Since 2018, AHPA has awarded a Thinker in Residence biennially to recognise and support outstanding thinkers in health promotion who are undertaking novel and transformative work that has the potential to profoundly impact and/or transform a broad area of practice or policy. In 2024 we were pleased to have Dr Katherine Trebeck. Katherine brought a wealth of experience in the wellbeing economy and was able to share this expertise and challenge our thinking through workshops, keynote presentations and a monthly blog in our e-News.
This special wrap-up is a compilation of Katherine's words and links to supporting documents. If you have not yet had a chance to read them, I highly encourage you to do so. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Katherine for taking on the role of Thinker in Residence - it has been a real pleasure to work together and learn from Katherine. We are continuing to have discussions about what else may be possible to continue to focus on health promotion and the wellbeing economy - I have no doubt there are many possibilities!
As this is a biennial award, the Board will explore options for the next Thinker in Residence throughout 2025.
- Melinda Edmunds, President, AHPA
"Working with Katherine has not only been delightful but also cemented our commitment to the role health promotion plays in a broader, multi sector wellbeing economy. Like much of health promotion work, Katherine’s work also reminds us that those sectors and key actors who can make the most impact for health outcomes (in this case broad economic actors) often don’t associate their work with health impact - and that’s a key role health promotion can play in amplifying the links between health and the economy." - Dr Louise Baldwin
"Katherine opened AHPA Members’ minds to ideas for recentering policy toward the Wellbeing Economy for Health Promotion. She brought a willingness to support submissions to draft policy. Discussions began during a 90-minute workshop with AHPA members and we are excited that this work will continue into 2025 in partnership with Katherine. Members can find out more here." - Dr Belinda Lunnay
Missives from Dr Katherine Trebeck
January 2025
The end of 2024 also means the end to my year as AHPA thinker-in-residence. But this is a ‘farewell, but not goodbye’ e-news message from me.
When I first received an email from an account called “AHPA National @”, I have to confess I had not heard of AHPA. I had only been back in Australia about 18 months and was still discovering and learning about the amazing suite of organisations here working in various ways to tackle the causes of ill-health.
What I most loved about the invitation to be thinker-in-residence, apart from my first conversation with the incredible Gemma Crawford, was a phrase she used in the letter: “bright adventurous ideas”.
I love that phrase. “Bright adventurous ideas” speaks to boldness, to breaking out of received wisdom and the current way of doing things. It implies being compelling to others and a bit of gentle cheekiness, combined with innovation and creativity.
As 2025 unfolds in front of us, boldness, gentle cheekiness, innovation and creativity seem to be what it will take to even begin to address the challenges facing communities here in Australia and around the world. Wars loom large, there’s no shortage of evidence that mother nature is haemorrhaging under the weight of an economic system that too-often ignores her, and stress, anxiety, despair further fray community bonds and hammer collective institutions.
And yet, more and more people are recognising that the way the economy is designed and delivered needs to change. People working in financial institutions, in consulting firms, in international organisations, in universities, and in seen in so many opinion polls, in the kitchens and living rooms of everyday people around the world. A recent poll bearing this out was one undertaken for the Green Economy Coalition. It questioned over 10,000 people 10 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, and Turkey. It revealed that ‘71% of people globally would choose stronger environmental protection even at the cost of slowed economic growth’.
So far, so encouraging.
But it showed Australia was a bit of an outlier. Whereas our counterparts in less-GDP-rich countries were more supportive of action to protect the environment, we are “consistently the lowest performing respondent group across metrics of green demand and economic trade-offs”.
What I take from that is not a reason to concede that only unadventurous ideas can be advanced, or that Aussies do not recognise that things need to change. Instead, it seems to me that the New Years’ resolution those of us working to change the ‘causes of the causes’ need to commit to is to do much better in taking these conversations beyond webinars and policy documents, and into sports clubs and cafes and garages and pubs.
And I can’t think of a community of practice better skilled to do so than health promoters. You know how to open up conversations. You know how to share information in an accessible, non-preachy way. You know how to translate ideas for a range of audiences. You know how to help people feel they can take action.
