Creston and District Happiness Report Card
Creston & District, British Columbia, Canada conducted a convenience sampling using the Gross National Happiness Index in 2014. About the project, in their own words: Los Angeles, Dubai, and Seattle are doing it. Victoria, too. The whole state of Vermont does it. In England it is national policy. Bhutan is a leader – they have been doing it for more than 30 years. In December 2014, the C&DCDF Committee invited our community to get on board! Creston & District is now one of hundreds of places around the world where residents help to measure well-being as a tool for enhancing local quality of life. We were overwhelmed by how positively our community embraced this initiative! More than 5% of local residents took our “happiness” survey and answered questions about their lives. Over 100 volunteers and nearly 30 community partners helped to make this happen. People shared what they love about our community – natural beauty and supportive relationships top the list. Results show a community that is thriving in many ways – we score well above global levels when it comes to social support, community, and the environment. Results also point towards local challenges and groups in need – lower income households, unemployed persons, local teens, and Lower Kootenay Band embers are all “unhappier” in all of the domains of well-being that we measured. The C&DCDF Committee will be using what we have learned to help create a plan for putting some Columbia Basin Trust funding to work in our community. We are sharing the results with the hope that they will inspire individuals, families, organizations, governments, and our community as a whole to make Creston & District a happier place!
