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These organizations contribute to a Happier World by explicitly setting out to grow happiness for their stakeholders.
Their practical case studies showcase the business and stakeholder outcomes that were actually delivered by growing happiness.
An exclusive network of key leaders, who come together to select Beacons and share their respective experiences in shaping a Happier World.
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Members both update and benefit from an ever-evolving knowledge base which distills the newest findings on happiness.
The Happier World Forum carefully sources and nominates these organizations for their track record of explicitly working towards happiness growth in their businesses or activities. The list is updated annually.
Beacon organizations can be all kinds of businesses, institutions, public entities, NGOs, academia and communities.
In particular, businesses and entrepreneurs are a powerful driving force for growing happiness in their stakeholders and communities. Happier World Forum aims to better highlight their practices and results.
From major corporations and institutions to micro- to medium-sized enterprises, happiness growth can be achieved on every scale.
The Happier World Forum takes care to spotlight organizations from all continents, as well as to showcase efforts in growing happiness in various sectors (offline experiences, urban developments, nature, health, circular economy, education, finance, online...).
Beacon organizations show a track record of contributing to happiness growth, showing tangible results for their practices and projects.
Their actions have both scale and longevity, impacting a large number of customers or stakeholders, creating lasting benefits on happiness over time, but also demonstrating sound business or economic viability.
Not only do Beacons achieve this within their organization, but they also set the bar for best practices that can be replicated by others.
Growing happiness always sounds great on paper or in advertising - but how do we witness it, and what positive outcomes does it actually deliver for our businesses, stakeholders, communities and environments ?
Happier World Forum documents practical case studies, showing before-after proof of happiness growth within organizations and its main benefits.
The Forum's main objective is to showcase best practices in growing happiness, but this can be achieved in many different ways.
Each case study is presenting on their own way practices and projects, which tangible results were visible and how it impacted the activity or the organization over time.
Happier World Forum brings together leaders of businesses, organizations, places, communities and expertises, who share best practices, programs, projects and experiences to make their world happier.
It is an invitation-only community.
Each member brings their own particular views on what happiness growth means to their business, organization or sector. Happier World Forum's relevance lies in the diversity of perspectives and ways of achieving success which it encourages.
Forum members are individuals who stem from all types of organizations (businesses, institutions, government, NGOs, communities, academia) from all over the globe and across all sectors.
Happier World Forum fosters direct exchange and open-minded dialogue among its members in an informal and independent environment. Members are invited on a private platform where they can share insight, discuss key topics and learn about happiness growth in each other's organizations.
Finally, Happier World Forum is a crossroad for its members to gather, share and build knowledge about happiness and all its components.
By combining complementary insights both from existing reports and their respective experiences, Happier World Forum members can lay out concrete action plans to grow happiness in their own organization, sector or industry.
The Science of Happiness
Main Drivers of Happiness Growth
Education : Skills for Happiness
Healthier <-> Happier
Living in Harmony with Nature
Happier Cities
Business <-> Happiness
Happier at Work
Beyond Economic Criteria
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Happier World Forum was founded on a simple statement : that every human being strives to be happier.
This idea of happiness does not come from wishful thinking or idealism. Instead, it is so deeply rooted in our human nature that many leaders in our history saw it as the cornerstone of their mission. Some even made it the very foundation of our societies, governments and businesses.
"... so that the demands of citizens, founded henceforth on simple and incontestable principles, may always be directed toward the maintenance of the Constitution and happiness for all."
Preambel of the French Declaration of the Human Rights, 1789
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, 1776
"How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him"
Adam Smith, father of modern capitalism, 1759
"Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence."
Aristotle
"The care for human life and Happiness is the only legitimate object of good government"
Thomas Jefferson, USA President
Being happier is an overarching goal for us, encompassing all the objectives we set ourselves.
But if happiness represents such a crucial foundation for our organizations and businesses, why isn't it placed higher on the list of priorities which enter our decision processes ?
Even though it appears next to principles such as safety, freedom or democracy in some of our societies' most foundational documents, happiness is seen as an abstract and distant destination to be reached once all other objectives are attained.
As a result, the compass setting the direction for our decisions in business or public policy has historically been geared towards other metrics for success, such as buying power or economic growth.
However, happiness is not an abstract endeavor. Happier World Forum places a focus on growing happiness (not just simply happiness) in order to foster an action-oriented approach, based on tangible "before/after" results from real organizations.
Once we show that growing happiness is concretely attainable, where should we place it in our priorities ?
It has been proven that beyond a certain level of comfort, a higher average income does not necessarily improve well-being. Therefore, why not focus on happiness growth to complement economic growth as a driver for the development of individuals and societies ?
Similarly, if we manage to get the current environmental and sanitary crisis as well as wars under control, will it be sufficient to ensure happiness growth in our societies on the long term when other factors seem to have increasingly adverse effects on our happiness ?
In the current context, we can recall the text of Albert Camus, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who wrote in 1954, at the height of the Cold War: "We must mend what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness a meaning once more."
Considering the crucial importance of happiness and wellbeing in our development as humans, what if we placed growing happiness at the heart of our priorities and decisions, not only as individuals but at the level of businesses, society and governance ?
What if we made growing happiness the #1 priority for our organizations ?
Happier World Forum is focused on answering the question above, showing through case studies and experience sharing that this vision is not only feasible, but that it brings positive and tangible results.
Its objective is to spotlight and grow the number of organizations which practice growing happiness as a #1 priority and demonstrate tangible results.
"There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way."
Thich Nhat Hanh