The Wellbeing Economy offers a transformative model to ensure future generations are not burdened by the consequences of today’s decisions. Unsustainable economic growth often leads to long-term social, health, and environmental costs, threatening the wellbeing of current and future generations, and the sustainability of our planet.
The Wellbeing Economy moves beyond GDP as the sole measure of progress, integrating indicators such as mental and physical health, environmental sustainability, and social equity.
Embedding Wellbeing Economy in EU decision-making, will help to better address current challenges while safeguarding the needs and rights of future generations. This approach promotes intergenerational fairness by ensuring that today’s choices do not compromise the ability of future generations to thrive.
The concept of the Wellbeing Economy can be found across various EU initiatives: the 2019 Conclusions on the Economy of Wellbeing, the 2024 JRC report on ‘Sustainable and Inclusive Wellbeing”. Outside the EU, Wales was the first country to protect the interests of future generations with “The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015”.
EuroHealtNet, the partnership for health, wellbeing and reducing inequalities, has collected good practices on Wellbeing Economy and suggested to use the European Semester as a mechanism to achieve a Wellbeing Economy
Adopting a Wellbeing Economy approach is crucial for the success of the Intergenerational Fairness Initiative.