HIGH-LEVEL MEETING
ON
WELLBEING AND HAPPINESS: DEFINING A NEW ECONOMIC PARADIGM

Hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan,
2nd April 2012, Conference Room 1(North Lawn Building),
United Nations Headquarters, New York

PROGRAMME

Saturday, 31st March & Sunday, 1st April

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.	-	Registration at the Permanent Mission of Bhutan, 343 East 43rd Street, New York		
				
Monday, 2nd April

8 – 8.40 a.m. 	-	Security Check at the UN Visitor’s Gate (First Avenue, 45 – 46 Street) and Registration

8 – 8.40 a.m.	-	Registration at Conference Room 1 for delegates of Member States

8.50 a.m.	- 	All participants to be seated in Conference Room 1
		
9 – 10.00 a.m.	-	Inaugural Session
		Chair: H.E. Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programmeand the Former Prime Minister of New Zealand

9.00 - 9.03 a.m.	-	Welcome address by H.E. Helen Clark	

9.03 - 9.09 a.m.	-	Address by H.E. Mr. Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan(On the mission and purpose of the meeting)

9.09 – 9.12 a.m.	-	Inaugural address by H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

9.12 - 9.15 a.m.	-	Address by H.E. Mr.Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly

9.15 - 9.18 a.m.	-	Address by H.E. Mr.MilošKoterec, President of the Economic and Social Council

9.18 - 9.28 a.m.	-	Keynote address by H.E. Ms. Laura Chinchilla, Honourable President of the Republic of Costa Rica
(The Republic of Costa Rica is universally recognised for its outstanding achievements in environmental conservation and its exemplary sustainable development record)

9.28 - 9.31 a.m.	-	Address by Hon. Tim Fisher, the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Australiato Bhutan and the Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia(representing a country that has taken a courageouslead in implementing carbon taxes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions)

9.31 - 9.34 a.m.	-	Address by H.E. Mr.EeroHeinäluoma, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland(which has one of the world’s most comprehensive social welfare systems)

9.34 - 9.37 a.m.	-	Address by H.E Ms.JayanthiNatarajan, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India and Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Government of India (providing the perspective of a powerful emerging economy with a critical role in shaping the new economic paradigm)

9.37– 9.40a.m.	-	Address by H.E. Mr.GiladMenasheErdan, Minister of Environmental Protection, Government of Israel (taking a lead in alternative energy and clean technology, and having made a substantial contribution in providing irrigation solutions to a world faced with water shortages)

9.40 – 9.43 a.m.	-	Address by H.E. Mr. Joe Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Government of Japan (representing a nation that has tested the limits of the conventional economic paradigm)
		
9.43 – 9.47 a.m.	-    	Address by H.E. Mr. Ahmed LahlimiAlami, Minister and High Commissioner for Planning, Kingdom of Morocco (a nation that has taken major steps to reduce poverty and open opportunities for its people - often called ‘the Moroccan exception’)

9.47 – 9.50 a.m.-	Address by H.E. Mr.JullapongNonsrichai, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Thailand and Vice-Minister of ForeignAffairs, Government of Thailand(speaking on the Thai concept of the “sufficiency economy”)

9.50–9.53 a.m.	-	Address by Lord Gus O’Donnell, Special Envoy of thePrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (speaking onthe UK’s new wellbeing policy and measures)

9.53 – 9.57 a.m.	-	Statement by Ms. Martine Durand, Chief Statistician, OECD (representing the Secretary-General, OECD, on its “BetterLife Initiative on Measuring Well-being and Progress”)

10.00 a.m. – 1 p.m. -	Thematic Sessions on the Four Dimensions of the New Economy
			
10.00 – 10.05 a.m.	- 	Prof. Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director, EuropeanEnvironment Agency: Outline of meeting schedule, procedures, and interactive dialogue format 

10.05 – 10.55 a.m.- 	Panel on Wellbeing and Happiness
		Chair: H.E. Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme and the Former Prime Minister of New Zealand

