Doctoral Dissertation Research: Natural Resource Management in Bhutan: From Traditional Ecological Knowledge to Gross National Happiness

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The country of Bhutan is well known for its development metric, Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is an attempt to create both a quantitative index of quality of life indicators, incorporating both economic development (as measured through GDP) and more holistic conceptions of well-being. Bhutan's attempts have garnered significant world-wide attention, and other countries are looking into GNH as a potential sustainable development paradigm. However, GNH is grounded in Buddhist beliefs and is quite specific to Bhutan. Of importance then is to understand how GNH developed in Bhutan, how it influences natural resource decision-making in that country, and what aspects of it might translate to contexts outside of the country. This doctoral dissertation search will help to better understand the ways that GNH as a development paradigm impacts environmental decision making. The research asks four primary questions: 1) How has the cultural, religious, and political context in Bhutan influenced the development of GNH? 2) Who are the domestic and international actors central to conservation and natural resource decision-making networks in Bhutan, and how have their interactions influenced the application of GNH? 3) How, when, and why is happiness linked to natural resources and the environment? and 4) How is GNH operationalized? To do this, interviews with government officials, NGO employees and others working at the intersection of GNH and the environment will be conducted to better understand how GNH is related to environmental decision-making. Additionally, a participatory video documentary project will be produced in rural Bhutan to assess how GNH environmental policies are impacting daily interactions with the environment. This research project examines what GNH is and how it is impacting environmental decision-making in Bhutan. The findings will help to tease out what is meant by GNH, how it evolved over time, when happiness is invoked in relationship to the natural environment and how it is influencing people's interactions with the landscape. Since GNH has recently gained international attention and is beginning to be adopted by governments around the world, research into the genealogy and implementation of GNH is important in order to understand which aspects are Bhutan-specific and which aspects might be useful in other contexts. In recent years novel development metrics have experienced exponential growth world-wide. This research provides an opportunity to better understand them and to determine their influence on development. This Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award will enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.