< PreviousFEATURE B Corp Summit 2023. Photo credit: NATIVA 10 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEAdvancing Meaningful Work and Lives These changemakers are paving the way for a new economic reality. Welcome to the seventh issue of Make The World Better Magazine! In this edition, uncover the stories of changemakers from around the world who are reimagining economic outcomes by putting people and planet first. Read on to learn about nine incredible organizations, networks, and projects that are laying the foundation for the Wellbeing Economy in Canada, empowering collaboration and action among changemakers in the UK, centring wellbeing at the government level in Scotland, rallying Canadians around purpose, making purpose-driven waves in Italy and beyond, demonstrating the power of organizational purpose in Asia, striving toward wellbeing in the water industry, bringing wellbeing resort experiences to urban settings, and supporting purpose and wellbeing in the later-stage of life. Plus, learn about the Wellbeing Economy, including the importance of governance, making sustainability a reality, and how dreaming meets practicality in two special editorial pieces from guest authors Dr. Victoria Hurth and Professor Lorenzo Fioramonti. APRIL 2024 • ISSUE 07 11Wellbeing Economy, Purpose-Driven Organizations, and Meaningful Work: Making Sustainability Real By: Dr. Victoria Hurth and Professor Lorenzo Fioramonti 12 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINET here is increasing fear about the economic, social, environmental, and institutional crises the world faces (also known as the polycrisis), and answers seem to be getting more plenti- ful, technical, and confusing. So much time is spent debating diff erent strate- gies (e.g. technologies and policies) to move away from this chaos and achieve sustainability, but we almost always forget to debate and pin down the actual shared goal of sustainability, that is, our ultimate objective. We also overlook the importance of identifying the parameters we want to stick within while achieving this objective. Th is renders our strategy — hydrogen or electric cars, tax cuts or tax rises — along with the incentives and policies to enact them potentially useless, or worse, counter-productive because it is these two aspects — the objective and parameters — that should set the basis of strategy. If these two core aspects of di- rection are not clear and not shared, then we may seem to fundamentally disagree when we actually do not. We may just have diff erent ideas about the best way to respond to the challenge (the strategy), while agreeing that the objective and the direction of travel is right. Th e lack of clear, shared direction also means there is no way to be accountable for success or failure — success can only be judged in relation to achievement of the objective within the parameters. In other words, without this clarity it just isn’t possible to innovate as a collec- tive, agree on how to judge relative stra- tegic options, and ensure they are carried out. In turn, it isn’t possible to govern. Th e key functions of governance (ISO 370001) are 1) direction: setting objectives and parameters; 2) oversight: checking if we have achieved the objectives within the parameters; and 3) accountability: are we accountable to signifi cant others for whether we have achieved the objectives within the parameters and what correc- tive actions will be taken. Th is is true if you are governing the world, a nation, a company, or even your own life. So, with- out the direction, the rest is irrelevant: we literally can’t govern well without it. What is most frustrating is that the world has been silently singing in chorus that wellbeing (the good life/fl ourishing) is the ultimate outcome we are all after and that the health of the social and environmental systems that we rely on to achieve this objective are the minimum parameters we need to stick to. Apart from wellbeing for society as a whole being the underlying point of an economy (see the fi rst chapter in almost any economic textbook), this was also the global shared objective brought to us by international leaders with the 1987 Brundtland Report (also known as “Our Common Future”). It summarized an urgent warning about the unsustainable world we were creating and how sustain- able development was about ensuring the needs of the current generation were met without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. As satisfying universal human needs underpins wellbeing, what the report set out was that the goal of sus- tainability was about achieving wellbeing over the long-term and for everyone and not just a few, i.e., long-term wellbe- ing for all. Th e report also made clear that our collective long-term wellbeing requires healthy social and environmen- tal systems and that these were being destroyed in the process of what we were calling “development” or “progress.” Humanity’s planetary-wide crises have only deepened since then. Instead of reminding us that we need to govern very deliberately for sustainability (long- term wellbeing for all within healthy social and environmental systems), we focused instead on the strategy, breaking this into three pillars, or 17 SDGs, and picking off those we could make work within our current economic assump- tions. Th ese strategies were never going to work without reminding ourselves and governing specifi cally at all levels against the objective (long-term wellbeing for all) within the parameters of healthy social and environmental systems. We are reaching the end game. People are starting to realize that we are at risk of losing what is most precious before we have really clarifi ed what it is. We believe these crises will continue to deepen unless we can acknowledge en masse that: 1 It