The National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing Launches Wellbeing Academy
The National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing launched the Academy of Wellbeing, a virtual training program aimed to instill a wellbeing mindset and its practical applications in all areas of government. The Academy will also offer capacity building programs for federal and local government entities, and on how to integrate wellbeing principles into the in programs, initiatives, policies and services.
The Wellbeing Academy was launched as part of the government's efforts to implement the pillars of the National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031, which was approved in June 2019 by the Cabinet chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
The Wellbeing Academy is built on six practical pillars for integrating the concept of wellbeing into government work, which include: the general concept of wellbeing in government work, public policies, government services, measuring the impact of sustainable wellbeing, institutional excellence in wellbeing and readiness for future variations in wellbeing.
The Academy's programs are designed in collaboration with top national and international experts and in partnership with prestigious global institutions such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Columbia University, Harvard Business Review and “What Works” Foundation in the United Kingdom.
Her Excellency Ohood bint Khalfan Al-Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing and Director General of the Prime Minister's Office said that the Wellbeing Academy is inspired by the His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum;s vision on instilling the mindset of wellbeing in a government that serves the individual and society.
“The Wellbeing Academy constitutes a principle pillar in the National Strategy for Wellbeing 2031 through empowering a well-rounded generation of wellbeing pioneers in accordance to best international practices, which constitutes an important addition to the enablement of government entities’ work and enhances their effort in achieving comprehensive wellbeing in the UAE,” said Al-Roumi.
Al-Roumi added that the Academy’s launch comes in conjunction with the UAE’s preparedness for the post “Covid-19” pandemic stage, especially as the exceptional circumstances surrounding the world today, stress the importance wellbeing in supporting the world’s recovery from this crisis.
The Academy of Wellbeing initiated its first program by means of organizing a virtual interactive session entitled "Wellbeing and the Role of Government", which was attended by more than 500 federal and local government officials.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, Director of the Network for Sustainable Development Solutions of the United Nations United and President of the UAE’s World Council for Happiness and Wellbeing addressed the importance of wellbeing across countries and societies in light of the ongoing circumstances and the outbreak of (Covid-19).
Sachs stressed the importance of focusing on the wellbeing of government work, whereas Sachs presented government entities with the best practices for promoting the wellbeing of societies.
Jeffrey Sachs is a world-renowned economics professors, a world leader in sustainable development, a senior UN adviser and the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Sachs served as director of the Earth Institute at the same university from 2002 to 2016, as an adviser to three United Nations Secretaries-General, and as a professor for more than twenty years at Harvard University, whereas Sachs was ranked by “The Economist” magazine as one of The three most important economists in the world today.
The Academy of Wellbeing employs distance learning programs and works to enable all government employees in the areas of applications related to wellbeing in all areas of government work including policies, services, initiatives, and work environment wellbeing. The Academy focuses on mechanisms that can be utilized to establish a wellbeing culture among employees, which reflects positively on government entities’ work and productivity.
Specialized Training Programs
Wellbeing Academy programs include a series of remote interactive meetings with a selection of elite international speakers from various disciplines and fields related to wellbeing in government. The programs also include engagements for exchanging experience and best practices, which provides UAE government employees with the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary for efficiency enhancement and the improvement of the workplace environment wellbeing.
The Academy’s training courses include specialized programs and courses on wellbeing in government work, wellbeing at the workplace, introductory seminars on wellbeing, open-source online courses, and interactive sessions with specialized experts.
The Wellbeing Academy provides courses on variety of topics, such as interactive workshops on Concepts and Fundamentals of Wellbeing in Government Work, to introduce government employees to concepts of wellbeing and role of government in promoting the wellbeing, in addition to workshops on Government Services and Wellbeing, to provide government services employees with service-enhancement skills for the purpose of promoting wellbeing and introduce best practices on service delivery and preserving wellbeing during the process of service design and delivery.
The Wellbeing in Government Entities Course aims at raising government officials’ awareness on the importance of wellbeing and its inclusion in government work, while the Measuring Wellbeing course aims at providing employees and officials with the tools and techniques necessary to measure wellbeing and assess its response to strategic directions, in addition to providing employees with the ability to determine, measure and evaluation key performance indicators.
The Wellbeing Academy will organize periodic, remote knowledge sessions with wellbeing and government work experts. The courses at the Wellbeing Academy will include electronic courses and tracks to be completed at participants’ on pace, in addition to a number of remote interactive workshops where participants practice the implementation of skills and competencies to enhance wellbeing practices in their respective entities, design tools to measure wellbeing and improve service delivery experiences in a manner that enhances clients’ wellbeing. The training courses are supervised by experts in wellbeing practices at government.
In addition to its role in building and qualifying government competencies and capabilities, the Wellbeing Academy will be a center for specialized research. The Academy will work on publishing the latest government trends on the implementation of wellbeing across various
sectors, conduct research and studies on the dissemination of the wellbeing culture in government work and publish the latest scientific articles, research papers and case studies that review wellbeing promotion methodologies and mechanisms in government work.