Who is Teaching Us about Sustainable Happiness and Well-Being?

The growing recognition that happiness and well-being are intertwined with sustainability is leading to new opportunities for enhancing happiness and well-being, sustainably. The education sector has a critical role in advancing this work but has been slow to incorporate sustainability education and applications of positive psychology. The concept of sustainable happiness (happiness that contributes to individual, community and/or global well-being without exploiting other people, the environment or future generations) (O’Brien, 2010a) offers an innovative perspective to re-invigorate sustainability education and shape priorities for 21st century learning – contributing to resilient, sustainable happiness and well-being for all.

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Configurations to Superior Environmental Innovation Strategy: A Both–And Approach

Organization & Environment ◽

10.1177/10860266211031623 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 108602662110316

Author(s):

Tiziana Russo-Spena ◽

Nadia Di Paola ◽

Aidan O’Driscoll

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Value Chain ◽

Critical Role ◽

Well Being ◽

Point Of View ◽

Future Generations ◽

Innovation Strategy ◽

Environmental Innovation ◽

Data Set

An effective climate change action involves the critical role that companies must play in assuring the long-term human and social well-being of future generations. In our study, we offer a more holistic, inclusive, both–and approach to the challenge of environmental innovation (EI) that uses a novel methodology to identify relevant configurations for firms engaging in a superior EI strategy. A conceptual framework is proposed that identifies six sets of driving characteristics of EI and two sets of beneficial outcomes, all inherently tensional. Our analysis utilizes a complementary rather than an oppositional point of view. A data set of 65 companies in the ICT value chain is analyzed via fuzzy-set comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a post-QCA procedure. The results reveal that achieving a superior EI strategy is possible in several scenarios. Specifically, after close examination, two main configuration groups emerge, referred to as technological environmental innovators and organizational environmental innovators.

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Universities as the engine of transformational sustainability toward delivering the sustainable development goals

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/ijshe-02-2019-0103 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (8) ◽

pp. 1343-1357 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Wendy Maria Purcell ◽

Heather Henriksen ◽

John D. Spengler

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Sustainable Development ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Critical Role ◽

Well Being ◽

Education Sector ◽

Content Type ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Living Lab ◽

Development Goals

Purpose Universities can do more to deliver against the sustainable development goals (SDGs), working with faculty, staff and students, as well as their wider stakeholder community and alumni body. They play a critical role in helping shape new ways for the world, educating global citizens and delivering knowledge and innovation into society. Universities can be engines of societal transformation. Using a multiple case study approach, this study aims to explore different ways of strategizing sustainability toward delivering the SDGs are explored in a university setting with an example from the UK, Bulgaria (Europe) and USA. Design/methodology/approach The first case is a public UK university that adopted enterprise and sustainability as its academic mission to secure differentiation in a disrupted and increasingly marketized global higher education sector; this became a source of inspiration for change in regional businesses and the local community. The second case is a business sector-led sustainability-driven transformation working with a private university in Bulgaria to catalyze economic regeneration and social innovation. Finally, a case from the office for sustainability in a major US research university is given to show how its engagement program connected faculty and students in sustainability projects within the institution and with external partners. Findings Each case is in effect a “living lab,” positioning sustainability as an intentional and aspirational strategy with sustainable development and the SDG framework a means to that end. Leadership at all levels, and by students, was key to success in acting with a shared purpose. Partnerships within and with universities can help accelerate delivery of the SDGs, enabling higher education to make a fuller contribution to sustaining the economic, environmental, cultural and intellectual well-being of our global communities. Originality/value The role of universities as the engine of transformational sustainability toward delivering the SDGs has been explored by way of three case studies that highlight different means toward that end. The collegiate nature of the higher education sector, with its shared governance models and different constituencies and performance drivers, means that sustainability at a strategic level must be led with leaders at all levels acting with purpose. The “living lab” model can become a part of transformative institutional change that draws on both top-down and bottom-up strategies in pursuit of sustainable development.

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Sustainable Happiness and Well-Being: Future Directions for Positive Psychology

Psychology ◽

10.4236/psych.2012.312a177 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 03 (12) ◽

pp. 1196-1201 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Catherine O’Brien

Keyword(s):

Positive Psychology ◽

Well Being ◽

Future Directions ◽

Sustainable Happiness

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A mathematical model for the dynamics of happiness

Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering ◽

10.3934/mbe.2022094 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 2002-2029

Author(s):

Gustavo Carrero ◽

◽

Joel Makin ◽

Peter Malinowski ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mathematical Model ◽

Positive Psychology ◽

Differential Equations ◽

Mathematical Description ◽

Well Being ◽

Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations ◽

The Mathematical Model ◽

Sustainable Happiness ◽

Over Time

<abstract><p>Positive psychology recognizes happiness as a construct comprising hedonic and eudaimonic well-being dimensions. Integrating these components and a set of theory-led assumptions, we propose a mathematical model, given by a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, to describe the dynamics of a person's happiness over time. The mathematical model offers insights into the role of emotions for happiness and why we struggle to attain sustainable happiness and tread the hedonic treadmill oscillating around a relative stable level of well-being. The model also indicates that lasting happiness may be achievable by developing constant eudaimonic emotions or human altruistic qualities that overcome the limits of the homeostatic hedonic system; in mathematical terms, this process is expressed as distinct dynamical bifurcations. This mathematical description is consistent with the idea that eudaimonic well-being is beyond the boundaries of hedonic homeostasis.</p></abstract>

