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Berlin Sustainability Talk with Tobias Pfaff: Inside Gross National Happiness - Thoughts on the Past, Present and Future of Bhutan's Development Paradigm

13.02.2014 | 16:00 - 18:00

On February 13th, 4 to 6 p.m., Dr. Tobias Pfaff (Uni Münster) will give a talk entitled "Inside Gross National Happiness - Thoughts on the Past, Present and Future of Bhutan's Development Paradigm". The event will be held at the conference room (room 3.1c) of the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU), Ihnestraße 22, 14195 Berlin. Dr. Pfaff's website can be found at http://www.wiwi.uni-muenster.de/ioeb/organisation/Pfaff.html

The small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is renowned for the development philosophy of "Gross National Happiness" (GNH). This talk sheds light on the origins of GNH which basically coincides with the story of how and why Bhutan quickly developed from an isolated Buddhist society to a society that tries to perform the balancing act between modern, sustainable and traditional life. Dr. Pfaff locates GNH in the sphere of economic systems and he presents different interpretations of GNH. It becomes clear that the lack of a consensual definition impedes ownership of the development concept among the wider public in Bhutan. The recent introduction of democracy in Bhutan led to innovative institutional emanations of GNH, namely the measurement of GNH, policy screening tools, and GNH education in schools. The talk concludes that GNH remains a unique and brave socio-economic experiment while Bhutan's future development is hard to predict. 

The Berlin Sustainability Talk is a seminar series at the Environmental Policy Research Centre (ffu). It provides a forum for discussion and exchange about ongoing research projects and recent trends in environmental policy research with scholars of other institutes, business representatives, politics, and public administrations as well as the interested public. A registration for the event is not required.

Zeit & Ort

13.02.2014 | 16:00 - 18:00

Ihnestraße 22, room 3.1c