So as my time as AHPA thinker-in-residence comes to an end, maybe you’ll be willing to have me as ‘learner-next-door’ in 2025…?
- Katherine (do stay in touch)
P.S. We have gathered the previous e-news below. Re-reading them points to what a roller-coaster of a year 2024 was. Here’s hoping 2025 is calmer, offers more hope for the future, and sees people running with adventurous ideas, not just being content to patch up a system that’s not working for enough people and doing a lot of harm to the planet we all depend on.
November 2024
Is there a word to describe feeling both despair and hope at the same time?
Climate records are tumbling, towns in Spain being flood are only the most recent manifestation of climate breakdown and the BOM tells us we are in for a stinking hot summer here in Australia. The recent Australian Unity Wellbeing Index reports that wellbeing is falling for those with less than $104,000 in household income. A survey released last month found that over half of Australian adults ‘said their household’s financial situation was worse that it was two years ago’. And that’s before I even mention the US election results and similar votes for far-right politicians in countries around the world.
There is clearly ample cause for concern at the state of the world.
Yet, on the other hand there is such an amazing array of incredible folk rolling up their sleeves and working together to make things better and to change the systems that cause so much damage to people and planet.
In the last month or so there was of course the AHPA conference where I had the pleasure of meeting so many of you and learning about your efforts to improve health, upstream before things get worse. Later in October I had the pleasure of co-hosting an Australian tour from Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, from Earth4All. She pulled no punches in explaining the choices our world needs to make, calling out windfall profits for fossil fuel companies and the immorality of extreme, often untaxed, wealth. Her message was challenging to business as usual, but what was wonderful was the team of people who hosted events for her and how many folk turned up and engaged with the ideas such laid out. The conversation might be just getting going here in Australia, but it is going at least!
Last week, I was in Rome for the OECD’s wellbeing forum. I got the chance to reconnect with many friends and colleagues who are working in the halls of government, in academic circles, in community groups, and in enterprises to implement policies and practices that orient the economy to what people and planet need.
Many of them are going up against recalcitrant colleagues, orthodox thinking, and push back from vested interests. But they’re persevering. Surely that, in itself, is cause for hope?
PS At the OECD conference I was part of the closing plenary, which was scheduled to happen just hours after the news of Trump’s election came through. I was still processing the new reality, and tried to reflect on the messages it held for those of us working on wellbeing approaches in government and the critical task of economic transformation. My friend Amanda Janoo recorded it, and you can see my opening remarks here if you are curious.
October 2024
I am writing this the day after the AHPA symposium, where it was such a treat to meet so many of you, learn from you, and do a bit of a ‘measurement jam’ with you at the workshop Louise Baldwin and I ran on the second day. I hope you all made it home safely and are still smiling and reflecting on the conversations.
One of the workshops I attended was Gemma Crawford and Belinda Lunnay examining the commercial determinants of health. Participants came up with a suite of industries that have a harmful health impact. That these industries are prevalent and politically powerful is a matter of choice. Activities could be banned, lobbying better regulated, alternatives supported and promoted. What makes up our economy is not the natural result of some organic process or as fixed as gravity: it can be different.
Picking up that issue, at the workshop Louise and I ran, we spoke about the idea of a wellbeing economy. See here for a briefing about what a wellbeing economy is, but basically imagine an economic system deliberately designed to meet the needs of people and planet – not the other way around. One of the key reasons people are talking about the need for a wellbeing economy is that too often policies and initiatives aim to change outcomes, but focus too narrowly. They position the individual as the primary unit of action; the actor who needs to shoulder the onus of change.
Yet expecting people to change their behaviour without recognising that behaviour is invariably a reflection of the circumstances in which people live, the jobs they are able to access, the local infrastructure and so on, is like expecting someone to climb up a slippery slide, starting at the bottom.
The circumstances that enable or constrain need to be attended to. And when you look at those circumstances and consider why they are the way they are, the economy comes into view. When you channel your inner 3-year-old and ask “why, why, why?” you find yourself facing the economy.