10.05 – 10.10 a.m.	-	Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University Brief summary of outcomes of 1st April Workshop on Happiness 

10.10 – 10.55 a.m.	-	Panellists: 
•	Venerable MatthieuRicard, Shechen Monastery, Nepal
•	Prof. Martin Seligman, Founder of Positive Psychology and Director, Positive Psychology Centre, University of Pennsylvania
•	Dasho Karma Ura, President, Centre for Bhutan Studies
•	Dasho Karma Tshiteem, Secretary, Gross National Happiness Commission, Royal Government of Bhutan
•	Prof. John Helliwell, Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of British Columbia
•	Lord Richard Layard, Emeritus Professor of Economics, London School of Economics	

		Question and Answer Session

10.55 – 11.15 a.m.	-	Break

11.15 – 11.45 a.m. -	Panel on Ecological Sustainability
		Chair: Dr. Jonathan Patz, Nobel Laureate, Professor and Director, Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

		Panellists: 
•	Prof. Robert Costanza, Distinguished University Professor of Sustainability, Portland State University, Editor-in-Chief of Solutions magazine
•	Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, Co-creator of the Ecological Footprint and President, Global Footprint Network
•	Dr. Vandana Shiva, Scientist, Author, Founder of Navdanya, Recipient of Right Livelihood Award
				
			Question and Answer Session

11.45 a.m. - 12.15 p.m. -	Panel on Efficient Use of Resources
		Chair: Mr. Ajay Chhibber, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator, United Nations Development Programme, and Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific.	

		Panellists: 
•	Prof. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate, Professor of Economics, Columbia University
•	Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Earth Institute, Columbia University 
				
			Question and Answer Session

12.15 - 12.45p.m.   -	Panel on Fair distribution
		Chair: Hon. Tim Fischer, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Australia to Bhutan and the Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia 

		Panellists: 
•	H.E. Ms. Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, and the Former President of the Republic of Chile
•	Mr. Ajay Chhibber, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator, United Nations Development Programme, and Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific
•	Mr. Enrico Giovannini, President, Italian Statistical Institute, and former Chief Statistician, OECD
•	Mr.NarinderKakar, Permanent Observer to the United Nations of the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Question and Answer Session

12.45 - 1.00 p.m.	-	Prof.McGlade: Introduction to breakout sessions over lunch; participants to be divided into different groups and topics. 

1.00 - 3.00 p.m.	-	Working lunch hosted by H.E. Mr. Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, One United Nations Plaza, 44th Street (between First and Second Avenue)
	Assigned breakout group conversations over lunch.
3.00- 5.30 p.m.-	Afternoon Session
		Facilitator: Prof.McGlade Executive Director, 
EuropeanEnvironment Agency

3.00 – 3.07 p.m.	-	Screening of message from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales

3.07 – 5.35 p.m.	-	Open facilitated dialogue with participants, based on insights from the four morning sessions and breakout conversations. This session will be geared to achieving concrete and practical outcomes, including a statement on the new economy and the steps required to bring the new paradigm into being, such as building a global movement, action networks, and communication strategy, creating an expert task force to work out each of the dimensions, structures, and operating and regulatory mechanisms of the new economy in detail. The first part of the session will be oriented towards gathering views from the participants on the major four themes. Each short intervention will focus on actions and follow-up plans. The second part of the session will concentrate on interventions that will help build links across the themes. All the interventions from the breakout groups and the afternoon plenary will be recorded and brought forward into the working plans. 

The following panellists are invited to the podium for parts of the afternoon discussion to offer brief comments based on their unique perspectives: 
AbbotRoshi Joan Halifax,Prof. MohanMunasinghe, Hunter Lovins, AlexanderLikhotal(representingMikhail Gorbachev), Prof.RobertPutnam, David Cadman, Ven.Anil Sakya andDr.SkaliFaouzi

5.35 – 5.45 p.m.	-	Concluding Statement by H.E. Mr. Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan: Next Steps: Towards Rio + 20 and Beyond.

