We live in the Anthropocene era, where human action has an unforeseen impact on global ecosystems. This is visible, for instance, in climate change, in the loss of biodiversity and in the acidification of the oceans. Little attention is given to the fact that the Anthropocene is related to anthropocentric thinking that also guides our policies. Therefore, we argue that ecologically and socially sustainable policies will not be achieved by incidental policy measures alone, but a change of paradigm is needed. In our article, we lay out the tenets of a relational paradigm resting on holistic thinking and deep ecology. On the basis of this paradigm, the principles, conceptions and goals specific to any given policy can be formulated, giving them a common ground. In this article, we apply the relational paradigm to social policy in order to contribute to the quest for sustainable wellbeing in the overconsuming welfare states. Here, we formulate a multidimensional and relational conception of wellbeing, the HDLB-model (Having-Doing-Loving-Being), which is a modification of sociologist Erik Allardt’s theory. We illustrate how this model could provide the foundation of a sustainable ecosocial policy.

The current ecological crisis attests that the price of the human pursuit of well-being has been too high and that the conception of well-being behind this pursuit has been flawed. Building on research on sustainable well-being, well-being research in sociology, social policy, psychology, and philosophy; need theories, degrowth research, and ecopsychology, this article investigates what kind of narrative and conception of well-being could contribute to the transformation toward sustainability. The article first delves into the current popularity of the discourse on well-being, discussing both its pitfalls and promises, and explaining why well-being is a significant concept for the sustainability transformation, when appropriately defined and free of an economic bias. A relational, and therefore sustainable, approach to well-being, namely the Having-Loving-Doing-Being framework (shortened HDLB), is then presented and elaborated. Going deeper into the topic of relationality, the article then examines the tug-of-war between the notions of objective vs. subjective and hedonic vs. eudaimonic well-being, and clarifies the HDLB framework’s position on these issues, elucidating why a radically relational and nature-inclusive – and in the last resort, non-dualist – approach, offers an exit from the polarity of these dichotomies.

Meeting human needs while respecting ecological limits is one of the daunting tasks of the sustainability transformation. To succeed in it, it is vital to discuss, to reconstruct, and to deconstruct the dominant discourse on well-being. How young people understand well-being is a particularly important issue since they are the prospective harbingers of change. However, the public discourse on youth is often problem-oriented, especially regarding youth not in employment or education. In this article, the gaze is directed at one such group. Group-interview data of young unemployed Finnish adults are analyzed to explore how they conceptualize well-being and how this understanding relates to the sustainability transformation. We interpret the data with the help of a need-based theory of sustainable, multidimensional, and relational well-being (the Having-Doing-Loving-Being framework). The study demonstrates that the young adults’ discourse is compatible with the framework, and differs distinctly from the prevailing policy discourse on well-being by giving far less weight to monetary aspects, and by its emphasis on meaningfulness, ethical activities, and connectedness with nature. The article concludes with implications for the sustainability transformation regarding consumption, employment policies, social and health services, biodiversity and conservation, positive sustainability, and the theory of sustainable well-being.

The contemporary planetary multi-crisis can arguably be attributed to the failure of humans’ relationship with nature. Reconnecting humans with nature is therefore a crucial lever for the sustainability transformation and to achieve the long-term well-being of both humans and nature. While nature connectedness (NC) has been studied quantitatively using various measures and scales, there is a need to complement this work with qualitative research that broadens and deepens the understanding of this phenomenon. This article is a qualitative inquiry into NC among 29 unemployed young adults (aged 20–29) in Finland. The data were collected in group interviews and it is noteworthy that the respondents lived in cities, since urbanites are often represented as disconnected from nature. The participants’ discourse on nature is analyzed with the help of a typology of NC constructed on the basis on three NC typologies found in recent research. NC’s linkage to a relational, multi-dimensional, and need-based conceptualization of well-being is also discussed, as is whether NC should be conceived of as a separate need category. All six dimensions of the typology of NC used in the analysis (material, cognitive, experiential, sensual/emotional, philosophical/spiritual, and compassion, care and commitment) could be detected in the respondents’ accounts. The article closes with a discussion of the implications of such manifestations of NC for promoting sustainability.