Forty years ago, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion offered an insight that remains remarkably powerful today: health is created in the settings of everyday life – “where people learn, work, play and love”.
As we mark its 40th anniversary, we should ask what that insight means for the choices we make today. And perhaps we should begin with an even more fundamental question: What is an economy for?
Economic growth matters. It creates opportunities, supports livelihoods and enables societies to invest in their future. But growth is a means, not an end. The true measure of progress must ultimately be whether people are able to live healthy, meaningful lives, whether communities are strong and connected, and whether we leave future generations a society and a planet on which they can thrive.
In Iceland, this question became particularly tangible following the financial crisis of 2008. Gross domestic product fell sharply and many households faced significant financial insecurity. Yet research into the well-being of Icelandic adolescents revealed something striking: happiness among young people increased during this difficult period. Among the strongest predictors were time spent with parents and the emotional support they received.
We should not draw simple conclusions from a complex crisis. But the experience reminds us that some of the things that matter most in life – time, relationships, belonging, trust and care – remain largely invisible in our traditional measures of economic success.
This is why Iceland has sought to broaden how we understand progress. In 2018, Iceland became a founding member of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership and subsequently developed national well-being indicators spanning social, economic and environmental conditions to help inform government priorities and fiscal decision-making.
Governing for well-being
But measuring well-being is only the beginning. The real challenge is to govern for it.
That means recognising that health is not created by healthcare systems alone. It is shaped by decisions about education, housing, employment, transport, equality and the environment. Prevention must be seen as an investment rather than simply a cost. And the interests of young people and future generations must be considered in the choices we make today.
It also means recognising that human health and planetary health are inseparable. There can be no lasting human well-being on an unhealthy planet. Protecting nature, addressing climate change and using resources responsibly are therefore not separate from the well-being agenda; they are fundamental to it.
And 40 years after the Ottawa Charter, there is another environment we must now consider: the digital one.
Artificial intelligence and social media increasingly shape how we learn, work, connect and understand the world. They offer extraordinary possibilities, but also create new risks for attention, trust, mental health and social cohesion, particularly for children and young people.
The question is not simply whether technology advances, but whether human well-being advances with it. Our task must be to harness technology to strengthen connection, expand access to knowledge, support creativity and participation, and help solve the social and environmental challenges we face.
Redefining progress
Ultimately, a well-being economy is about something deeply human: whether people feel that they matter, that they belong, that they have agency over their lives and hope for the future.
Iceland is a small country. That can be an advantage. We can connect sectors, communities and generations, experiment with new approaches, and learn quickly. We have seen how solutions developed in a small society – in renewable energy, equality and social progress – can have relevance far beyond our shores.
As we look towards the next 40 years, we should be ambitious about what progress means.
GDP can tell us how much an economy produces. It cannot tell us whether our children are flourishing, whether people feel connected and secure, or whether future generations will inherit a healthy society and environment.
Those are not secondary outcomes of progress.
They are its purpose.
