Estonian Human Development Report

Preface
This year, the Estonian Human Development Report focuses on exploring issues related to our quality of life. The topic
“quality of life” has become increasingly popular among the world’s social scientists and decision makers in recent years.
Our understanding of this subject in the changing world is constantly developing. Hence we have attempted to evaluate
the Estonian quality of life in the context of the European Union and the world’s leading countries.
The economic depression has once again made us consider the direction in which we are headed. It is obvious that our
country and society will not evolve without economic development. However, sustainable development requires people
who are able to make new decisions in the changing world and mobilize action in order to reach new development goals,
as well as a living environment that facilitates such activities. Several international studies devoted to quality of life indicate
that the countries that do best in this regard demonstrate an ability to evaluate and diversify risks, and furthermore,
have a high level of social dialogue and solidarity.
Hence the Estonian Cooperation Assembly wishes to combine public interest and the studies conducted by researchers
from Estonia as well as other countries. Furthermore, it desires to promote the discussion on defining the Estonian
quality of life model on the basis of the existing standards of the European Union, which create a comparative environment
for evaluating the Estonian quality of life.
Our people’s expectations regarding improvement in our standard of living are high, but such improvement can only
occur in a strong society. The quality of a society is measured using its level of trust, among other indicators. Thus, Estonia’s
rise and potential for development must be based on trust in our society and economy. In light of this, it is important
for us to understand as well as to constantly measure and evaluate the quality of our society and living environment.
Engaging in these practices will enable us to create the necessary preconditions for establishing new long-term development
goals in addition to guaranteeing a balanced development in the society and improvement in people’s quality of
life.
Peep Mühls
Chairman of the Executive Board
Estonian Cooperation Assembly
|