Growing a Mindful Economy
Buddha statue in Bhutan

Growing a
Mindful Economy

11–18 December 2026Thimphu and Paro, Kingdom of Bhutan

We cordially invite you to a gathering to help build the ecosystem for a for-benefit economy in Gelephu Mindfulness City. Together, we hope to advance a mindful economy centred on the wellbeing of people, the flourishing of all life and care for future generations.

RegisterExplore the experience

Bhutan and a mindful economy

Bhutan’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness invites attention to wellbeing, culture, care for the environment and good governance in the country’s development. Its experience offers a starting point for considering how economic life might serve these aspirations.

At GaME, we invite people from Bhutan and around the world to explore what this could mean for enterprise, investment and institutions. Bhutanese knowledge and experience will inform the work alongside perspectives from other contexts.

Everyday life in Bhutan

Whatmightaneconomyorganisedforthebenefitofallbeingslooklikeinpractice?

A for benefit economy

We hope to pursue a mindful economy through the development of a for-benefit economy, in which enterprise, investment and institutions prioritise maximising benefit over profit. Financial sustainability supports that purpose.

This endeavour brings together people working in business, government, philanthropy, research and community life. We invite them to consider how their roles could connect and what support enterprises and institutions might need to put this purpose into practice.

Gelephu Mindfulness City site in southern Bhutan

Gelephu Mindfulness City

Envisioned by His Majesty The King and guided by Gross National Happiness, Gelephu Mindfulness City offers a setting for this work as its institutions, enterprises and relationships take shape.

We invite Bhutanese and international participants to explore how this development can support a for-benefit economy and how their own work might contribute.

The institutional setting
Gelephu Mindfulness City and the Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority provide the context for our shared inquiry.
The economic aspiration
A mindful economy attentive to the wellbeing of people, the flourishing of all life and care for future generations.
The ecosystem endeavour
Relationships, capabilities, finance and institutional support for a for-benefit economy.

At GaME, we hope to discover where these efforts connect and what we might take forward together.

The development of GMC

Land preparation, infrastructure work and community participation offer glimpses of the city’s development. We invite reflection on the economic relationships and institutions that could grow alongside it.

  • Volunteers and schoolchildren clearing land together at the Gelephu Mindfulness City site
    Clearing the land
  • Officials in traditional dress greeting workers on cleared ground at the site
    Officials on site
  • A consecration ceremony held on the cleared ground before construction
    A consecration ceremony
  • An aerial view of earthmoving equipment at work across the cleared site
    Earthworks underway
  • Road rollers compacting the site at sunrise
    Compacting the ground
  • Officials in traditional dress standing along the lined edge of a new reservoir
    Reservoir works
  • A line of people in traditional dress pulling cleared brush together
    Clearing brush together
  • A worker clearing tall grass with a brush cutter
    Clearing the grass
  • A worker carrying a cut log on his shoulder, smiling at the camera
    Carrying timber
  • An older man carrying a bundle of cleared brushwood on his shoulder
    Carrying brushwood
  • Volunteers distributing water and supplies to seated schoolchildren at a community event
    Supplies for volunteers
  • An aerial view of volunteers planting trees along a newly built road
    Planting the roadside

Growing a Mindful Economy

11–18 December 2026 · Thimphu and Paro, Bhutan

GaME brings together people whose work can contribute to the ecosystem for a for-benefit economy in GMC. Across the week, institutional exchanges, enterprise encounters, cultural experiences and working sessions offer ways to learn, connect and consider practical collaboration.

Bhutanese and international participants are invited to bring their experience, questions and aspirations to this endeavour.

  1. A valley view near Thimphu

    Before December

    Three to four online sharing sessions, following registration and an emailed MIND invitation.

  2. Arrival and immersion in Thimphu

    11–13 December

    Arrival and immersion, optional. Welcome dinner on 11 December.

  3. The valley at Paro where the core gathering takes place

    14–15 December

    Dialogue and collaboration in Paro.

  4. Bhutan National Day celebrations

    16–18 December

    Paro encounters and National Day, optional.

Where
Begin in Thimphu and travel to Paro on 13 December. The venue for 14–15 December will be unveiled ahead of the gathering.
Costs
Your own participation costs will be itemised. Jinpa offers a separate, entirely voluntary way to help enable the gathering’s shared provision.
Plan your journey

Building the ecosystem

GaME offers time to explore how our different roles could support the development of a for-benefit economy in GMC.

  • Experience and perspectives

    Bring the work you are part of, the questions you carry and the knowledge you would like to exchange.

  • Emerging initiatives

    Explore initiatives with fellow participants and consider what relationships, capabilities or support could help them develop.

  • Relationships and collaboration

    Meet people whose work connects with yours and discuss possible collaborations and next steps.

  • Service and shared provision

    Approach the gathering through care, fair remuneration and voluntary giving towards the conditions that make our time together possible.

In the spirit of Zhabtog, we hope to approach this work as service towards a shared purpose. Through Jinpa, understood here as giving to enable, you may choose to help provide the gathering’s shared conditions. Your decision to give and the amount are yours.

Read about Jinpa

The week in experience

Institutional visits and enterprise encounters invite discussion of the conditions for a for-benefit economy. Cultural and contemplative experiences offer space to consider the values and practices that may inform it. Conversations can continue on a walk, over a meal or through time with fellow participants.

  • Participants walking together on a path in Bhutan
    Walks and reflection
  • People sharing a meal together
    Food and hospitality
  • Two people in conversation
    Conversations and connections
  • A moment of Bhutanese culture and spiritual life
    Culture and contemplative practice
  • A natural landscape in Bhutan
    Nature and wellbeing
  • People at work in a Bhutanese enterprise
    Enterprise and institutions
Explore the week
People gathered together in Bhutan

People and institutions

Bhutanese institutions, entrepreneurs and practitioners bring experience of the country’s development and aspirations for its future. Alongside them, participants from other contexts bring knowledge and relationships across enterprise, investment, philanthropy, research and public service.

We invite everyone to approach this work as fellow contributors: listening, sharing experience and exploring how their efforts might support a mindful economy in GMC.

Convened in Bhutan

Convened by Gelephu Mindfulness City Authority and Fourth Sector Group Bhutan, with WINGS as convening partner.

Event partner

WINGS Convening partner

What part of building a for-benefit economy connects with your work and aspirations?

We would be honoured to have you join GaME, share your experience and explore what we might take forward together.

Register
A closing image of Bhutan

May our shared work support an economy that benefits people, all life and future generations.

May the relationships formed through GaME help this endeavour grow in GMC, informed by Bhutan and enriched by experience from other places.