What is Human Flourishing?
How can research and development in this field be an agent for change?
For humans to flourish, it means we’re on a path towards physical and mental wellbeing that’s holistically good, both for individuals and communities. For us, human flourishing begins with self-determination and agency, scaffolded by strong social relationships. We flourish when we live with purpose; when we practice gratitude, forgiveness, and open-mindedness. We cultivate character strength and resilience to flourish in adversity, to lead with empathy and virtue. We flourish by maintaining a sense of wonder, curiosity, and humility about the world we all share and our place in it. Our focus on flourishing is concerned with studying how an extension of these interior traits, habits, and behaviors can impact social goals.
The many ways flourishing unfolds at different times in peoples’ lives and in diverse cultures are important considerations in the areas of flourishing science we fund. The research and development we support seeks to better understand flourishing across cultures and in various contexts, including amid modern challenges and adversity.
The Future of Human Flourishing
Templeton World Charity Foundation is investing $100 million in bold research, practices, and policies that promote human flourishing.
Play the video to learn more about the many aspects of human flourishing and how studying it can change the world.
Free and open to all, this virtual conference showcases dynamic, global dialogues on the most significant scientific discoveries in understanding human flourishing.
How We Support Building the Field of Human Flourishing
Templeton World Charity Foundation launched a strategy to support new scientific research on human flourishing and to translate related discoveries into practical tools. Over the next five years, the Foundation will fund a range of projects across three distinct stages: Discovery, Development, and Launch. We hope that this commitment will lead to the development of innovative solutions and the launch of new practices that make a lasting impact on human flourishing. You can find more information about our 5-year strategy here. Visit our new Building the Field of Human Flourishing priority to learn more about how we're supporting the growth of this area of research.
Harnessing the Science of Human Flourishing to Accelerate Sustainable Development
In this working paper, we review the growing evidence for how human flourishing in all its dimensions can accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Our call to action is for policymakers, philanthropists, scientists, and others around the world to help build the field of human flourishing — encompassing research, practice, and policy.
Grand Challenges for Human Flourishing: The Ideas Database
More than 500 teams of scientists from over 350 academic institutions across the world answered Templeton World Charity Foundation's Grand Challenges for Human Flourishing request for ideas, which push beyond traditional measures of physical and mental health to include happiness, meaning and purpose, spiritual wellbeing and striving in adversity. With so many opportunities for new investments to have impact, we released an Ideas Database highlighting more than 100 of the research proposals.
