Linking Sustainability and Happiness

Scott Cloutier is Assistant Professor and Senior Sustainability Scientist in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. His background includes serving six years in the U.S. Navy, Bachelor and Master degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, and a Doctorate in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University. His focus is charting a new course for sustainability that is synergistic with human well-being and happiness. Scott is Founder and Director of ASU's Sustainability and Happiness Research Laboratory (the Happy Lab). He works collaboratively on the ground in neighbourhoods in the USA, Mexico, South America and the EU, promoting opportunities for happiness that also support the move towards a sustainable future. Scott develops new approaches by drawing on existing knowledge from sustainable urban and neighbourhood development, quantitative and qualitative research methods and theoretical models regarding quality of life, community well-being, subjective well-being (happiness) and biological underpinnings.

El-Sayed has a doctorate in food system sustainability, specifically on regenerative food practices in arid regions from ASU. She has a master's in Biomimicry from ASU, as well as being a biomimicry professional certified from Biomimicry 3.8. She is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the School for Future Innovation and Society, at Arizona State University. Previously she worked as a researcher in Biomimicry and microbial geographies. She is the co-founder of several enterprises in Egypt. Nawaya is a social enterprise working as a catalyst to transition small-scale farmer communities into more sustainable ones through education and research. Dayma an LLC responsible for outdoor Environmental Education, teaching young adults about Biomimicry and local Egyptian communities. Clayola is an LLC producing low-tech irrigation systems. She is an avid traveler, nature lover, and enjoys tasting foods, cooking and interacting with people through food experiences. Sara is on the board of Slow Food, an international movement that started in Italy aiming to safeguard local food cultures and traditions and does so by promoting Good, Clean, and Fair food for all.

The book offers critical discussion, constructive insights and informed guidance for future research and applied work that can move us closer towards a sustainable society. This is the first comprehensive edited book linking sustainability and happiness. By doing so, it frames modern society's pursuit of happiness as the ultimate wicked problem challenging sustainable life on earth. Chapters in the book focus on topics such as food systems, neighbourhood developments, project facilitated gathering and dialogue, beauty, and the happiness movement as an alternative to GDP. This book is of great importance to both academics and practitioners working at the intersection of sustainability and happiness.

States that the modern pursuit of happiness challenges sustainable life on earth

Part 1: Introduction.- Part 2: Theoretical Perspectives.- Chapter 1. Beauty and Happiness (John de Graaf).- Chapter 2. Sustainable Happiness (Catherine O'Brien).- Chapter 3. Is Happiness Sustainable? (Sonja Lyubomirsky).- Chapter 4. The Sustainability and Happiness Hypothesis (Jonathan Haidt).- Chapter 5. Sustainability and Happiness: A Spiritual Perspective (M. Joshanloo).- Chapter 6. Sustainability and Happiness: A Biological Perspective (M. Angilletta).- Part 3: Applied Perspectives/Case Studies.- Chapter 7. The Sustainability and Happiness Research Lab (S. Cloutier).- Chapter 8. Shifting Societal Happiness (Meik Wiking).- Chapter 9. The Happy City through Transformative Urban Design (Charles Montgomery).- Chapter 10. Bristol as the Happy City (Liz Zeidler).- Chapter 11. Promoting Happiness as a Sustainable Alternative to GDP (Laura Musikanski).- Part 4: Outro as a summary of presented works.- Reference.