is a defunct basis for governing the market economy that is causing unsustainability and that a new market economy needs to be urgently born (or else lose the market economy and end up in a command-and- control reality); 2 We need to govern this new market economy by objectives and parameters that are very specifi cally aligned with a sustainable future, locking in success; and 3 We know how to bring about and govern this new economy — but we need to come together with far more clarity and unity of voice to make it happen. We are reaching the end game. People are starting to realize that we are at risk of losing what is most precious before we have really clarified what it is. APRIL 2024 • ISSUE 07 13The Economy: Humanity’s Operating System Let’s start from the most basic (and im- portant) question: What is an economy? If you think about it, an economy can be considered an operating system for society. It is the key system we need to govern if we want to take our shared resources and turn them into something useful for society. In particular, the economy is a collective system of role allocation, which sets rules through which certain actors are allowed to access, allocate, and transform common resources. Similar to software or a board game, an economy embeds the objective to be achieved, the parameters for achieving it by defi ning the roles we play, how to measure the value that is generated, and how to reward participants according to their contributions to “winning.” However, for some time, and super- charged in the last 50 years, we have the wrong objective and wrong parameters and therefore the wrong strategy. We have assumed that fi nancial income is the core goal — the thing we need to grow, at a household, company, country, and inter- national level — and we have assumed that stocks and fl ows of fi nancial capital are the most important parameter. Why? Because we assume money is a valid proxy for well- being outcomes. We therefore tend to view gross domestic product (GDP), fi nancial profi t, and household income as our tickets to a good life, and we have assumed that social and environmental systems, stake- holders, and non-fi nancial forms of capital are limitless and immune to harm. If we grow fi nancial income, for example by liquidating our planetary and social assets, then we have more “tokens” to purchase our wellbeing via consumer goods and services in the market. Th e assumption is that more of these goods and services are the best way we can increase our wellbeing and that those companies who are increasing their fi nancial income capture from the market must therefore be doing a good job. Why would we buy their off erings otherwise? Th ese companies also provide jobs, which give us more fi nancial income to purchase that wellbeing. At a national level, we judge governments on how many tokens we have and how much our tokens can buy, which means that governments need to be playing this game better than other countries, and GDP and “economic growth” become the anchor that political success is tethered to. Worse, governments are complicit in leading society into this false belief that fi nancial income and wellbeing are good proxies, hence when it comes to who to vote for we are already primed to favour governments that measure up to this view. In this comfortable abstraction from reality, we have forgotten to check if fi nan- cial income really is a good proxy for our collective long-term wellbeing and whether or not we were regenerating or depleting the health of the systems we rely on for it. Of course, we are now starting to be force- fed the answer through daily reports of existential threats to humanity's ability to thrive, or even survive on planet Earth. So, from a macro perspective, what is needed is a shift from the current nation- al and global operating systems — that dictate that fi nancial income is the most valuable outcome which automatically results in long-term wellbeing for all and where the resources we rely on for this are unaccounted for — to a new operating sys- tem. A new market economy. A Wellbeing Economy. Th is economy has high-quality governance at its heart. Stakeholders within it clearly and accountably optimize long- term collective wellbeing (sustainability) and do this while ensuring the health of collective social and environmental assets, stakeholders, and non-fi nancial capital that result from them. Why should actors be given the right to take up precious resourc- es on behalf of the collective if they can’t prove they are innovating for something valuable and that they aren’t asset-stripping these resources in the process? While setting out the macro level gov- ernance of the economy is core, it remains a set of well-thought-out policy intentions unless these intentions are made real with governance within organizations — and that includes all types of organizations: charities, companies, community groups, and government as an organization. Th is organizational governance mirrors the mac- ro level by being directed toward long-term wellbeing for all (sustainability) as the goal and setting organizational-level parame- ters that ensure the organization operates within the thresholds of healthy systems, stakeholders, and capital. Th rough this system of macro and meso governance, we can also actively address the other big mistake we have made: assuming that, at a micro level, humans are primarily fi nancially-oriented. Th is fi ts the existing operating system but represses the fact that we are purposeful creatures seeking meaningful lives and that we know this meaning is primarily derived from feeling like we have made other’s lives better, like picking up a pencil or opening a door for someone and feeling that “warm glow.” So, as Daniel Pink and others set out, while money — always a