What might an economy more aligned with what people and planet need look like? Louise and I asked our group to think about what would make them smile as the noticed signs that things are moving in the right direction. We asked them to come up with some ‘cornerstone indicators’ that not only correlate with key areas of life going well, but also make intuitive sense to everyday people. And my goodness they came up with some fabulous ideas! Here are just a selection:
- Seeing people’s face when walking down the street (because they not looking at their phones)
- The number of scooters or bikes in school bike racks
- Kids being read to at night
- People smiling with a full set of teeth
- Public toilets with attendants paid a living wage
- Vegetable patches in schools
- Visible acknowledgment of First Nations communities
- Locally run food businesses
- Knowing the name of your baker
- The number of people with a social activity planned for the week ahead
Each of these (and the other cracking ideas), in different ways, are the result of things going well in the wider context. Whether that is people having time, enough money, safety, decent housing, or trust in community, they give a sense that the direction of travel is a good one.
This, and the other conversations at the symposium, have made me feel connected, supported, encouraged, wiser, challenged, and inspired. I also feel I have made some new friends, which is perhaps one of the best cornerstone indicators for a successful gathering I can think of.
September 2024
Hello AHPA friends
I am often saying that change will only come if we collaborate like we’ve never collaborated before. And one of the most hopeful alignment of agendas is in relation to health and economic change. In recent months and years it has been hard to miss examples of various corners of the health community, here and around the world, speaking more explicitly about the need for economic system change.
In Australia, VicHealth has probably been the most prominent. But they are in good company with their international counterparts. For example:
- EuroHealthNet’s suite of reports and graphics about a wellbeing economy
- The WHO’s promotion of a wellbeing economy (and of course the Geneva Charter)
- NHS Wales’ recent report about the benefits of a wellbeing economy
- Public Health Ireland’s work on a wellbeing economy, which states that:
a Wellbeing Economy can elevate health promotion and disease prevention, reducing the burden on healthcare systems...By addressing systemic flaws and inequalities that contribute to poor health, a Wellbeing Economy can improve living conditions, reduce health disparities, and enhance financial security. By promoting responsible resource management, conservation efforts, and climate change mitigation strategies, a Wellbeing Economy addresses key environmental determinants of human health such as clean air, water, and Biodiversity’.
I think calls for a more humane, more sustainable economic system coming from different quarters is crucial in making a convincing case to a range of audiences that need to be brought on board.
But, there is something extra powerful about the health community speaking out. Health practitioners are often dealing with the collateral damage of today’s economic system and so have a powerful and trusted testimony to make about why it needs to change. As AHPA demonstrates, they also look upstream to the processes and circumstances that enable or constrain people’s choices.
This alignment is another reason why I am so chuffed to be working with AHPA this year. Our webinar last month was a fun 90 minutes of adventuring through the terrain of the economy. In Canberra next month, Belinda Lunnay and I will be running a workshop to dive a bit deeper, exploring what sorts of measures might begin to galvanise the change needed.
Finally, if any of you are interested in the story of political agitation for a wellbeing economy and the creation of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership, there is a documentary you can watch! This is the website where you can see a trailer and get on touch with the film maker Martin to explore hosting a screening.
August 2024
Greetings to you AHPA friends
I have just finished a book that discusses loneliness. It focuses mainly on the US and Europe, but you will be aware that loneliness is a huge challenge in Australia too.
One of the areas it spent quite a bit of time exploring was the role of technology. Not just in terms of how technology can hinder people building strong relationships, but also how people who feel lonely are turning to robots to meet the very basic human need for connection and belonging.
But can robots really meet that need? Or are robot friends, robot carers, robot pets and so on more what one of my intellectual heroes, Manfred Max-Neef would describe as ‘pseudo-satisfiers’? In other words, they do not truly deliver the need, and they perhaps even risk taking us further away from satisfying it...?
The idea of robot companions for people experiencing loneliness seems to be an example or microcosm of something I suspect many of us in this community wrestle with: responding to tangible and acute immediate harm and suffering, while also trying to address the root causes of that suffering and harm.
