Europe if… 

a quality of life index replaced GDP

What would Europe look like if GDP were replaced by a quality of life index? Different facets of possible answers were explored by 24 people from various corners of Europe in an interactive role-play workshop on 6 May 2022. The workshop was organised to celebrate the Europe Day of 9 May.

Imagine yourself in 2030. Together with an international and multidisciplinary team, the new President of the European Union has asked you for plausible scenarios on how the replacement of GDP with a quality of life index is expected to evolve until 2050, and what the territorial implications will be.

By changing perspective from one´s professional role to an assigned fictional role with different world views allowed for ‘out of the box’ discussions on possible scenarios, exploring what is quality of life, how could that be translated into policies and what would Europe look like if these policies were implemented. In 3 hours on a Friday morning, these questions were approached in an open-minded and explorative manner, not aiming at delivering ultimate answers.

What do we actually mean by quality of life?

Quality of life can be understood in many different ways. In the discussions – and based on the roles assigned to the participants – there was a strong focus on the environmental dimension, health, digital connective, and on not leaving anybody or any place behind.