means to tangible ends — is a known motivator, purpose is a far more powerful one. It is this power- ful and relatively untapped energy source that purpose-driven organizations unlock while operationalizing the Wellbeing Economy. Th erefore at the micro-level, in the Wellbeing Economy, and made real by purpose-driven organizations, we fi nd fully empowered human beings who perform a wide variety of roles in society. In this vein, and as many have argued over the years, the very concept of work needs a new defi - nition to embrace all forms of value-gen- erating activities, including volunteering, caring, community participation, ecosys- tem preservation, etc., which have wrongly been relegated to the uneconomic realm by previous approaches. While money — always a means to tangible ends — is a known motivator, purpose is a far more powerful one. It is this powerful and relatively untapped energy source that purpose-driven organizations unlock while operationalizing the Wellbeing Economy. 14 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINESustainability Unleashed and Unsustainability Stopped In the new market-based operating sys- tem, value that contributes to this objec- tive within the parameters is deliberately generated through pursuits at diff erent levels and through multiple pathways. All optimal strategic routes to long-term wellbeing are debated and pursued, like the regenerative approaches to seques- tering carbon dioxide through well-con- sidered habitat restoration, or moving to open data practices to restore trust, or raising the minimum wage. Th ese may, or may not, require intermediary fi nancial transactions and the need to create stocks of fi nancial capital and growth in material throughout or at the level of fi nancial transactions. While it is fairly certain that healthy stocks and fl ows of fi nancial cap- ital will always have a central role to play in investing in long-term wellbeing for all, meeting the expectations of stakeholders, and paying the bills, what exact role needs to be fully questioned. In this new economy, growth of fi nancial activity as a marker of success is no longer measured in terms of stuff we produce and consume regardless of the wellbeing impact. Instead, we measure and drive growth in terms of wellbeing for all and achieving and maintaining the health of the systems, stakeholders, and multi-capital that underpin it for future generations. Th is means the idea of “value” and “value creation” can have real substance, anchored to what we really care about. With a new defi nition of value, anchored to long-term wellbeing for all, (sustainability), the idea of “profi t” in a Wellbeing Economy would be completely reimagined. No longer limited to fi nancial outputs, profi t must equate value-gener- ation at multiple levels and in a multi- plicity of forms socially, environmentally, institutionally, and in relation to the ends and resources that really matter. Th e nested governance model that we propose can be summarized in the two illustrations below — a clear and sharable (please share freely!) expression of the task we need to undertake if we have a chance of achieving a “sustainable” market econ- omy. And we say “market” economy de- liberately. We are pretty sure we need the effi ciency, freedom, and democratizing eff ects of a functioning market economy to address the urgent issues we face and to optimize wellbeing going forward. Th e fi rst diagram summarizes the necessary transition between the cur- rent fi nancial growth economy, in other words, the unsustainable business-as-usual (BAU) market economy, and a Wellbeing Economy, in other words, the sustain- ability-centred market economy. We believe that, unless we are successful at building this new market economy, held in place through a new governance model then, as the unsustainability crises compounds, we may very quickly see the collapse of markets and some form of command-and-control operating system, which has proven so many times to be ineff ective. Just think how easy it was for us to be persuaded to give up market free- doms when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. APRIL 2024 • ISSUE 07 15Unpicking the Meso Level Th is second diagram is an adapted Daly Triangle and bridges the Wellbeing Economy (the whole triangle) to the prac- tical detail of the three major worldviews/ organizational “logics” that structure gover- nance and therefore decision-making in or- ganizations in real-time. Th ese logics there- fore frame the outcomes and impact that can be achieved by an organization. Th is is an adaptation of the great work of Herman Daly and subsequently of Donnella Meadows. In emails with Herman Daly the week before he sadly passed, he was very supportive of the work and the bridging of the macro (that he and Donella Meadows focus on with the triangle) with the me- so-level of purpose-driven organizations. LOGIC In the middle of the triangle is the current BAU fi nancial income-focused economy and associated organizational governance. Here the objective of the economy, and organizations, is fi nancial capital accumula- tion, and what we ask them to spend most time protecting as a means to this end is stocks and fl ows of fi nancial capital. We have constrained the basis of governance direction to intermediary ends and means. Th is means strategy is constrained within this, as are the core governance functions of oversight and accountability. Th is puts the proper innovative goal of long-term wellbeing for all out of sight, and, in fact, off limits because the BAU market econ- omy puts the health of the values shared resources “off balance sheet.” If you keep expanding such a global system — one that is governed to innovate for self-interested fi nancial value capture fuelled by the wanton liquidations of shared