Downstream responses are undeniably very necessary to help people – and planet – cope and get through today and tomorrow. But if all the action stays there, we’re just going around in circles – and not attending to the upstream origins of the harm.
There are a lot of challenges in going upstream, especially getting upstream as far as the economic roots. Fortunately, there are examples that prove it is possible with the right combination of champions, political will, timing, ideas, and evidence. And many of the examples come from health promotion. So thank you for your work that not only makes a difference in its own sphere, but proves the possibility of broader change!
On another note, a few months ago I spoke with two of my heroes – Professors Gerry McCartney and Carmel Williams – for their podcast series which, in their words, hopes to “unpack some of the not-so-often questioned economic thinking that has led us here and where we can go next”. You can find a recording of that here (and the other ones are certainly worth a listen too!).
July 2024
Hello there folks
I write on the Friday of a week that began with the news that by teaming up, the greens and left parties in France have been able to keep the far-right parties at bay, followed by the news that every month since June 2023 has been 1.5 warmer than pre-industrial averages.
Today, the working week is ending today with the President of the United States muddling President Zelensky and President Putin and then saying “Trump” when he meant Kamla Harris.
But hey, today stock markets are at record highs....????
It’s hard to know how to grapple with it all. My entry point is trying to confront the economic roots of some of the challenges our communities and our planet are facing.
As one report says:
‘Tackling the polycrisis requires an economic reset. Positive signals abound, but bold action is needed to accelerate the transition…
The current global economic system has certainly yielded undeniable societal dividends, but cracks in its foundations are becoming increasingly apparent.
These cracks reveal that the ecological, social and geoeconomic polycrisis we find ourselves in, and the inadequacy of attempts to avoid or address it, are inevitable consequences of...interconnected systemic flaws’
Those words don’t come from my colleagues at the Wellbeing Economy Alliance or the Club of Rome. They come from the consulting firm Ernst & Young.
At the end of a heady week, I am allowing myself to take a wee bit of hope in the fact that deep in the heart of a global consulting firm are people ready to recognise the extent of change needed.
If you want to learn more about the nature of that change, I am thrilled to let you know that we will be running a workshop about the wellbeing economy agenda for the AHPA community on the 22nd of August at noon AEST. Invitations will be with you soon, but for now please do mark your calendars as we would love to see as many of you there as possible.
June 2024
I hope this finds you all well, AHPA colleagues.
I am just back from a hectic few weeks in Denmark and Iceland and I wanted to give you a sense of some news from that side of the world. While I was there the EU elections took place – with major swings to the right in countries such as France and Germany. In contrast, in countries such as Denmark the progressive parties’ vote held up. As I write, negotiations about voting blocks are underway so we are yet to see how it all pans out.
These negotiations matter for Australia – not least in terms of the environment. For all its flaws, the EU has been a bit of a bulwark of decent action on environmental measures, which ripple out to Australia via supply chains, measures such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism, and, perhaps most importantly, proof that policies that prioritise the planet are entirely possible.
If certain parties end up holding power in the European Parliament, some of this work could be rolled back. In part this is because such parties have set up an entirely false binary between social measures and action on the environment. This neglects to acknowledge that it is those on lowest incomes who will be hardest hit by climate change – people who can’t afford insurance or to move to higher ground to escape flooding; whose health is already poor so will be more vulnerable to extreme heat; and who will most struggle with higher food prices when harvests are wiped out. It also skips over the potential to embed social justice outcomes in environmental action – think of local employment generated by roll out of energy efficiency measures, for example, or how decent and affordable public transport helps offset cost-of-living pressures while also reducing the need for cars.
Despite this rather precarious juncture, I left with a sense of optimism. In Denmark I attended the launch of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Danish hub where over 1000 people gathered to talk about building a wellbeing economy in Denmark. In Iceland, there was the WEF - the Wellbeing Economy Forum (a little nudge to the World Economic Forum ????). Here government officials from countries such as Scotland, New Zealand, Wales, Canada and Finland, and a good tranche of colleagues from the World Health Organisation, compared notes about how to put collective wellbeing into economic policy. That they have moved far beyond the “what” and are at the sleeves-rolled-up stage of the “how” was wonderful to see. And it gave me hope that despite the challenges, there are incredible people working at the heart of government who understand the urgent need to build a wellbeing economy.
