[EQAB-list] new metrics for our big sustainability report?

[Robert G Kennedy III, PE]

Dear Colleagues,

in light of last night's freewheeling discussion, perhaps we should  
consider the Bhutanese approach, viz. 4 pillars, 9 domains, and 72  
indicators:

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From: [snip]
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 7:47 AM
To: [snip]
Subject: Intricate model of well-being

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/world/asia/07bhutan.html?_r=1&ref=world

Recalculating Happiness in a Himalayan Kingdom ...

Under a new Constitution adopted last year, government programs ? from  
agriculture to transportation to foreign trade ? must be judged not by  
the economic benefits they may offer but by the happiness they produce.

The goal is not happiness itself, the prime minister explained, a  
concept that each person must define for himself. Rather, the  
government aims to create the conditions for what he called, in an  
updated version of the American Declaration of Independence, ?the  
pursuit of gross national happiness.?

?Once Bhutan said, ?O.K., here we are with G.N.H.,? the developed  
world and the World Bank and the I.M.F. and so on asked, ?How do you  
measure it?? ? Mr. Dorji said, characterizing the reactions of the  
world?s big economic players. So the Bhutanese produced an intricate  
model of well-being that features the four pillars, the nine domains  
and the 72 indicators of happiness.
...
Specifically, the government has determined that the four pillars of a  
happy society involve the economy, culture, the environment and good  
governance. It breaks these into nine domains: psychological  
well-being, ecology, health, education, culture, living standards,  
time use, community vitality and good governance, each with its own  
weighted and unweighted G.N.H. index.

All of this is to be analyzed using the 72 indicators. Under the  
domain of psychological well-being, for example, indicators include  
the frequencies of prayer and meditation and of feelings of  
selfishness, jealousy, calm, compassion, generosity and frustration as  
well as suicidal thoughts.

Bhutan is pitting its four pillars, nine domains and 72 indicators  
against the 48 channels of Hollywood and Bollywood that have invaded  
since television was permitted a decade ago.

?Before June 1999 if you asked any young person who is your hero, the  
inevitable response was, ?The king,? ? Mr. Dorji said. ?Immediately  
after that it was David Beckham, and now it?s 50 Cent, the rap artist.
Parents are helpless.?

<<= ...and what about Hannah Montana? =>>

===
Born in South Jamaica, Queens, 50 Cent began drug dealing at the age  
of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing  
to pursue a rap career, he was shot nine times in 2000.
...
He adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent
===


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-- 
Robert G Kennedy III, PE
www.ultimax.com