Ludo Thierry
Hi all – This beeb article which gives favourable mention to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (and, positively, brackets Nicola with 2 other national leaders – those of Iceland and New Zealand) was cunningly positioned in the beeb Science pages! – If the story did appear on the beeb Scotland pages then I certainly missed it – and so must a heck of a lot of us). Beeb Science webpage comes up trumps again. Link and snippets below:
Iceland’s prime minister has urged governments to adopt green and family-friendly priorities, instead of just focusing on economic growth figures.
Katrin Jakobsdottir has teamed up with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern to promote a “well-being” agenda.
Ms Jakobsdottir called for “an alternative future based on well-being and inclusive growth”.
She said new social indicators were needed besides traditional GDP data.
GDP’s focus on economic performance means it tends to undervalue quality of life and the social damage caused by inequality.
Ms Jakobsdottir said an Icelandic poet had joked that “having sex with your wife doesn’t count in GDP, but with a prostitute it does”.
While acknowledging Iceland’s progress in family-friendly policies, she said her nation – with a population of just 350,000 – still had big challenges, such as improving public transport and tackling depression.
“Iceland uses more anti-depressants than neighbouring countries,” she said. “We need to strengthen prevention [of depression], through sports and the arts.”
In a TED talk in August, Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon made a similar plea for modern economies to put more resources into mental health, childcare and parental leave, and green energy.
She said the “well-being” initiative promoted by herself, Ms Sturgeon and Ms Ardern should not be seen as a gender-based backlash against populism.
“It’s very important to have all genders at the table – it affects the way you think, and then different decisions are made,” she said.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 