Indicators are reality, and chasing unsuitable indicators merits a Reality Check.
Well, here’s an interesting one: the Second International Conference on Gross National Happiness will be held this June 20-24 in Halifax. The web site indicates an eclectic array of presenters, including Ray Anderson, Raffi, John Taylor Gatto, Vicki Robin, Sanjit Roy, Marilyn Waring, the Governor General of Canada (and her husband and author John Ralston Saul), and a former prime minister of Bhutan.
The venue is Halifax, a coastal city in Canada’s Atlantic province of Nova Scotia. (I’ve found the Halifax region quite pleasant and relaxing for summer vacation – friendly people, a small-but-not-too-small city, moderate climate, and some beautiful maritime scenery.)
And that’s not all – from August 4-6 will be the 13th Annual International Open Space on Open Space. An intriguing process for organizing a conference from the bottom up, Open Space Technology eschews spending exorbitant amounts of time and money planning an agenda only to have the coolest conversations happen during coffee breaks. Instead, the participants themselves set the agenda in the first couple of hours, filling up a blank wall with session ideas and times.
The “Law of Two Feet” then applies throughout – go where you wish, and leave if it’s not worthwhile or you’re not contributing. Add a few simple heuristics to the mix and this stone soup starts to taste surprisingly good…
via WorldChanging
9 comments on “Halifax Happiness this Summer”
I don’t think I’ve heard of her. Fill me in?
We should hang out sometime since you’ll be back in this neck of the woods.
Silly Shakespheare and his misconception. Apollo would wear a robe of light, not fire. I, however, dress in black. My hair’s sorta fiery, so maybe that counts.
Ah, ok, that might explin it. Which play is that line from and who spoke it?
Oh, she sounds like a speaker worth going to see. I wonder how the conference will be set up and if public access will be granted.
That’s one play I have never encountered. Would you recommend reading it?
If I had a VCR I’d ask to be on the borrowing list.
I decided not to get once since I never watch TV and can view DVD’s on my laptop in widescreen anyway.
Meaning I should add you on MSN?