Promoting Sustainable and Inclusive Wellbeing
November 4 2025, Parliament Buildings, Belfast
This workshop is supported by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) and the EU Horizon-funded MERGE research project, and is organised by the WEAll Ireland Hub.
It has the following objectives:
• To expand and deepen the debate on policy pathways towards Sustainable and Inclusive Wellbeing, on the island of Ireland and at the European level
• To develop collaborative approaches to support this transition, including the launch of a Community of Practice focussed on Wellbeing Economy policy and capabilities and facilitated by the WEAll Ireland Hub
• To introduce the Wellbeing Economy Alliance’s Policy Design Course for policy practitioners, with a view to making it available to, inter alia, civil servants on both parts of the island as part of their continuing professional development
Target Audience and Beneficiaries:
The workshop will facilitate an exchange of views and the development of future plans among policymakers & opinion formers from Brussels and both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, and should also contribute to the broader debates on getting “Beyond GDP”, long-term thinking and intergenerational fairness that are taking place within Ireland.
The workshop will begin in the late morning and, after a shared lunch, will continue to 5:30pm, with the option of a shared dinner afterwards. It will take place at the Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It will use a closed door roundtable format, with Chatham House rules, in order to allow open and confidential discussions.
Participants will learn about what a Wellbeing Economy means and how to apply some ideas and tools from the Wellbeing Economy Alliance’s Policy Design course to their context. We will examine a case study from the EU level, such as the European Policy Centre’s work on indicators of progress.
A ‘world café’ structure will be employed to encourage active participation from all attendees. Invitees will be asked in advance of the workshop to suggest topics which are of particular interest or concern to them. For example, we could critically engage with two case studies of relevant policy, such as NI DAERA’s ‘Going for Growth’ strategy and its Green Growth Strategy from a wellbeing policy perspective, and/or with the potential for taxation reforms in the Republic to foster resilience and to improve foreign relations and societal wellbeing.
The chosen discussion themes will be explored in a series of afternoon sessions, with participants working together in small groups. Finally, insights will be gathered and compiled in a plenary session.
A report on the key findings will be made available to the participants and other members of the WEAll Ireland’s Policy Community of Practice.
If you are a policymaker and are interested in attending the workshop, please fill in the form below. We would welcome a diversity of attendees from around the island of Ireland.
