2017.04.06 consulting with citizens in the design of wellbeing measures and policies

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Consulting with Citizens in the Design of Wellbeing Measures and Policies:

Lessons from Systems Science Applications

Chris Noone & Michael HoganSchool of Psychology

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Acknowledgements

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The eternal question…

Eudaimonic Wellbeing

Hedonic Wellbeing

Social Wellbeing

Physical Wellbeing

Lifespan

What about Mental Health difficulties?

How to improve it across society?

What is Wellbeing?

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- Subjective Wellbeing- Life Satisfaction- Positive Affect- Negative Affect

- Psychological Wellbeing- Self-acceptance- Personal growth- Purpose in life- Environmental

mastery- Autonomy- Positive relations

with others

- Mental Illness

- Physical Health

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- Social Wellbeing- Social acceptance- Social actualization- Social contribution- Social coherence- Social integration

- Collective Wellbeing

- Organisational Wellbeing

- Environmental Wellbeing

- Socio-economic Status

- Social Capital

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- GDP

- Unemployment

- Inequality

- Trust in institutions

- Corruption

- Welfare and Health-related Policies

- Human Rights

- Freedom of Press

- Etc…

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- Heteronormativity

- Patriarchy

- Nomocracy

- Democracy

- Neoliberalism

- Liberty

- Individualism

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Well-being Matters:A Social Report for Ireland (NESC, 2009)

“…a person’s well-being relates to their physical, social and mental state. It requires that basic needs are met, that people have a sense of purpose, that

they feel able to achieve important goals, to participate in society and to live the lives they value

and have reason to value.”

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Well-being Matters:A Social Report for Ireland (NESC, 2009)

“People’s well-being is enhanced by conditions that include:

1. Financial and personal security, 2. Meaningful and rewarding work, 3. Supportive personal relationships, 4. Strong and inclusive communities,5. Good health, 6. A healthy and attractive environment, and7. Values of democracy and social justice.”

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Key Insights about Wellbeing

• Influenced by many determinants at multiple levels of society

• Emerges from a complex system of interactions between these determinants

• Measures are at their most effective when they are supported by a combination of strong leadership, technocratic policy processes, and wide buy-in from civil society, citizens, and the media

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Challenges

• Lack of clarity regarding:

• how best to approach citizen consultations

• how best to use consultation data in the design of wellbeing measures and policies

• how to deal with the complexity of wellbeing

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Examples

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Examples

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Examples

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Warfield’s Systems Science

- Focuses on the coordinated activity of a

group of people in context, as they work to

understand and respond to the

problematic situations they

face

Science of Action

- Integrates a large body of

diverse knowledge that

different stakeholders

consider relevant

- Manages this complexity while

avoiding excessive

cognitive load

Science of Complexity

- Coordinates knowledge skill

from across domains

- Team-based collective

intelligence methods

Science of Generic Design

e.g. physics, chemistry,

biology, psychology,

sociology, economics- Domain-

specific knowledge

- Descriptive and explanatory

methods

Science of Description

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Interactive Management

• Integrated design process based in the theory of systems design

• Specifically developed for dealing with complex issues

• Goals are to help participants:• Develop understanding of the issues they face• Establish collective basis for thinking and working

cooperatively• Produce framework for effective action

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Interactive Management

• Essential components of IM process• Participants

• Facilitation Team

• Group Methodologies

• Software Support

• Productive Workshop Space

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Step 1: Idea Generation

• Silent individual idea generation• Ideas should be concise response to trigger question

• Example:• In the context of developing a new national wellbeing index for

Ireland, what are the strategic objectives that should guide our efforts to enhance the wellbeing of the people of Ireland over the coming decade?

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Step 2: Clarification & Categorisation

• Recording , posting, clarifying and categorising ideas on display walls

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Step 3: Ranking & Selection

• Vote, rank order, and select ideas for structuring

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Step 4: Structuring

• Computer-assisted identification of the inter-dependencies between ideas

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Top Ranked Strategic Objectives across Ten Wellbeing domains

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Step 4: Structuring

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Step 5: Generate Options

• Generating impactful and feasible options which help to realise the identified goals

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Ongoing Work with Central Statistics Office (CSO)

EconomicsPublic Safety

Governance & Rights

Natural Resources

Health

EducationOur Time

Employment

Self-perceived Wellbeing

Relationships & Surroundings

Housing Conditions

Wellbeing

Indicators

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Conclusions

• Wellbeing is a complex construct and its measurement can be improved by involving the collective intelligence of stakeholders in society

• In order to act to improve societal wellbeing, we need to be able to describe the determinants of wellbeing collectively design measures of them account for the interdependencies between them

• A systems science framework can help guide this work

• Interactive Management is an effective tool which can be used to apply systems science to the measurement of wellbeing

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Thank you!

michael.hogan@nuigalway.ie |chris.noone@nuigalway.ie