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by Tho Ha Vinh (Author), Thakur S. Powdyel (Foreword by)
Practical principles for creating conditions for happiness at scale from the program director of the Gross National Happiness Center of Bhutan, the only country in the world to measure progress by the happiness of its citizens.
Despite countless happiness programs focused on individual well-being, are we any happier, really? Is it in fact possible to be fully happy within a miserably dysfunctional society built to keep structures of inequity in place? Possible, perhaps, but not easy. While the pursuit of happiness is a much-celebrated ideal, how can countries and communities design the right environments for people to lead happy lives? Personal programs for happiness that include mindfulness, empathy, and gratitude are a good start, but without structural changes, they can only go so far. Taking the case of the country of Bhutan as an example, the nation's first Gross National Happiness program director Tho Ha Vinh explains how the principles of happiness can and must apply to people, families, and communities at scale to produce the conditions for a truly satisfying life. More and more people feel that we live in a time of transition and that our very survival on this planet depends on renewing the way we live together in society. Gross National Happiness is an innovative development paradigm that puts the interconnected happiness of all people and the well-being of all life forms at the center of progress. Based on real-life experiences, this book shows a multitude of practical methods for strategic thinkers and change makers to apply the framework of Gross National Happiness to bring about positive change in schools, businesses, and communities.Author Biography
Tho Ha Vinh, PhD, was born in 1951, the son of a Vietnamese father and a French mother. He was the program director of the Gross National Happiness Center (GNH) of the country of Bhutan from 2012 to 2018. Serving as the Head of Training, Learning, and Development at the International Committee of the Red Cross, he trained humanitarian professionals working in war zones and emergency response in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, and Darfur. He holds a PhD in psychology and education from Geneva University, Switzerland.
Thakur S. Powdyel served as Bhutan's first democratically elected government's Minister of Education from 2008 through 2013 and is the recipient of the Global Education Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education.
