The UK's Sustainable Development Strategy (2005) includes a commitment to 'sponsor cross-disciplinary work to bring together existing research and international experience' on well-being and to 'explore how policies might change with an explicit well-being focus'.  

To assist policymakers with this task, SDRN commissioned a 'Wellbeing Concepts and Challenges' Discussion Paper. The paper was prepared by Fiona McAllister and is intended to act as an accessible introduction to the different definitions and conceptualisations of wellbeing, the types of research approaches employed and their main strengths and weaknesses. It is hoped that the paper will serve as a background document for policymakers and others new to the field.

 Download the discussion paper 'Wellbeing: Concepts and Challenges'

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