FAQs
Below are some thoughts on the following questions:
ISN’T HAPPINESS A BIT TRIVIAL?
WHY HAPPY AND WHY CITY?
IS THIS JUST A FAD AND IS IT IGNORING THE BIG ISSUES?
HOW IS THIS CHANGE ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN?
HOW IS IT FUNDED AND IS IT SUSTAINABLE?
IT SOUNDS A BIT RELIGIOUS…OR ELSE A BIT BIG SOCIETY? ANY LINKS?
HOW WILL IT HELP MY OWN PROJECT?
WILL IT REFLECT THE REAL DIVERSITY OF PEOPLE IN BRISTOL?
ISN’T HAPPINESS A BIT TRIVIAL?
NO! Happiness has been seen as the ultimate human endeavor for thousands of years. There are trivial, even damaging ways of finding short term, individual ‘happiness’, but endless studies and most human experience in all cultures, prove that lasting happiness depends on things like: the quality of relationships, on supportive and active communities, on opportunities to engage and be valued, on the long term quality of our environment. Our happiness depends on each other and when approached like that it can be the goal unites people to find the solutions to some of our most entrenched and serious problems. Psychological studies and wellbeing theory show that a change in focus, at an individual level, towards seeking and sharing solutions and learning, giving to others, getting more actively engaged and celebrating what works can have a transformatory effect on lives. Happy City is taking this understanding and actioning it at a whole community level.
WHY HAPPY AND WHY CITY?
Some people prefer the word wellbeing, others contentment, others still like the idea of flourishing. There are good reasons for choosing each of these words to describe what we are talking about. At Happy City we are happy talking about happiness because we think it means something to everyone - you don't need to be an academic or a policy maker to be interested; it's not associated with any one religion or ideology. From our experience around the world, everyone, regardless of age, gender, race or background, wants to find happiness for themselves and those they love.
We think there are 'short wave' versions of happiness - the sort of shot of short term happiness you get with a bar of chocolate, or a night out. Whilst we are all in favour of a bit of this, what Happy City is about is encouraging more 'long wave' happiness - which is more about the quality of our relationships, the health of the environment, communities where people have a sense of belonging and purpose.... This sort of happiness is not selfish or self indulgent. Long term happiness is inter-dependent - it's very hard to be happy when those all around you are not. Happy City is encouraging and nurturing long term, deep rooted and resilient happiness in whole communities.
And what about the 'City' part? Well, we believe that the solutions to most of the problems we face in ordinary communities are already there in any groupings of communities like a city. People in one area will be struggling with a problem that someone in another part of town as solved. Happy City is working to unearth the solutions, the wisdom, the energy and the ideas in every corner of a city sized area and making sure they are valued, shared, learned from and celebrated to communities across the city can grow in happiness. Hence 'HAPPY CITY'.
IS THIS JUST A FAD AND IS IT IGNORING THE BIG ISSUES?
Happiness is becoming a hot topic at high levels of academia, business and government. Lots of people are talking about how we should be giving it more attention and measuring it more carefully, but very few of them have practical ways of implementing that thinking in real communities and real lives. Happy City is offering a process and a range of tools to enable the change to begin across Britain. Happy City is trying to do the opposite to ignoring the Big Issues. It is about highlighting what can and is being done to address those challenges and enabling everyone to take their part in making the change needed happen. Rather than focusing on what isn’t happening and who’s to blame, we are spotlighting and celebrating the best of what’s working so more energy, time and resource goes into doing more of that and learning from it to overcome those issues that are struggling.
HOW IS THIS CHANGE ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN?
We are taking the best tools and approaches in communications, campaigning, community engagement, leadership and organizational development and using them to inspire and engage people across the city in happiness rather than in merely acquiring more and more ‘stuff’. Our viral, bottom-up campaigns use intriguing questions, thoughts, quotes, images and activities that get people curious and start conversations about happiness, what it is, where you find it, how to build more of it, who’s responsibility it is and how to find more together. We use both new and traditional techniques to spread this thinking. We have trialled 'Roadshow' initiatives around the city, appearing at events, festivals in different community spaces, offering the space to share and explore what goes on in their area. The roadshows connect people with others who want to make changes, spread tips on making things happen from those who’ve succeeded before, and help peope find simple ways to get involved. Subject to funding, we’ll have an online space where all those solutions, inspirations, lessons, opportunities and ideas can be stored and accessed by people from every corner of the city so change can happen faster and better with everyone up for their part in making it real.
Find out more by reading our Annual Report 2011 here
HOW IS IT FUNDED AND IS IT SUSTAINABLE?
At the moment it’s mostly funded through the kind support and energy of a small but growing band of people who are excited about what we’re trying to do. We’ve had a number of individual donations, a couple of small grants and a huge amount of pro bono support to get to where we are.
In the short-medium term, Happy City is seeking start up funding (from grants, sponsors, donations etc) to get the project fully off the ground and the work in communities really up and running. Once the impact can be seen and measured and momentum is building, we’ll be seeking a combination of local ‘crowd funding’ alongside offering Applied Happiness training to businesses, public bodies and organizations on a paying basis to help support the ongoing community work and move us more into the social enterprise model. There is already a proven market for this work.
Once the Bristol pilot is proven, the Happy City model will be made available to other cities and region (interest is already around), and the open source toolkit and processes will be backed up with consultancy offers of support in making Happy City a reality across the UK and beyond.
IT SOUNDS A BIT RELIGIOUS…OR ELSE A BIT BIG SOCIETY? ANY LINKS?
No! None at all. We are completely independent of any religion, political party or movement, or any business or interest group. We are ordinary people who want society to be happier now and in the future. No hidden agendas, no dubious motivations. There are aspects of the things we are saying and doing that are reflected in many religious texts, academic studies or political manifestos. That’s because it makes sense, so we’re not the first people to say it – we just think we’ve got some useful practical applications for making some of that fundamental human understanding become a reality
HOW WILL IT HELP MY OWN PROJECT?
Happy City is all about highlighting, supporting and promoting all the amazing things that are going on in every corner of the city. Once the initiative is up and running, it will act like a giant spotlight leading people, their energy, resources and abilities towards projects, activities and opportunities being offered by people and organizations around Bristol and beyond. If you are active in your community and engaged in making it better, than Happy City is designed to help you find more support and save time and energy re-inventing wheels that are already around by connecting you up with other’s who might be able to help. If you’re not already involved, then Happy City will make it easy to find a way to do so that fits best with your passions, interests, talents and availability.
WILL IT REFLECT THE REAL DIVERSITY OF PEOPLE IN BRISTOL?
The Happy City team is reaching out into communities around Bristol, seeking people who have deep roots into their local neighborhood and all it’s wonderful diversity. We are actively engaging Happy City champions from all areas, backgrounds, nationalities, ages and interests. A fundamental part of our ethos is that we are all interdependent; we need to work together, making the most of our differences to overcome the things that stand in the way of anyone’s happiness. We are ensuring that all our campaigning and engagement activities are varied enough to reach out to young and old, black and white, rich and poor. If we’re not doing that right we’re asking communities to tell us and join us to help us do it better.
IF YOUR QUESTION HASN'T BEEN ANSWERED HERE WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. PLEASE EMAIL US ON info@happycity.org.uk OR CALL 07836 706978