Our last speaker for this season will be Maarten Desmet: who is an architect, board member of the University for the Common Good, and teacher at the High School for Science and Art in Antwerp. He will speak to us about Gross National happiness, a concept introduced by the King of Bhutan in the 1970s. It is based on the idea that sustainable development should give equal importance to non-economic aspects of progress and well-being as to economic ones. Our speaker will help us to question ourselves about living together in a society. How we can improve it? In which domains do we feel happy? By analysing these ideas, we may find solutions for our economic, social and environmental problems.

This talk will not be a boring list of facts, but a dialogue with a lot of examples.

Thanks to Laura and Leopold Decoster-Carrewyn for bringing us in contact with Maarten.

Venue: Theater Hotel, Arenbergstraat, Antwerp.

Time: 10.30 for coffee; meeting starts at 11 am. Please note: this meeting is half an hour later than usual.