The Thriving Places Index:
A Roadmap to a Wellbeing Economy

The Thriving Places Index is a new way to look at the strengths and challenges of the place where you live. It shows whether the conditions are in place for people to thrive – in a fair and sustainable way. Click here to see the full Thriving Places Index website. 

The Thriving Places Index is designed to provide a shared set of goals and a robust reporting framework that shows the conditions for wellbeing at a local level. It radically challenges the current paradigm that defines progress by purely economic and financial means.

Instead of focusing on just growing consumption and wealth for a few, the Thriving Places Index focuses on all the things that help people and places to do well.

To build an economy that delivers wellbeing for people and the planet, we need systemic transformation that starts where people are.The Thriving Places Index does exactly that: it starts where people are, and measures success through the lens of wellbeing. Metrics like these are vital because they open up conversations about the purpose of the economy, and what living good lives actually means in our communities.

About the framework

The Thriving Places Index helps to answer three important questions. Are we creating the right local conditions for people to thrive? Are we doing that fairly, so everyone can thrive, and sustainably, so current and future generations can thrive?

Created by Centre for Thriving Places it’s designed to give a balanced framework and an easily read ‘dashboard’ of information on the different elements that support the wellbeing of people, places and the planet. It cuts across different sectors, interests and policy areas and is structured to provide a rigorous and practical road map to better policy and action at the local level.

The data behind the index consists of a broad set of indicators from datasets produced by established national data agencies such as the Office for National Statistics, Public Health England and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. It is one of the most comprehensive guide to local wellbeing economics available worldwide.

Together, the TPI domains and sub domains paint a compelling picture of the things that we know have an influence on an individual’s subjective wellbeing. This includes, for example, good physical and mental health, a good job, access to green space, affordable and good quality housing, and educational opportunities.

The results for all 373 local authority areas of England and Wales are published annually to show whether those conditions are being delivered equitably and sustainably.

Thriving Places Index consultancy

The framework itself is being used every day by communities, organisations large and small, funders and local governments to help guide policy, decision making, learning and action at all levels.

Get in touch with CTP if you’re interested in working with us to:

  • Use or adapt the Thriving Places Index to create a bespoke Wellbeing Economy framework for YOUR place
  • Get support to create and embed a wellbeing approach across your organisation or local region including tools, guidance, training, facilitation and support
  • Research the connections between the many drivers of a thriving place – we make the wealth of evidence and research out there accessible and applicable to where you are.
  • Embedding change in your organisation – Centre for Thriving Places and our team of thematic expert associates are ready to support your organisation, department, community or place to embed new ways to measure, understand, improve and action a wellbeing economy approach.
  • Scaling and evaluating impact – TPI can be used alongside Centre for Thriving Places’ pioneering Happiness Pulse tool by organisations of any scale – from micro community projects to global companies or governments. Together they can measure not just the conditions for wellbeing, but how people are actually doing.
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