1.3 Quality of life

Quality of life occurs when you can fulfill your needs. Manfred Max Neef, a Chilean economist spent the last 30 years researching exactly what those needs are and investigating how those needs are met. He describes 9 basic human needs that apply to everyone. Here or elsewhere, past and present.

Brief explanation

	Basic needs*(basic needs) – food, drink, shelter, clean air, health
	Safety – social security, health care, work, safety in your neighborhood or home, working conditions
	Love – friendships, (family) relationships, connection with nature, affection, contact
	Development – learning, discovering, understanding, deepening
	Getting involved – participating, influencing, participating
	Relaxation – fun, celebration, peace of mind, sleep, leisure, rest, sports
	Creativity – expressing yourself, making something, building, inventing, designing
	Identity – language, religion, work, customs, values, norms
	Freedom – equal rights, autonomy

Quality of life occurs when you can fulfill all your needs

Manfred Max Neef

* All the needs listed above are equally important. Only the basic needs mentioned under necessities of life are an exception and rank above the others. The other eight are equivalent. When one of these needs cannot be met, we speak of poverty. You do not experience a good quality of life.

Needs are the same everywhere, how you fill them is different for everyone and everywhere

Every human being has the same nine needs. It doesn’t matter what your background or culture is, whether you live here or far away. 100 years ago or today. Your needs are unchanging, only the way we fulfill a need does differ.

Past or present

There or here

We all need a roof over our heads. You want to protect yourself from the elements (rain, wind and sun).

There is room to choose

Needs cannot be chosen. They are part of your humanity. Needs are always there, for everyone and everywhere. You cannot deny or neglect your needs, because that creates a form of poverty. Where there is room is in the choices you make; the way you fulfill your needs. This is the “needs satisfier. By looking for need-satisfiers (ways to fulfill needs) that respect the limits of the earth, you can make sustainable choices.

Between your need and how you fulfill it, there is space

In that space, there is an opportunity to choose. Choosing a smarter or more sustainable option. You can’t make sustainable choices until you know what is “unsustainable” or know where the earth’s limits are. Why is it important to know those limits? That’s why we will now take a closer look at our relationship with nature. Is it really that important?