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The Economics of Happiness Conference 2013 Report

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Peter Burgess
Footage, Photos, and Stories: the 2013 Conference
The Economics of Happiness
Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 12:31 AM
Reply-To: The Economics of Happiness
To: peterbnyc@gmail.com

April 2013
Conference Report
The Conference in Nine Minutes (and One Second)
Plenary Footage: 'Envisioning the Future'
Byron Bay Surf Club
Conference Photo Gallery
Conference Articles
Upcoming Community Screenings

The Economics of Happiness Conference 2013 Report

After months of preparation, the 2013 Economics of Happiness Conference, held in Byron Bay, NSW Australia, was a tremendous success. 'The conference exceeded all expectations,' said John Page, ISEC's Programs Director and co-director of The Economics of Happiness film. 'There were some incredibly powerful sessions and individual contributions, a packed venue and a passionately engaged audience, all coupled with the magic that is Byron at its very best (among other things including perfect weather after weeks of cyclones and storms). It was at times chaotic but no one worried about it. There were some wonderful and poignant suprises among the speakers, and one plenary session ran on half an hour into the lunch break by popular demand.'

John was not the only one who left with a strong impression. Several excellent articles have been written about the conference, and many positive comments were left on the Economics of Happiness Facebook page:

'BIG Thank You to Helena and all the Conference presenters...what a wonderful heartfelt weekend full of inspiration...and HAPPINESS! Blessings to all :) - Julia Rochelli

'Such an amazing, inspiring conference these last few days in Byron!! Huge congratulations to Helena and all her crew! Life changing! This is vital info that every one of us needs to know. Check this info out! It might save your life! Thanks so much!' - Delicia Bone

We at ISEC hope that the conference will continue to make a lasting impression on thousands of people, not only through word-of-mouth from conference participants, but through video recordings of the plenaries and workshops that we will be posting online. We have already released footage of one of the most popular plenaries (see below), and we will continue to release clips of other plenaries as they are processed and edited. We are also planning a DVD with a film that condenses the highlights of the conference into about an hour, along with full plenary talks, some workshop footage, and interviews with both participants and speakers. Look for it in June!

We hope you stay connected with us via e-mail and/or social media, and that you consider supporting ISEC's work. We also hope that you will help in that work from your own community: growing local food, reclaiming local knowledge, strenghtening your local economy, resisting the spread of the global monoculture, and sharing ISEC's message of hope with others — through conversations with your neighbors, through social media, by hosting a community screening, or through a Roots of Change community group. Doing so helps bring us all that much closer to an economics of happiness.

In solidarity,

Helena Norberg-Hodge and the ISEC crew.

The Conference in Nine Minutes (and One Second)

Filmed and edited by Echonetdaily, the online version of the Byron Bay Echo newspaper, this short video does a good job of capturing the atmosphere and energy of the conference.

Watch the Video in The Economics of Happiness Conference Video Gallery

Plenary Footage: 'Envisioning the Future'

The audience was so enthusiastic that it requested on continuing it into their lunchtime The panel featured Helena Norberg-Hodge, Adebayo Clement Akomolafe, Manish Jain, and Michael Shuman. The session's description from the conference brochure is as follows:

'We've all experienced certain aspects of localisation in action. But for the time being these efforts are operating within an economic framework that gives global businesses and banks an unfair advantage. What would happen if the very structure of the economy were localised, in both the global North and South, and how can such fundamental change come about? In particular, what would be the implications for science and technology, the media, and education? This session will be a free-flowing and at times controversial panel discussion, with plenty of audience participation.'

Watch the Video in The Economics of Happiness Conference Video Gallery

Byron Bay Surf Club

You've heard Charles Eisenstein speak, and maybe you've read his books, but have you seen him surf? This light-hearted video shows him and conference speakers Manish Jain, Mark Anielski, Yoji Kamata, Adebayo Clement Akomolafe, as well as several workshop presenters, riding the waves with Australian surf icon and conservationist Dave Rastovich.

Watch the Video in The Economics of Happiness Conference Video Gallery

Conference Photo Gallery

Click here to view the Conference Photo Gallery

Conference Articles

Common Ground Byron Bay A brief summary of events, along with some stunning photos. Cruxcatalyst A brief summary, with links to the work of many of the conference speakers. Invest in Local Business and Be Happy Published in The Age, a Melbourne newspaper, the article gives examples of how Australia could invest locally. ProgBlog A short overview of the conference. Host a Community Screening The Economics of Happiness Upcoming Community Screenings Banff, Alberta, Canada: April 19 Anacortes, WA, USA: April 20 Mount Gambier, Australia: May 3 International Society for Ecology & Culture PO Box 9475, Berkeley, California 94709 | +1.510.548.4915 Info@theeconomicsofhappiness.org www.localfutures.org | www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) PO Box 9475 Berkeley, CA, California 94709 US