assets, then it is easy to see why we have ended up with an existential threat to long-term wellbeing for all (unsustainabil- ity). What is most toxic is that if you are trapped in this way of viewing the world it isn’t easy to change the “investment case” and fi nd a diff erent reason to innovate for a sustainable future. Th e only arguments that “cut it” are those you can prove are alleviat- ing a threat to short-term fi nancial interest. LOGIC Given how hard and fast the unfolding social and ecological instability is revealing itself, some governments and organiza- tions are moving to a state of long-term enlightened self-value (ESV). While fi nancial self-interest remains the overarch- ing objective, the governance parameters for decision-making are, in eff ect, broad- ened to encompass the health of social and environmental systems, stakeholders, and the health of stocks and fl ows of non-fi nancial capital. Th is longer-term self-interest allows for a change in the investment case to divert funds that would otherwise be extracted or reinvested for more fi nancial extraction to instead be used to bolster the health of stakeholders, employees, or ecosystem regeneration, for example. Th is is essential- ly a “do no harm” approach to a sustainable future. Making a case to invest because the long-term fi nancial interest of the company is ensured because harm to the underlying assets is reduced is one thing, but innova- tion that actively solves unsustainability? Th ere is no real basis for this. Th ese orga- nizations are therefore partially aligned to a sustainable future. Given how far degraded a whole range of social and environmen- tal systems are, moving business models into a place where they really can claim to “do no harm” is far, far harder than most organizations realize and requires a level of innovation and energy far beyond where we are now. While the move to ESV has been the major thrust of late (think ESG), we believe we need to be much bolder if we are going to avert the threats we face — and optimize the benefi t possible. Th is is because these ESV organizations still fi lter their decisions against the goal of fi nancial self-interest. Th is constrains the ability to innovate, collaborate, and harness the deep motivations of human stakeholders. Th ey may be moving toward doing no harm, but will they get there and what opportunities to solve the desperate threats to long- term wellbeing for all will be forfeited in the process? LOGIC Th is is where the logic of purpose-driven organizations comes in — as the aligned vehicle for achieving the Wellbeing Economy. By focusing governance directly on the end goal of the economy — long- term wellbeing for all, purpose-driven organizations, and the Wellbeing Economy they service, in eff ect, reject the specifi c assumptions of the BAU market economy. Rather than relying on a BAU economy to auto-produce collective long-term well- being — there is active governance of this and the health of the parameters to achieve it. Th is means that innovation is unteth- ered from static assumptions like the role of organizations in society, who constitutes PURPOSE-DRIVEN ORGANISATIONS WISE AND E THICAL ME THOD = ENDS, MEANS AND METHOD PURPOSE LOGIC (LOGIC 3) BAU/CSR SHORT-TERM FINANCIAL LOGIC (LOGIC 1) BAU/ESV/ESG STAKEHOLDERISM: LONG-TERM FINANCIAL LOGIC (LOGIC 2) Long-term wellbeing for all people and planet (sustainability) ULTIMATE ENDS Financial & manufactured capital INTERMEDIATE ENDS Financial & manufactured capital INTERMEDIATE MEANS ULTIMATE MEANS Environmental and social systems Natural, human & social capital Off Limits? Off Balance Sheet? 16 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINE1. ISO Technical Committee 309 (2021). ISO 37000:2021 Governance of organizations — Guidance. 2. The British Standards Institution. (2022). PAS 808: Purpose-Driven Organisations: Worldviews, Principles and Behaviours. reasonable partners to collaborate with and what counts as success. Core concepts of the economy like competition law and fi duciary duty can be actively and wisely rewritten to be “fi t for purpose.” GDP and fi nancial profi ts become one partial means to that end and other forms of value-creation be- come equally or more important. Certainly, helping liquidate one form of value (like an ecosystem) and turning it into fi nancial capital could not be counted as organiza- tional success. In summary, we know where we have gone wrong, and we know how to fi x it. Th e answer lies in good governance: setting objectives and parameters that are aligned to a sustainable future and adjusting all the “rules of the game” so that we achieve this. Th is will also enable us to ensure we can col- lectively judge the most eff ective strategies of economic and social development, allowing all diff erent players (governments, business- es, and citizens) to collaborate for shared outcomes within shared clear parameters that protect our most precious resources. Th e core issue is that we just haven’t been able to say this loudly and clearly. BAU is so powerful and embedded in our cultural sub- conscious that it is easy to doubt that a new way is possible. What would change this? Co-creating multi-stakeholder clear stan- dards that put the collective view of the new governance needed onto paper, allowing for clarity of direction and the ability to oversee and hold ourselves accountable for these new practices. In this respect, the world now has a catalyst moment to co-create the governance frame to align action and drive accountability for the Wellbeing Economy. Th e fi rst national standard in purpose-driv- en organizations, “PAS 808:2022 Purpose- driven organizations. Worldviews, principles and behaviours for delivering sustainability”2 is very likely to be put forward to be devel- oped as an