History – CBS

Building a Strong Civil Service

A brief history of Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies...

The Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies (CBS) was founded by the Royal Government of Bhutan. It was established in 1998 with the guidance and support of Bhutan’s fourth king, His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who is also the visionary behind the Gross National Happiness (GNH) philosophy. His Majesty’s vision for Bhutan’s development, centered on happiness and well-being rather than purely economic growth, laid the foundation for the creation of CBS as an institution to research, promote, and operationalize this unique development model.

2019

Renaming and Expanded Mandate: In 2019, the Centre for Bhutan Studies was renamed the Centre for Bhutan and GNH Studies to better reflect its expanded focus. This change signaled a broader mandate to not only conduct research on Bhutanese culture, history, and society but also to engage in more global conversations on sustainable development, happiness, and well-being.

2000 - 2005

Gross National Happiness (GNH): They were approached in the early 2000’s to create the GNH index and indicators and released the first assessment of happiness in Bhutan in 2005, becoming a global leader in considering happiness at the national level.

1998-1999

Establishment: CBS was founded in 1998, initially known as the Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS). It was created to serve as a think tank for the Bhutanese government and to conduct research that aligns with Bhutan’s vision for development, particularly focusing on the philosophy of GNH. Since 1999 the centre has regularly published an English language academic journal Journal of Bhutan Studies. PDF copies of articles published in this journal are freely available online.^[1] Articles cover not only the history of Bhutan but also issues to do with Gross National Happiness.

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