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Educational Psychological Perspectives on Sustainability Education

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12010398 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 398 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kaarina Määttä ◽

Satu Uusiautti

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Educational Psychology ◽

Sustainability Education ◽

Well Being ◽

Positive Education ◽

Environmental Behaviors ◽

Guiding Principle ◽

Human Happiness ◽

Sustainable Happiness

What is the role of educational psychology in the development of sustainability education? In this editorial article, we argue that human happiness and life satisfaction could be the keys to positive education and adapting to pro-environmental behaviors. We discuss the perspective of sustainable happiness education being the guiding principle of sustainability education. Sustainable happiness education can provide a means to educate people about ways of considering their own well-being and that of others simultaneously, while keeping in mind the sustainability aspect of their actions.

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Linking sustainability and happiness. What kind of happiness?

GeoScape ◽

10.2478/geosc-2020-0007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 70-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

František Petrovič ◽

František Murgaš

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

21St Century ◽

Well Being ◽

Future Generations ◽

Consumer Society ◽

General Measure ◽

The Cost

AbstractSustainability is part of the scientific mainstream; in the following paper we connect it with the phenomenon of happiness, which is becoming a discussed concept not only among researchers but also amongst public. This is due to the fact that today’s society has become a consumer society. This knowledge has provoked criticism of the prevailing lifestyle. The unprecedented growth of prosperity in the second half of the last century and at the beginning of the 21st century was achieved at the cost of environmental devastation. This presented the urgent question of how to improve the quality of life or bring happiness to a growing number of people. At the same time, efforts to replace GDP as a general measure of development with quality of life began to grow. In connection with happiness, it is important that it is defined in two ways: hedonic or eudaimonic. The aim of the paper is to find out which form of happiness is sustainable on the basis of the analysis of relevant works. Happiness is understood as part of the subjective dimension of quality of life, it represents the highest level of well-being. The combination of sustainability and quality of life or happiness is not new, some authors consider quality of life as the fourth pillar of sustainability. A key criterion for assessing which happiness is sustainable and which is not is the following assumption: The happiness of us – contemporaries − cannot be achieved at the expense of future generations. The knowledge-which of the forms is sustainable - is the result of the analysis of both forms of happiness.

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Student residences: time for a partnership approach?

Journal of Property Investment and Finance ◽

10.1108/jpif-11-2019-0140 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 128-146

Author(s):

Laura McCann ◽

Norman Hutchison ◽

Alastair Adair

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Real Estate ◽

Private Sector ◽

Critical Role ◽

Well Being ◽

Education Sector ◽

Content Type ◽

Corporate Real Estate ◽

The Uk ◽

Uk Higher Education

PurposeRecent years have witnessed significant increases in the number of undergraduate students entering UK higher education. This increase is a result of the removal of the sector-wide cap on student numbers in England and Wales, along with a growth in overseas students attracted by the reputation of UK universities and the weakening of the value of Sterling. Adopting a corporate real estate perspective, the aim of this paper is to understand how the UK student residence market is structured and financed, and to identify the motivations that are driving the strategies adopted by the universities, private sector providers and investors in this market. In doing so, this research seeks to test the appropriateness of the Gibler and Lindholm (2012) model of corporate real estate strategy in the UK higher education sector.Design/methodology/approachData was gathered from a survey of UK university secretaries, combined with interviews of private sector providers, bank lenders and the analysis of secondary data on investment flows into purpose built residential accommodation (PBSA).FindingsUK university real estate strategy is mainly one of outsourcing student accommodation to reduce costs as well as employing modern purpose-built student housing as a marketing tool and brand enhancer. This strategy is also used as a risk mitigatory tool enabling universities to adjust to changing student demands. Revisions to the Gibler and Lindholm (2012) model are proposed to reflect the reality of the real estate strategy adopted by the universities. Private sector providers view the sector favourably and are set to be the main providers of new supply over the next decade, entering into strong partnerships with the universities. While there is evidence of some oversupply of bed spaces in certain cities, well-located developments are viewed as an attractive lending opportunity. Since 2013 there has been significant growth in institutional investment into UK student accommodation, albeit sentiment is currently tempered by political uncertainty.Practical implicationsThe role of PBSA designed to meet modern student requirements is playing a critical role not only in attracting, recruiting and retaining students but also enhancing the overall higher education experience promoting student welfare and well-being.Originality/valueThe corporate real estate strategy adopted by the UK higher education sector is an under researched area. This paper focuses on the strategy surrounding student accommodation provision and reports on the findings of an extensive survey of the key players in this sector. The results are of value to all stakeholders including government and regulators, at a time when higher education is facing substantial challenges. The evidence of a growing partnership between universities and the private sector is viewed as a logical solution, both for the present and the foreseeable future.

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