The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The GNH Centre Bhutan is being established in Bumthang with the purpose to manifest in living practice Bhutan’s unique balanced development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH). It will show how GNH can practically permeate every aspect of the fabric of a society. It will manifest simple and sustainable living in harmony with nature.
The GNH Centre Bhutan in collaboration with Presencing Institute, USA and GIZ, Germany created The Global Wellbeing and GNH Lab, which is a unique opportunity for leaders across a range of sectors around the world to jointly explore key challenges in the field of innovating beyond GDP, to approach the deep-seated roots of these challenges and develop new responses and solutions.
The Lab aims to develop leadership capacity, to generate a set of evolving prototypes or “living laboratories”, and to document change by capturing and disseminating emerging lessons and experience.
The Lab offers learning journeys which will immerse the leader participants into key sites and experiences in Brazil and Bhutan, where innovation in wellbeing and sustainability will come into effect.
The first learning journey in Brazil took place from 19 January to 25 January, 2013 and the second learning journey will take place in Naktsel Resorts, Paro, Bhutan from 23 April to 27 April, 2013.
The list of participants includes the Governor and First Lady of Oregon, USA, founder, directors and research fellows from several international organizations and NGOs inclusive of Natura (Brazil), Balle (USA), Sewa (India), OECD, OXFARM, Eileen Fisher, Now Consulting, Arapyau Institute (Brazil), Wuppertal Institute for Climate (Germany), Tsinhgua University (China), Sustainable Pogress Initiative (USA), Center for Environment & Development and governmental officials from various countries.
GNH is a development philosophy propounded by the fourth Druk Gyalpo His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck.
