Mental wealth forecast
The world is facing a perfect storm of crises, with wars, climate change, rising inequality and insecurity, and growing mental health issues among the pressing challenges. Can mental wealth help us to weather increasingly precarious times?
Mental wealth is an emerging concept that takes stock of the value of our collective brain capital and social assets. It reminds us that prosperity isn’t only based on economic production but social production as well. Many global indicators of growth and productivity, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), measure the economic (income and financial gains) and miss capturing social value and work (unpaid labour such as elder care, childcare, volunteer work and civic participation).
Join us for this Sydney Ideas event that showcases innovative research and findings from the Mental Wealth Initiative, a transdisciplinary initiative within the University’s Brain and Mind Centre, led by co-directors and leading researchers Professor John Buchanan and Associate Professor Jo-An Occhipinti.
In an engaging Sydney Ideas talk, John and Jo-An will explain their concept and model of mental wealth as metric, and how it can be applied to aid policy and decision-making. They’ll be joined on stage for a conversation with experts including prominent Australian economist and Executive Director of Australia Institute, Dr Richard Denniss. Together, we further explore how and why should Australia make the shift to a ‘wellbeing economy’ and what that could look like.
Event details
| When | Thursday 24 October, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm (AEDT) |
| Where | The event will be held at the University of Sydney Camperdown campus and livestreamed. Register for the details. |
| Accessibility | Lift and wheelchair access and hearing loop are available at the venue. When you register for this event, please advise of any access requirements. If you have questions, get in touch with the team via email (sydney.ideas@sydney.edu.au). |
| Will this event be recorded? |
Subscribe to the Sydney Ideas podcast and YouTube channel to get it in your feeds or check back this page after the event for on-demand catch-up (video and podcast). |
The speakers
Professor John Buchanan, Brain and Mind Centre and University of Sydney Business School
John Buchanan is the Co-Director of the Mental Wealth Initiative and a Professor in the Business Information Systems Discipline at the University of Sydney Business School. John is an expert in labour market structuring and its implications for skills and education. Current research interests include the future of expertise and social solidarity in a world of mass underemployment and AI.
Dr Richard Denniss, Australia Institute
Richard Denniss is Executive Director of the Australia Institute. A prominent Australian economist, author and public policy commentator, Richard has spent the last twenty years moving between policy-focused roles in academia, federal politics and think-tanks.
He was also a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Newcastle and former Associate Professor in the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU. He is a regular contributor to The Monthly and the author of several books including Econobabble, Curing Affluenza and Dead Right: How Neoliberalism Ate Itself and What Comes Next?.
Associate Professor Jo-An Occhipinti, Brain and Mind Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health
Jo-An Occhipinti is an esteemed epidemiologist and systems scientist whose pioneering work has established her as a leader in addressing public health and social policy issues and safeguarding the future of work amidst complex global challenges that threaten the Mental Wealth of nations. As a Principal Research Fellow, she holds the roles of Head of Systems Modelling, Simulation & Data Science and Co-Director of the Mental Wealth Initiative at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, where her thought leadership, development of new metrics, application of advanced analytic methods, and commitment to community participation intersect to benefit science and society.
Header image: credit Getty Images via Unsplash