international standard (ISO), the world’s most highly developed multi-stake- holder consensus-building process. Th is a chance to unite the fi eld via the 170 national member bodies that make up ISO, and hence their engaged citizens who can feed into and co-own the outcome. Th rough the ISO process, we move from talking (often obscurely) to engaging and testing views in a fair and action-oriented way. If you agree with the problem and the solution we set out and want to make it reality, then please freely share the material we have laid out and speak to your national standardization body to fi nd out how to get involved! Dr. Victoria Hurth is a global expert; thought leader in sustainability, ESG, and purpose governance; and Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Fellow. Professor Lorenzo Fioramonti is the Founding Director of the Institute for Sustainability at the University of Surrey (UK), a member of the Club of Rome, and a former member of Parliament and Minister of Education, University, and Research in Italy. In summary, we know where we have gone wrong, and we know how to fix it. The answer lies in good governance: setting objectives and parameters that are aligned to a sustainable future and adjusting all the “rules of the game” so that we achieve this. victoriahurth.com cisl.cam.ac.uk/directory/ dr-victoria-hurth-fellow twitter.com/drvictoriahurth (@DrVictoriaHurth) linkedin.com/in/ dr-victoria-hurth-07a16b7 lorenzofi oramonti.org twitter.com/lofi oramonti (@lofi oramonti) linkedin.com/in/ lorenzo-fi oramonti-b5366b259 Institute for Sustainability: surrey. ac.uk/institute-sustainability linktr.ee/institutesustainability APRIL 2024 • ISSUE 07 17Wellbeing Economy Alliance Canada Paving the way for Canada’s Wellbeing Economy 18 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINET he roots of our economic system run deep, perpetuating environmental, climate, and social crises. However, we have more power to rewrite our economic story than most people realize. With creativity, open-mindedness, and collaboration, we can build an economic system that helps people and planet thrive. We spoke with Tara Campbell, Wellbeing Economies Manager at the David Suzuki Foundation, about how the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Canada is building a hub to champion the global Wellbeing Economy movement in Canada. What inspired you and your leadership to start advocating for the Wellbeing Economy? My work advocating for wellbeing economies is housed at an environmental non-profi t, the David Suzuki Foundation.1 Some people are surprised when I tell them what I do and for whom: why is an environmental non-profi t weighing in on economic issues? It makes sense when we understand that our current profi t- and growth-seeking economic system is a massive force structuring our relation- ship to the environment. Th is search for growth leads to endless extraction, planned obsolescence and throwaway culture, and alienation from land and place. As an organization, our mission is to equitably protect nature’s diversity and the wellbeing of all life, now and for the future. We know that to transform society’s relationship to the environment we have to work on the roots of that relationship. We see our economic system as one of the roots perpetuating the intersecting environmen- tal and climate crises we fi nd ourselves in today. Th is interest in the economy led to an affi liation with the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll)2 — a global collaboration of people working for transitions to econ- omies that prioritize people and planet. WEAll has been doing some amazing work over the past few years developing new public narratives around the economy. WEAll understands that this global move- ment will be mediated through place-based organizing. As part of that eff ort, we are currently working on launching a WEAll Canada hub. We are motivated by the idea of well- being economies not only because we see them as necessary for the environment, but also because we know they will make life so much better! Th e dominant economic system simply doesn’t meet people’s needs. Even in a wealthy country like Canada, many people struggle to fi nd aff ordable housing, food, and energy. Many others struggle to fi nd decent and meaningful work. We know it doesn’t have to be this way, and we want to tell a diff erent story of what our economic system could look like. What do you consider to be your biggest success as an advocate and professional in this space? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you? We are working on a complex challenge that is massive in scope and it’s nearly impossible to attribute changes happening in the world to our actions. Because of this, we try to work on actions to create pathways for change, enabling conditions rather than outcomes. Our largest impact in this space has been cultivating mean- ingful relationships between individuals and organizations working for economic transformation and creating containers for imagination.3 One of my most memorable recent projects, Toronto Imaginal Transitions,4 involved working with a small group of diverse community organizers and inno- vators to gather, build trust, and push the boundaries of their imaginations around what a Wellbeing Economy could look like in Toronto. One of these gatherings Even in a wealthy country like Canada, many people struggle to find affordable housing, food, and energy. Many others struggle to find decent and meaningful work. We know it doesn’t have to be this way, and we want to tell a different story of what our economic system could look like. A dinner where a group of orga- nizers, artists, entrepreneurs, and a Toronto city councillor gathered to dream about local wellbeing economies. APRIL 2024 • ISSUE 07 19Next >