A Vision for Community Wellbeing vs Wellbeing as Seen from the Top
Michael Ewing, a leading figure in the Irish Environmental Network (IEN) and Environmental Pillar, presents at this coffee morning. The IEN is an umbrella network that works to support environmental NGOs through access to funding and services. The Environmental Pillar consists of 32 national independent environmental NGOs working together to represent the views and advocate on behalf of the Irish environmental sector.
Michael discusses his work developing community well-being visions. In 2014, Public Participation Networks (PPNs) began to be set up in every city and county in the country. Every community, voluntary, social inclusion, and environmental group in the country is entitled to be a member of their PPN. There are now 14,000 such organisations that are PPN members. Each PPN is required to develop a “Vision for the wellbeing of their community for this and future generations”. This is a global first and is proving to be a revelatory, unifying and empowering process for the communities concerned. Michael identifies the potential connections or conflicts with a proposed new national Wellbeing Index, which is currently being developed.
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