UPDATE May, 17, 2021: Bookmark has posted a YouTube Video of the Book Launch. If you ever wondered “what’s wrong with economics”, how it could be fixed and why it hasn’t been so far and where the future lies….watch or just listen to this interview; it has a lot to say about Maritimers too.
—————-
Click on image for Facebook Announcement
By Bookmark (Charlottetown & Halifax). “Ronald Colman is the founder and former executive director of GPI Atlantic, a non-profit research group that built an index of well-being and sustainable development in Nova Scotia.”
The Nova Scotia GPI Forest Accounts (2001) and Update in 2008 by Ron Coleman with co-authors Linda Pannozzo, Sara Wilson and Minga O’Brien provided the first comprehensive documentation of the state of our harvested forests in NS and were an important backdrop for the review of forestry under the Natural Resources Strategy process (2008-2011).
Join the virtual launch by contacting Bookmark at 902-423-0419 or halifax@bookmarkreads.ca or directly via Facebook (click on image above)
The book was published Mar 9, 2021 by Columbia University Press, available locally via Bookmark.
From Bookmark:
Bookmark Presents
Virtual Book Launch for WHAT REALLY COUNTS: The Case for a
Sustainable and Equitable Economy
Bookmark, Halifax’s locally owned, independent bookshop is very pleased to host the PEI/NS book launch for Nova Scotia author, Ronald Colman’s new book WHAT REALLY COUNTS: The Case for a Sustainable and Equitable Economy on Thursday, May 13th at 7 PM. This event is free and a link to access the event is available by contact Bookmark at 902-423-0419 or halifax@bookmarkreads.ca
Politicians and economists fixate on “growing the economy”—measured by a country’s gross domestic product. But this yardstick counts harmful activities such as greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste, and cigarette sales as gains, and it ignores environmental protection, voluntary community work, and other benefits. What we measure is a choice, and what is and isn’t counted determines what sorts of policies are enacted. How can we shift the focus to wellbeing and quality of life?
“This is an important book that deserves the attention of politicians, business leaders, activists and concerned citizens. As we look forward to life beyond the Covid-19 pandemic there is an opportunity to re-think how we as a society view development, equity and the economy. This is a very timely and accessible book that offers clues as to what a sustainable future could look like.” says Bookmark co-owner, Dan MacDonald.
What Really Counts is an essential, firsthand story of the promise and challenges of accounting for social, economic, and environmental benefits and costs. Ronald Colman recounts two decades of working with three governments to adopt measures that more accurately and comprehensively assess true progress. Chronicling his path from Nova Scotia to New Zealand to Bhutan, Colman details the challenge of devising meaningful metrics, the effort to lay the foundations of a new economic system, and the obstacles that stand in the way. Reflecting on successes and failures, he considers how to shift policy priorities from a narrow economic growth agenda toward a future built on sustainability and equity.
Colman has taken the critique of GDP outside the academy and attempted to realize an
alternative. The lessons he offers in What Really Counts are vital for anyone interested in how we can measure what matters—and how better measures can help build a better world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ronald Colman is the founder and former executive director of GPI Atlantic, a non-profit research group that built an index of well-being and sustainable development in Nova Scotia. He has worked with New Zealand government bodies and communities on measures of well-being and spent ten years in Bhutan assisting the government’s development of holistic progress measures, a new global economic paradigm, and other initiatives.