Author: Laura Stoll, new economics foundation

Laura Stoll from the nef (new economics foundation) gave the presentation "Well-being: evidence for policy" during the Third ALICE RAP Plenary Meeting that took place in Barcelona on the 23rd-25th April 2013.

Author: The WHO Regional Office for Europe

A second expert meeting on measurement and target-setting for well-being was held in Paris, France in June 2012. Its overarching aim was to provide advice for the WHO Regional Director for Europe on how to assist in setting targets on well-being, which is one of the overarching targets of the European Health 2020 policy. The meeting reviewed previously commissioned work on measuring well-being and on its definitions, concepts and domains; advised WHO on the definition and concept of well-being to be used in the context of Health 2020; and determined what work was required to develop well-being indicators and targets. The meeting also agreed a working definition: ‘Well-being exists in two dimensions, subjective and objective. It comprises an individual’s experience of their life as well as a comparison of life circumstances with social norms and values’.

Author: Sabina Alkire (Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative)

As a background Paper to the International Expert Working Group (IEWG) on a New Development Paradigm this work outlines the concept of well-being and happiness for all and also what value-added this work has in policy terms.

Authors: Laura Stoll, Juliet Michaelson and Charles Seaford (nef)

This review aims to provide the tools necessary to transfer academic knowledge on the causes of well-being, and factors have associations with subjective well-being into a practical format for policymakers, by reviewing the current evidence (up to the end of 2011) – providing an introduction to the state of current knowledge.
The policy areas which have been identified include: the economy, social relationships and community, health, the local environment, education and care. There is also a section on personal characteristics, which, although often not amenable to direct policy changes, play an important part in the understanding of the factors that are important to an individual’s well-being.

Drafted by Peter Anderson (ALICE RAP)

For ALICE RAP, the OECD frame is taken as a model to re-frame the understanding of addictions in contemporary European society and as a base to re-design addictions governance for better individual and societal well-being.