Global Happiness Organization (GHO) is an international non-profit organization, founded under the name "Charity International". It is dedicated to the promotion of

utilitarian ethics In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the gr ...

. It was founded in 2007 by a team of

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

academics Academic means of or related to an academy, an institution learning. Academic or academics may also refer to: * Academic staff, or faculty, teachers or research staff * school of philosophers associated with the Platonic Academy in ancient Greece ...

, philosophers and

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

activists led by Ludvig Lindström.

Mission

The purpose of the organization is to increase net

happiness Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

worldwide and to get a happiness agenda into mainstream politics. Its goal is to have politicians base their policy-making decisions on conclusions drawn from the latest scientific studies in order to create better conditions for a happier society and a happier world.

Activities

From 2007 onwards, the Global Happiness Organization has organized a Happiness Conference where the organization presents the latest happiness research, outlines its future agenda, and provides an arena for discussions both among its members and among international happiness researchers. Conference participants and speakers have included the Australian philosopher

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher who is Emeritus Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. Singer's work specialises in applied ethics, approaching the subject from a secu ...

, the Dutch Happiness researcher

Ruut Veenhoven Ruut Veenhoven (26 November 1942 – 9 December 2024) was a Dutch sociologist and a pioneer on the scientific study of happiness, in the sense of subjective enjoyment of life. His work on the social conditions for human happiness at Erasmus Un ...

and the British philosopher David Pearce. The Global Happiness Organization's most recent conference was held in May 2009 at

Malmö University Malmö University () is a public university located in Malmö, Sweden. With more than 24,000 students and about 1,600 employees (academic and administrative), Malmö University is the ninth largest institute of learning in Sweden. It has exchan ...

References

External links

Official website
Philosophy organizations Non-profit organizations based in Sweden Organizations established in 2007 2007 establishments in Sweden Utilitarianism Happiness {{philo-org-stub