"Wellbeing in Germany – what matters to us"
For Germany's "Gut leben in Deutschland" initiative, the government collected citizens' perspectives in dialogue events throughout the country.
Explore example
Understanding what matters for a wellbeing vision
What areas of life are most important for your current and future wellbeing?
Purpose
To understand what matters for personal, collective, and future wellbeing, as a basis for building an economy that delivers this wellbeing.Governments have taken different approaches to understanding wellbeing: some use conceptual frameworks based on research about the determinants of wellbeing while others conduct public consultations.
The process of engaging with communities to understand their vision for the future and the areas of life most important to their wellbeing is transformative, both as a process and as an outcome. It facilitates communication, trust, and empowerment for further participation in the transformative journey ahead.
Resources
To find the resources from all of these chapters, please visit the tools and resources page
Vision & Scenarios Policy Lab
Iceberg model
Community forums
Citizen assemblies
Appreciative inquiry
Deliberative polling
Citizen conferences
Town meetings
Focus groups
Surveys
Examples
Tips
- Identify trusted community institutions or leaders who can facilitate discussions on wellbeing priorities.
- Train policymakers to undertake open, co-creative policy design processes.
- Ask powerful questions that support communities to identify their positive vision for the future, rather than focusing only on existing problems or challenges.
- Allow people to express their wellbeing priorities in images or stories.
- Ensure consideration of both current and long-term wellbeing priorities. What is required for the wellbeing of future generations?
- Encourage reflection on what matters for personal wellbeing, community wellbeing, humanity’s wellbeing, and the wellbeing of plants, animals, and the environment.
- When discussing what matters for wellbeing, ask additional ‘why?’ follow-up questions to better understand the key outcomes and values underpinning the stated priorities.
- Identify core values that relate to these wellbeing priorities and that can act as guiding principles in the policy design process.