5.45 p.m.	-	Concluding prayers by spiritual leaders of Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths	
	
6.30 p.m.	-	Reception hosted by H.E. Mr. Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of Bhutan,for participants at the International Institute of Education, 809 First Avenue (between 45thand 46th Street). 

Tuesday, 3rd April and Wednesday 4th April 
	-	Follow up implementation meetings. See addendum 1 for details 

Tuesday, 3rd April 

7.30p.m.	- 	Cultural Program to be held at Barnard College featuring traditional Bhutanese music and dance.
		Venue: The Event Oval, The Diana Center, Barnard College, 3009 Broadway(Entrance at 117th Street – Broadway). See addendum 2 for transit details.

ADDENDUM 1: INFORMATION ON FOLLOW-UP WORK FOR 3rd-4th April 2012

As the 2nd April High-Level Meeting will initiate a long-term process, we are deeply grateful to the approximately200 participants who have kindly agreed to stay behind on 3rd-4th April to work on implementing the outcomes of this Meeting. The following schedule and arrangements are subject to change depending on the actual deliberations of the working groups on 3rd-4th April and on the ways they may sub-divide into smaller breakout groups.

It is tentatively proposed that ― in order to coordinate the work of the three designated working groups described below― the full implementation group will meet together at the United Nations from 9-10am and 3-5pm on 4th April in Conference Room 1(the same location as our 2nd April deliberations). From 9am to 5pm on 3rdApril and from 10am to 3pm on 4th April, the three groups will meet separately as follows:

•	On 3rd April in United Nations Conference Room 5, and in Conference Room 1 on 4th April, will be scholars and economists, who will constitute an expert task force to flesh out the details and operating mechanisms of the new economic paradigm in the months ahead. This group will also recommend terms of reference for this task force and consider practical funding issues, and selection and review procedures. Please see the sample terms of reference and suggested operating timeline for this task force sent to you in the previous mailing, which is also in the core documents of the www.2apr.gov.bt website. 

•	At the office of the Permanent Mission of Bhutan to the UN, 1st floor (ground level), 763 First Avenue at 43rd Street at the Isaiah Wall, directly opposite the United Nations, will be a planning and communications group charged with creating an overall road map and action plan for forward movement towards the new economy at Rio + 20 and beyond, andplans to communicate the vision of the new economy widely. Because this group has several distinct tasks, it is planned that it will divide into twoat its first meeting at 9am on 3rd April ― likely a planning sub-group and a communications sub-group ― with the second sub-group then moving to the conference room of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Two United Nations Plaza, 8th floor, enter on 44th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenue. This is just one block from the Bhutan Mission.

•	In United Nations Conference Room A on both 3rd and 4th April a third civil society group will work to create a global grassroots movement for the new economy. This group will include the several spiritual and faith leaders who have kindly agreed to remain on 3rd-4th April, NGO representatives, youth leaders, and ordinary citizens.
Each of these groups may well decide to split into smaller breakout groups for part of the day. For example, the youth leaders have already told us they want to have dedicated discussions among themselves to mobilise young people behind the new vision; and one group of scholars has already indicated interest in some dedicated small-group dialogue on the new holistic methods of measurement and accounting that the new economy will require. 

Lunch will be catered to all three groups on both days, with the daily 9-10am and 4-5pm sessions designed to coordinate activities and share plans. 

ADDENDUM 2: TRANSIT DETAILS TO BARNARD COLLEGE (3rd July)

PublicTransit:To reach Barnard College from the UN building one can take the M42 Bus - 42 St Crosstown - Direction: St Pier Crosstown. It departs E 42 St - 1 Av. 

Arrive W 42 St - Broadway and take the Subway: 1 (red line) uptown to 116th St-Columbia University.

Walk to entrance at 117th Street - Broadway. Enter Barnard Gates and walk to the Event Oval at the Diana Center. 

Taxi:  Taxi to Barnard College - 117th Street and Broadway. Enter Barnard Gates and walk to the Event Oval at the Diana Center. 

Transit time:30 minutes via public transit (bus and subway) and20 minutes via taxi.