We want to strengthen and contribute to these developments, starting at this regular’s table. Together with our special guests Barbara Bulc (gd-impact.org, Cambridge University), Fabian, Schlag (SDG Co-Lab), artist Simona Koch and Friedrich Hinterberger (Club of Rome Austria, University of Applied Arts), we are starting to create a platform on which people from science, business, art, and practice can connect. The roots of this project go back to last April when an “International meeting of a working group to create well-being economies locally” was organized by Simona, Barbara, and Friedrich.
This regular’s table is an opportunity to spend time with like-minded and inspiring humans in a relaxed setting, making new connections and sharing thoughts and ideas. If you want to go deeper, our aim is to create a network in Vienna where we can exchange, inspire, and support each other, cooperate if the opportunity arises, keep each other up to date, and disseminate projects.
We are delighted that our upcoming regular's table will be the start of such a promising initiative. And we look forward to you joining us!
Until then, best wishes
The Flourishing Society team