Blog Post

The World Happiness Report 2016 Update Launched with Widespread Media Coverage

  • By Elena Crete
  • •
  • 22 Mar, 2016
  • •
By Elena Crete
The 2016 World Happiness Report update was released on March 16 th in Rome, Italy. As in previous versions, the report includes a ranking of the level of happiness in 156 countries, followed by supporting chapters. This year’s chapters explored the distribution of happiness, secular ethics, and the potential integration of happiness metrics with various global indexes, including an index relating to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). As this report was published outside of the bi-annual schedule, it included a shorter update on the rankings, as well as a supplemental Special Rome Edition which invited papers from leading academics and scientists on the morality and ethical considerations of happiness (To read the report in full, please visit worldhappiness.report.) The launch event extended over a three-day conference where economic and social science academics and practitioners from around the world came together to share research findings, discuss the reports, and explore tools and techniques for measuring happiness and well-being.
The first day was hosted by Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta (LUMSA) University and included breakout presentations by leading academics on the state of well-being research. Presentation topics ranged from the impact of food satisfaction on perceived well-being, to the effects of religious beliefs as an ‘insurance policy’ for long-term happiness. The day was peppered with illuminating conversation, the sharing of ideas, and a general tone of agreement on the growing importance of happiness as an indicator of progress in our increasingly complex world.
Day two of the conference was hosted by the Bank of Italy and featured a panel presentation by the editors of the 2016 Report, including the accompanying Special Rome Edition. The day’s discussion covered each chapter of the two volumes. One of the primary themes of the day included the trend of growing inequality within and among countries around the world. Professor John Helliwell discussed this at length and explained how inequality at both a macro and micro scale can cause great distress, jealousy, and thus unhappiness for individuals and societies as a whole.
The last day of the conference included a spectacular mobilization of youth as more than 1,000 Italian students joined a presentation by the three lead editors of the report, Jeffrey Sachs, John Helliwell and Richard Layard.  Additionally there were speeches by Leonardo Bacchetti, Stefano Zamagni and Luigino Bruni from Italian Universities at the Vatican’s Court of the Gentiles, featuring commentary by Cardinal Ravasi and Former Prime Minister Giuliano Amato. The panel discussed the importance of mental health, social support systems and relationships, and how the SDGs can be used as a framework for improving happiness around the world. The panelists called upon the assembled youth to pursue happiness in themselves and each other, and to consider societal well-being a measure of success in their future careers and everyday life.

SDSN Newsletter - July 2021

By SDSN Secretariat • 03 Aug, 2021 •
This month, SDSN celebrated its growing network, talked about the incredible amount of media coverage on the 2021 SDR, and reflected on this year's High Level Political Forum

WRI Report Spotlight: “Unlocking a Renewable Energy Future: How Government Action Can Drive Private Investment”

By Fiona Laird • 02 Aug, 2021 •
World Resources Institute recently released Unlocking a Renewable Energy Future: How Government Action Can Drive Private Investment, a report outlining key challenges to increasing clean energy investment and deployment. This report digs into the financial and regulatory mechanisms available to support policy frameworks like that outlined in SDSN USA’s Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP), released in October 2020.

European Commission launches proposals to reach 55% emissions reduction by 2030

By Sam Van Hoof • 30 Jul, 2021 •
The ‘Fit for 55' package includes a ban on combustion engines from 2035, a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and a Social Climate Fund among other provisions.

SDSN Canada 2021 Members Meeting Recap

By Giovanni Bruna • 29 Jul, 2021 •

SDSN Canada reconvened the network membership on June 16th, 2021 for the annual Members Meeting.

This year's meeting featured conversations on the current state of the SDGs in Canada, emerging opportunities for post-secondary institutions, networking breakout sessions, and a featured joint presentation by the Brookings Institution and Rockefeller Foundation on mobilizing campuses and communities for the SDGs using the 17 Rooms initiative. A lightning round of member initiatives was also included to highlight a portion of the SDG work happening across the network.

Recap the discussion by reading the meeting notes   or listening to the audio recordings for each session.

Meeting Highlights:

  • The SDSN Global annual Sustainable Development Report 2021  was released June 2021, tracking progress on the SDGs by country (Canada ranked 21st in the world). The report outlines the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on the SDGs and describes how the SDGs can frame the recovery.
  • The Government of Canada has released Canada’s National Strategy for the SDGs, Moving Forward Together. The strategy outlines a set of 30 actions towards the SDGs, including localizing the SDGs, supporting partnerships with Indigenous initiatives, and advancing research into the gaps in Canada's efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda.
  • The 17 Rooms initiative  is a tool for advancing SDG collaboration, community-centric conversations, and bottom-up action. There are three key principles of consideration:
    • Every SDG gets a seat at the table (a dedicated room).
    • Identify what the next step is, and not the perfect step. What are things you can do together over the next 12 to 18 months that you can implement action on the SDGs?
    • It is about conversations, not presentations. The goal is to learn from each other and create a community of practice.
    • Join the 17 Rooms-X Community of Practice to access the beta toolkit.
  • A ‘lightning round’ of presentations by members spotlighting SDG work from Colleges and Institutes Canada, the Interdisciplinary Research Center in the Operationalization of Sustainable Development (CIRODD), Vancouver Island University, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Waterloo.

The meeting was also a chance to invite the membership into initiatives designed to be more intentional about the network’s collective presence and impact. In this vein, the network thinks that the 17 Rooms process can be a critical resource for campus conversations on the SDGs. It also relaunched the Member Challenge , is starting the ‘SDG Teaching Community’ for faculty across the network, and is convening a small working group of interested members to talk about an enhanced governance structure for the network.

Public Consultation on SPA Report

By Lauren Barredo • 29 Jul, 2021 •
We encourage stakeholders to provide meaningful input to aid the development of a better and more complete report. We invite feedback from individuals and organizations, from all sectors.

Environmental and Agricultural Impacts of Dietary Shifts at Global and National Scales

By FABLE • 28 Jul, 2021 •
The FABLE Consortium is releasing two policy briefs over the coming months intended to advise national governments on sustainable land-use and diets. The first brief, entitled “Environmental and agricultural impacts of dietary shifts at global and national scales'' is now available.

Media Coverage of the Sustainable Development Report 2021

By SDG Index • 23 Jul, 2021 •
The Sustainable Development Report 2021 has been covered by the BBC, the Guardian, Washington Post, and more than 100 other media outlets.

The Multidimensional Vulnerability Index and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

By Isabella Massa • 21 Jul, 2021 •
SDSN together with the United Nations Resident Coordinators in SIDS and the Permanent Mission of Antigua and Barbuda hosted on 12 July 2021 a High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) side event to discuss the issue of measuring multidimensional vulnerability, and its relevance for international financing mechanisms.

SDGs Today Launches My School Today!

By SDGs Today • 20 Jul, 2021 •
SDGs Today recently launched their My School Today! call to action, meant to support students and local communities to geo-reference their schools and education facilities as part of an effort to promote timely information on school locations in Africa

SDSN at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)

By SDSN Secretariat • 20 Jul, 2021 •
SDSN and our networks are hosting a number of events alongside the UN's High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). We are thrilled to invite you to join us at the following events, which SDSN is hosting or are organized by our partners.
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