Gallup-WPE Partnership Press Release and GWI announcement (Gallup)

Washington, D.C. and Tokyo, Japan — Gallup and the Wellbeing for Planet Earth (WPE) Foundation are pleased to announce a new partnership that will foster a more inclusive and global understanding of wellbeing. This ambitious partnership will incorporate cross-cultural perspectives into the science of wellbeing, which has traditionally been Westerncentric, with the goal of significantly advancing our knowledge of this important topic.

To meet these objectives, the Gallup-WPE Foundation partnership has created the Global Wellbeing Initiative (GWI), which will generate an innovative research agenda aimed at improving societies, families and workplaces. This includes developing new models of wellbeing to reflect the impact of culture, community, governance and nature. The GWI seeks to complement the work of the World Happiness Report, building upon existing wellbeing research.

“On behalf of the WPE Foundation, we are delighted to announce philanthropic support for this groundbreaking initiative, which is committed to exploring and developing a truly global and inclusive perspective on wellbeing,” said Yoshiki Ishikawa, the representative director of the WPE Foundation. “Recognizing the role of wellbeing in our lives and understanding its cross-cultural nuances are especially important during these unprecedented times while we are dealing with the coronavirus crisis.”

The GWI is being developed on an ethos of deep and rigorous collaboration, a shared commitment to wellbeing, and theinvolvemen  of skilled researchers from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

“Our new partnership with the WPE Foundation and Global Wellbeing Initiative will expand our existing wellbeing metrics to include global concepts. Gallup is thrilled to explore how this new perspective will enhance our understanding about the human condition, and what it means to lead a happy life around the world,” said Joe Daly, a senior partner at Gallup.

Since the partnership was initiated at a summit in Kyoto in August 2019, a module on global wellbeing perspectives was added to the Gallup World Poll, which began gathering data for GWI in early 2020. An annual summit will be held each year, with initial results of GWI to be shared at a global launch in September 2021 on World Peace Day. A white paper based on annual summit discussions in 2019 will be published in the International Journal of Wellbeing in June 2020.

About the World Poll

The World Poll, created in 2005, is the largest nationally representative study that provides a scientific window into the thoughts and behaviors of the world’s population, aged 15 and older. The Gallup World Poll is administered annually to over 150,000 individuals and covers more than 96% of the world’s adult population, across more than 140 countries and 145 languages. The Gallup World Poll is the only global study of its kind and provides exceptional infrastructure for surveying the world’s population on a variety of topics.

About Gallup

Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.

About the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation

The Wellbeing for Planet Earth (WPE) Foundation is the first of its kind worldwide: a Japan-based nonprofit organization that supports research, practice and policy advances to reflect a truly global view of wellbeing. The WPE Foundation’s efforts are driven by science and geo-cultural inclusiveness and accomplished through international philanthropy and publicprivate partnerships. The WPE Foundation aims to redefine wellbeing in ways that reflect the experiences and needs of humanity.

Download the press release.