Back in July I highlighted the 3rd International Conference on Gross National Happiness that will be held in Nongkhai and Bangkok in November 2007.

The organisers of the conference have now released a general call for “innovative” papers that will be of interest to some New Mandala readers. According to the website:

Striking elements of academic work will be presented in the conference plenary, together with presentations from a diversity of conference stakeholders.

The 9 research domains are applied by the Center for Bhutan Studies (CBS) as elements of Gross National Happiness- research in Bhutan, possibly to be synthesized towards a ‘GNH Index’. CBS intends to match these research efforts with related research in other parts of the world. The last category is the ‘independent domain’ where innovative and not directly related papers can be proposed.

Research Domains

01. Psychological Wellbeing
02. Health
03. Time Use and Balance
04. Education
05. Cultural Diversity and Resilience
06. Good Governance
07. Community Vitality
08. Ecological Diversity and Resilience
09. Living Standards
10. Other subjects

Procedure

The Academic Committee will select papers per domain and propose a panel discussion which will have three or more related presentations by various speakers in parallel sessions under one of the three overarching themes. Proposals will be discussed in a Review Committee consisting of a diversity of leading Thai scholars and international Advisors, guided by the Academic Committee Chair and assisted by the Academic Session Coordinators. A proposal for an extraordinary session is suitable if presentations include a significant experimental component. Submission of a paper or other proposal implies that the author(s) will register for and attend the conference. Registration will be possible via www.gnh-movement.org. Paper presentations are scheduled for about 20 minutes made by an individual or several speakers.

Papers for the conference are due by 31 August. The conference organisers have also announced that there is early bird registration until 15 September.