Collection search - Colman, Ronald. Measuring Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

Record information – Brief
1
Colman, Ronald. Measuring Gross National Happiness in Bhutan

Hierarchical level:

File

Date:

January 2011

Reference:

R16853-22-6-E, Volume number: 1, File number: 20

File no. (creator):

20

Type of material:

Moving images, Sound recordings, Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

5858712

Context of this record:

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The Green Interview fonds

Interviews

Colman, Ronald. Measuring Gross National Happiness in Bhutan
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Record information – Details

Date(s):

January 2011

Place of creation:

Canada

Extent:

2 video files (.mov, .mp4).
1 sound file (.mp3).
1 closed caption file (.vtt).
1 textual document (.pdf).
1 folder of textual records.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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File consists of an interview with Ronald Colman titled "Measuring Gross National Happiness in Bhutan" (title also appears as "Educating for Gross National Happiness in Bhutan"). The interview was conducted by Silver Donald Cameron as part of The Green Interview. File includes video of the interview, sound recording, and closed captioning file.

This interview was the second of two interviews conducted with Ron Colman for The Green Interview. (The first interview is "The true measures of progress." See: Mikan no. 5858713.) .

From the interview with Ron Colman: "[...] I'll just give you one example, although there are many. We found that volunteer work has declined across Canada by more than 12 per cent over the period of a decade. [...] People are working longer hours with their paid jobs. Their volunteer time is being squeezed out. They have less time to volunteer and that has an effect on our quality of life. That means that there are fewer people available, working fewer hours, supporting many cultural institutions that depend on volunteer work. Most of our theatre, arts, after-school sports coaching, volunteer fire fighting, there are so many volunteer services that contribute enormously to our quality of life. If those things begin to deteriorate through lack of person power, then that will affect our quality of life. But I don't think that any politician in the country is even aware of that statistic.

"Now, if the automobile industry were to fall by 12.3 per cent, they would rush in with the $50 billion bailout packages because we're measuring that. We're counting every little instance of the decline of the economic activity as part of the GDP. It instantly sends an adrenaline rush down the veins of policy makers and they respond, immediately. But volunteer work, can decline by 12.3 per cent, a very dramatic decline, very sharp decline and no one pays any attention."

Additional name(s):

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Colman, Ronald

Finding aid no.:

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MSS2736

Additional information:

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General note:

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From The Green Interview website: "Topic: Counting what counts; Education."

From The Green Interview website: Educating for Gross National Happiness: This episode of the Green Interview features Ronald Colman, the founder and Executive Director of Genuine Progress Index Atlantic, a non-profit research group that has constructed an index of wellbeing and sustainable development using Canada's province of Nova Scotia as its test-bed. GPI Atlantic is one of the world's most comprehensive attempts to supply a GPI to a government to guide its legislative decisions, using a wide range of social, economic, and environmental indicators that have been ignored by mainstream economists. Colman's Nova Scotia work lead to an engagement with the Royal Government of Bhutan to help that country implement and assess its policy of maximizing Gross National Happiness as opposed to Gross National Product. In this second Green Interview with Colman, he focuses on these developments in Bhutan and in particular on the 2009 workshop in Bhutan on "Educating for Gross National Happiness," which he helped organize for the Royal Government. The conference featured the participation of educational visionaries from around the globe.

Related material:

For audio-visual recordings of this interview, see IDCISN 607671, 607672.

For other interviews in The Green Interview fonds on this subject, see: Colman, Ronald. The true measures of progress (August 2009, Mikan no. 5858713); Kim, Julia. Happiness: reconnecting to self, others, and nature (Mikan no. 5858739); Thinley, Hon Jigme Yoser. Governing for Gross National Happiness (December 2019, Mikan no. 5858798); Bhutan: The pursuit of Gross National Happiness (2011, Mikan no. 5858799).

Source:

Private
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Moving images (video): electronic

[Consultation90 Open]

Sound recordings : electronic

[Consultation90 Open]

Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R16853]

[Consultation 90 Open]

1 File number 19

[Consultation 90 Open]

Textual records: electronic

[Consultation90 Open]

Electronic container [R16853] R16853-22-6

[Consultation 90 Open]

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