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General Topics

Wellbeing

lead-authors: [Name] contributors: [Names] reviewers: [Names] version: 0.3 updated: 25 March 2026 sensitivity: low status: draft ai-use:

Wellbeing encompasses individual and collective material conditions and the lived experiences, including their distributional and equity dimensions, as well as capabilities to realise human needs and rights. This topic is part of the ISGAN Wiki and is currently being developed. You can contribute directly by clicking the edit button, or use the Topic Builder for guided input. A confirmed wiki account is required. Register and allow up to three days for admin confirmation. Before contributing, read the Editorial Guidelines.

Why this matters

[To be drafted]

Shared definitions

Societal wellbeing depends on the individual wellbeing of all society members and on the structure of the society — the links among individuals and their social connections. Within economics, individual utility is typically interpreted through traditional products, services, and leisure time, but can be read more broadly to include social engagement, sense of belonging to a community, and social trust — dimensions that go beyond individual utility and connect to the structure of society itself.1)

Perspectives

Actors and stakeholders

Technologies and infrastructure

Institutional structures

Distinctions and overlaps

Resilience · Users, citizens, consumers · Service · Commons

Topic notes

  • Two pages flagged for potential merge into this topic: public service; energy as a service of public interest. Review whether this content belongs here or in Service.
  • The cross-reference to socio-system services in the source material links wellbeing to resilience — worth developing as a distinction or overlap entry.
  • The EC JRC (2017) framework distinguishes individual utility from social welfare functions and from less structural approaches (social multi-criteria evaluation). This three-way distinction may be worth preserving in Shared definitions.

This draft has one sourced definition but needs full development. If you have relevant expertise, contribute directly via the edit button or the Topic Builder. Read the Editorial Guidelines before contributing.

1)
European Commission, Joint Research Centre. (2017). Building a scientific narrative towards a more resilient EU society. Part 1: A conceptual framework. Publications Office of the European Union.