WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT · 2017
An invitation to the global conversation.
Original invitation · 19 December 2016
Original email excerpt, with its original gold signature design. Sent on behalf of Ohood Al Roumi; addressed to Dr. Sven Goebel.
02 / DUBAI 2017
A bigger stage for a human question.
On 11 February 2017, the inaugural Global Dialogue for Happiness brought wellbeing into an international conversation about government and society. It preceded the World Government Summit in Dubai, held from 12 to 14 February. Happiness was being discussed as a matter of public policy, measurement and the conditions in which people live.
Sven Goebel attended as a participant. His original 2017 badge records his role as Creator of the Happiness Circle and his country as Switzerland. The photographs preserve his own experience of those days: conversations, working sessions, an interview setting and moments in the audience.
03 / 2017
The conversation beyond the stage.
Personal encounters give a global gathering a human scale. These photographs document shared moments and conversations from Sven’s archive. They are presented separately from the programme below: a photograph together records a meeting, not an endorsement, a partnership or an ongoing relationship.
04 / WORLD GOVERNMENT SUMMIT
Ideas on the global stage.
The official 2017 coverage records Dan Buettner on longevity and the environments in which people live; Robin Sharma on focus and leadership; and Elon Musk on technology, work and meaning. Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi opened the Global Dialogue for Happiness, whose participants included Bhutan’s then Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay. These are programme references, not claims of personal meetings. Sven recalls listening to Musk from the audience.
05 / HAPPINESS CIRCLE
An existing philosophy. A wider perspective.
The Happiness Circle had begun taking shape in 2002. In Dubai, Sven Goebel was able to present the model in a workshop, contribute to the Happiness project working group and record a video interview for the event. The photographs document those different settings: the discussion circle, the shared work at the chart and the interview behind the microphones.
← Back to the overview
06 / 2017
Books, dedications & impressions.
Sources & context
Original photographs and invitation from Sven Goebel’s archive. Names and workshop context were supplied by Sven Goebel; historical roles and book authorship were checked against sources. Faces remain unretouched.