Buen Vivir is a concept and practice influencing politics and communities across South America. It involves a radically different way of thinking about collective wellbeing and sustainable living.
Our individual happiness, the quality of our relationships and community well-being are closely interconnected.
Shutterstock/Rawpixel
We now know that we cannot spend our way to happiness nor pursue it as an individual goal. It turns out that happiness is built on the foundations of good relationships and broad well-being.
Inside Out’s five emotions are not a bad reflection of the emotional diversity within our own minds.
Pixar
Pixar’s new film, Inside Out, shows that chasing happiness along won’t necessarily bring well-being, which is a view backed by the latest psychological research.
More than two million cat videos were posted on YouTube as of 2014 with nearly 26 billion total views.
from shutterstock.com
Watching cute cat videos and looking at their online pictures may not be a waste of time. A new study has found doing so could boost energy levels and increase feelings of happiness.
George Ward, London School of Economics and Political Science
While Conservative pundits wonder why high scores for economic competence aren’t boosting poll numbers, some clues might lie away from financial measures.
Exercise is a healthy route to the good life.
gorillaimages via shutterstock.com
Last week, the 0.1% met at World Economic Forum annual gathering in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos. While the official excuse to go there is to discuss and shape the global agenda – the theme dominating…
Finally, a break from talking about our emotions.
Children's feet via Pavel L Photo and Video/Shutterstock
Apocryphal depictions of an unprecedented crisis in young people’s mental ill-health and their general vulnerability have been accompanied by increasingly alarmist claims that only schools can address…
How good are you at caring for your houseplants? Come to that, how good are you at caring for yourself? Symbio, a new app still currently in development, will connect your well-being to that of your plants…
Teachers need a hand getting the message across.
Wellbeing blackboard via pupunkkop/Shutterstock
Children’s character and well-being looks set to be a central education issue going into the 2015 general election. Getting out of the starting blocks in mid-December, Nicky Morgan, the secretary of state…
What will your resolutions be?
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
In setting out our resolutions, we should first step back and take stock of what it is that we really want, what we consider the good life to be, and then think about how best we might achieve it.
According to Atul Gawande medicine lies at “the messy intersection of science and human fallibility”. Named as one of the world’s most influential thinkers by Time in 2010, Gawande is a world renowned…
The inner suburbs of Melbourne are surprisingly more leafy than the outer suburbs.
Andrew
When you look out of your window in the morning, how many trees do you see? Your answer might depend on what suburb you live in. As you go further from the city centre, the amount of tree cover in a suburb…
Yes – cheap flights to Norway!
Pedro Ribeiro Simões
It’s no secret that the global population is ageing. We’re living longer than ever and are healthier until much later in life. But we’re still struggling to adapt to this changing demographic – and some…
Indigenous Australians see spirituality as central to their wellbeing.
Rusty Stewart/Flickr
The United Nations Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently conducted an assessment of the wellbeing of people around the world. The results indicate that Canberra is a world…
Is the right to pursue happiness equally available to all Americans?
Josh Hallett
Foundation essay: This article is part of a series marking the launch of The Conversation in the US. Our foundation essays are longer than our usual comment and analysis articles and take a wider look…