May 2024
Hello AHPA folks! Thank you to those of you who chipped into the short survey shared in the last e-news. The survey will help inform a workshop about what working on economic change entails – what levers are there? How can the economy help enable health? What might people like us do to exercise some power over the economy? We will be in touch soon to invite you to be part of it.
In the meantime, there has been some big economic news recently: the Federal budget, the Future Gas Strategy, and all the discussion about both. I’ve been to two Town Halls this week listening to my local Senators (Katy Gallagher and David Pocock) talk about the budget. As you would imagine they had slightly different takes on things...
What neither of them were asked about was an announcement hidden in the budget papers: that the Australian Bureau of Statistics will get a funding boost to bolster their “General Social Survey on an annual basis to provide timely insights on the wellbeing of Australians”. This is an important step towards getting better data in order to better understand the state of affairs in Australia – and from there to hopefully inform better analysis of the root causes of why some groups and places are struggling, and thus help undertake the preventative work needed to address challenges at their root cause.
On the Future Gas Strategy, one of the things that struck me was how the Minister declared it was “based on facts and data, not ideology or wishful thinking”.
I can’t help thinking there are some pretty stark facts and data about the reality of climate change and the harm fossil gas creates. So I had to smile seeing how SBS reported the announcement of the Strategy by including some prominent links to some fact-based news about our environment and quotes from the International Energy Agency:
April 2024
Ahoy AHPA friends! I wanted to share with you a lurking feeling I have (which might be more optimism than evidence-based): are there cracks emerging in economic consensus in Australia....?
Let me explain: in mid-2022 I moved back here after almost 20 years living in Scotland. I confess to feeling like I had stepped back in time a bit in terms of how entrenched some orthodox views were. That is not to say there weren’t/ aren’t incredible examples all around Australia of policies, projects, enterprises that show how a different approach to the economy might play out in practice. But, the ‘this is the way it will always be and the best you can ask for is a few small tweaks’ mentality seemed to hold firm. People seemed to think the economy is like gravity – there isn’t much we as a society can do to change it
Yet since then discussions which seemed to be off the table have snuck back on. Housing debates now include robust arguments at the level of the tax system and how negative gearing encourages the positioning of houses, not as homes, but as investment vehicles. Earlier this month, the Prime Minister gave a speech where he declared, "We need to be willing to break with old orthodoxies and pull new levers to advance the national interest…This decade marks a fundamental shift in the way nations are structuring their economies...The so-called ‘Washington consensus’ has fractured."
He was speaking quite specifically about industrial policy and there were pretty predictable reactions declaring that the market should NEVER EVER be interfered with, but it seems that there is now potential to have a much wider conversation about what sort of economy Australia needs for our grandchildren to be happy.
At least, I am allowing myself a wee bit of optimism...
So, speaking of a wider conversation about what sort of economy Australia needs, one of the activities I am keen to work on with you is a workshop about what working on economic change entails – what levers are there? How can the economy help enable health? What might people like us do to exercise some power over the economy?
Thanks folks!
March 2024
Hello AHPA folks! Having met many of you in Geelong last year I am delighted to be a small part of your incredible community this year. Mel and Gemma and I are cooking up a few ideas for what my thinker-in-residence entails and you will be hearing from us shortly. In the meantime, I am currently in the UK for one of my other roles - as 'writer at large' for the University of Edinburgh's Global Compassion Initiative. Last week I was delivering a masters course about the wellbeing economy agenda as part of their Planetary Health masters programme. You can read some of my thoughts about what compassion brings to the economy and visa-versa here: https://efi.ed.ac.uk/people/katherine-trebeck/
And if you want to know more about what a wellbeing economy is, here's a series of little briefings I recently published with the Centre for Policy Development: https://cpd.org.au/work/wellbeing-economy-in-brief/