imagineCALGARY 2009 Partner Conference with Professor John Helliwell

imagineCALGARY celebrated its annual Partner Conference on November 16th with a presentation by a leading expert on happiness, community and connections. Professor of Economics John Helliwell from the University of British Columbia was the keynote speaker for the event, which also included highlights of the work within the Partnership over the past year, and the presentation of the 2009 imagineCALGARY Sustainability Awards.

In his presentation, Subjective Well-Being and the Importance of Social Networks for Thriving Communities, Helliwell focused on what contributes to an individual’s sense of well-being. While economic security is an important consideration, there are many other factors that result in life satisfaction and improved levels of happiness. “Material possessions are an important part of the story, but not the whole story by any means,” Helliwell says. “Other things just matter more than money.”

Helliwell’s work is based on surveys that have been conducted across the globe that are designed to measure people’s level of satisfaction with their lives. His research has shown that certain factors – having a friend or family member to rely on, for example – are important for happiness. “The freedom to do what you want in life is enormously important,” he adds, noting that a sense of community – being part of a group interested in the same cause, religion or issues – is also a significant factor for happiness.

Trust is also a consideration in most people’s reported level of happiness. Helliwell’s research, for example, has shown that working in a place where management can be trusted on a 10-point scale affects life satisfaction about the same as a 40 per cent change in income.

In ranking happiness levels around the world, the residents of Denmark came out on top. In Canada, the provinces with the highest levels of income – Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta – have the lowest levels of life satisfaction. Provinces like Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia report the highest levels of happiness in the country.

As a city, Calgary ranked very low overall in terms of the overall happiness of its citizens, something Helliwell feels can be improved by creating more opportunities for connections and a sense of belonging. “We have to create in big cities the kind of connections that happen automatically in smaller centres,” Helliwell says. “We need to learn what they have achieved and make sure you can create it in our own cities. That’s why the imagineCALGARY Partnership exists. People can connect with each other for a common purpose.”

Empowering people to do things for themselves, like participating in Calgary’s blue cart recycling program, for example, can offer significant opportunities to increase happiness. “People want to do the right thing,” he adds.

An Officer of the Order of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Professor Helliwell is the author of How Much Do National Borders Matter?, The Contribution of Human and Social Capital to Sustained Economic Growth and Well-Being, Globalization and Well-Being (Donner Press Winner) and The Social Context of Well-Being (joint with Robert Putnam) in the edited volume The Science of Well-Being. To learn more about his work, please click here.

More than 80 Calgarians attended the 2009 imagineCALGARY Annual Partner Conference, and close to half of them were affiliated with imagineCALGARY Partner organizations. In the post-event survey, 83 per cent of attendees said the presentation was very good or outstanding. Almost 90 per cent said the applicability of the event was very good or outstanding.

The 2009 imagineCALGARY Annual Partner Conference was co-sponsored by The University of Calgary/City of Calgary Urban Alliance, and it was held in the MacEwan Hall at The University of Calgary.