7 A cross-sectoral action plan to follow up the work on wellbeing during the 2025–2030 strategy period

The National Wellbeing Strategy identifies some of the systems, methods and tools that will be important for Norway’s ability to move from today’s wellbeing measurements to future policymaking that emphasises, to a greater extent that today, a good and evenly distributed wellbeing for the entire population. It is national and local policymaking that can lead to better lives for the population and equalise social differences in wellbeing. During the strategy period, this will be followed up with an action plan in a number of areas related to monitoring and knowledge development, prioritisation and policy formulation, as well as Nordic and international co-operation. All recommendations concerning studies and further work as part of an action plan must be in accordance with the requirements for a basis for decision-making in the instructions for official studies and reports.

7.1 Wellbeing as a supplementary measure of and for societal development

The wellbeing measurements and the indicator framework form the very foundation of the work on wellbeing in the Government’s strategy. Systems for implementation, development and updates should therefore be established. Data from national and local measurements must be analysed to ensure they become sector-relevant and accessible to users, and that they can be used for policymaking. It should be assessed whether it is possible to develop “wellbeing profiles” similar to the “public health profiles” and “weight profiles” that have been assigned to the Norwegian Directorate of Health from 1 January 2024. Wellbeing profiles could be a useful tool for both county authorities and municipalities/districts. Research and knowledge development in the field of wellbeing is still relatively new in Norway, and it may therefore be appropriate to establish an overall professional environment or network for wellbeing in Norway. Funds channelled to the Research Council from the ministries would be most relevant for research in this area.

The following should be investigated further:

• Establish a system for regular wellbeing measurements at the national and county levels that can provide governance information for national, regional and municipal/local government authorities. Monitoring must not only be done regularly, it must also be adapted to political and societal developments. Furthermore, consideration must be given to how underrepresented groups can be included or made visible, in addition to measures that can reduce selective non-responses. Wellbeing among children and young people, people with immigrant backgrounds, health challenges, living conditions and the elderly should be prioritised. Consideration must also be given to whether a coordination of questions regarding living conditions by Statistics Norway/Eurostat and the implementation of these in county public health surveys could provide better data.
• Consider establishing an open and accessible statistics bank with wellbeing data at the national, county and municipal level, cf. Statistics Norway’s statistics bank for the national measurements.
• Consider further developing and evaluating the indicator framework prepared by Statistics Norway, and how the recommendations in its report can be followed up. Consideration should also be given to how the input received in the input round for the indicator framework can be followed up in further work.
• Assess the development of wellbeing profiles for counties and municipalities.
• Further develop knowledge, research and evaluation, e.g. evaluation of policy measures and demographic changes in with respect to wellbeing. There is a need for more knowledge about social integration, isolation and loneliness and how to promote integration and reduce loneliness through structural measures, including research into causal factors. Data based on the wellbeing measurements should be used for analyses with relevance for different sectors and policymaking.
• Assess how children’s right to participation and the requirement for considering the best interests of the child (cf. Section 104 of the Constitution of Norway and Articles 3 and 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child) can be safeguarded in further efforts.
• Establish a broad-based reference group as a participation arena for following up systems for measurements, indicator development and evaluations.
• Investigate the possibility of establishing a general professional environment or network for wellbeing in Norway with responsibility for wellbeing analyses at both the national and local level, research, knowledge development and evaluation. Funding for research is channelled through the Research Council of Norway.

7.2 Prioritisation and policy development

There is a need to further investigate both the tools and measures described in this strategy, and to assess whether there are other actions that could help achieve the goal of wellbeing as a measure of and for societal development, and an equalisation of social differences in wellbeing. Further work is needed in order to ensure cross-sectoral anchoring that can provide ownership and be useful for different sectors. It is recommended to proceed with the following points:

• Follow up on wellbeing in the Public Health Act and assess wellbeing in other legislation.
• Further develop the thematic guide for the instructions for official studies and reports on health and wellbeing so that wellbeing considerations can be better integrated into assessments and analyses.
• Consider whether Statistics Norway should issue a separate publication every two years on trends in the national wellbeing, similar to Statistics Norway’s quarterly reports on the economic indicators.
• Consider including wellbeing in reports to the Storting, and whether a public health and wellbeing report should be presented to the Storting on a regular basis. Furthermore, consideration must be given to how wellbeing should be referred to in reports, such as the white paper on an action plan to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
• Assess whether and how wellbeing can be addressed in national expectations regarding regional and municipal planning.
• Assess how different sectors’ instruments can be viewed in context and implemented to promote a good and evenly distributed wellbeing in the population. This must be viewed in the context of conducting sector-relevant analyses of wellbeing.
• Utilise wellbeing knowledge to measure and evaluate the impact of policy decisions on wellbeing.
• Design proposals for how the indicator framework can contribute to reducing social inequity in wellbeing.
• Present proposals for how the voluntary sector can work with different sectors to put wellbeing on the agenda. Voluntary organisations offer children and adults opportunities to develop social skills, friendships and networks.

7.3 Nordic and international collaboration

There is a great deal of activity in the field of wellbeing in both Nordic and international forums, and co-operation and involvement with Nordic and international forums can not only help achieve Norwegian goals for wellbeing but also contribute to the development of a Nordic model for how wellbeing can be measured and used as a measure of and for societal development. It is recommended to investigate and continue work on the following points:

• Participate in the Wellbeing Economy Forum and the Nordic Wellbeing Economy Network, established in Iceland in 2023.
• Collaborate with the OECD Centre on Wellbeing, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE) and its knowledge exchange platform.
• Consider participation in the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership (WEGo), in which Iceland, Finland, Scotland, New Zealand, Wales and Canada are participants.
• Further investigate co-operation to develop a Nordic model for both measurements of wellbeing and for wellbeing as a measure of societal development within the framework of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Co-operation with the Danish Happiness Research Institute and Trivselsbanken/The Wellbeing Bank, which is currently being established, should also be considered.