The “Library for a Happy Future” combines science with art and traditional knowledge to explore the question of a good life (One Health, wellbeing, bienêtre, buen vivir) in a participatory way and to make it visible and tangible through practical actions as a community.

The thematic starting point is water – fresh and salt – which encompasses all areas of life: agriculture, mental and physical health, economic relations, environmental issues, spiritual connections, power asymmetries, etc.

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The Library for a Happy Future emphasizes that our tomorrow begins today. In this respect, we do not primarily collect books and ideas, but create them ourselves through participatory experiences and concrete implementations. We call this sowing seeds for the future.

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At the center of our work is the integration and promotion of development models and knowledge systems that combine feeling and thinking (sentipensar[1]) and contribute to planetary health. The results will be shared with politicians, at international conferences, and among various libraries worldwide. In this way, we would like to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to the debate on their continuation “post-2030” and other challenges in the areas of biodiversity, peacebuilding, food security, domestic development goals, and climate.

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The libraries are being created in different locations in Switzerland and worldwide and can connect with each other. The project is planned to last a total of five years until 2029 and will begin in January 2024 after a pilot year (2022/23).

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[1] The concept of “sentipensar” (feeling-thinking) was co-founded by the Colombian sociologist Orlando Fals-Borda and Arturo Escobar, among others, and was also influenced by Indigenous knowledge.