Benessere

Benessere is an Italian concept that denotes a state of well-being and good living. It covers physical health, mental health, and the social and economic conditions that allow a person to live well. In everyday usage, benessere is often broader than health alone, encompassing happiness, life satisfaction, and social harmony.

The word is formed from bene (good) and essere (to be); its sense of “being well” traces back to Latin roots and has been used in Italian to denote welfare and quality of life for centuries. In modern discourse, benessere can refer to personal well-being as well as collective welfare.

Benessere is multidimensional. It includes physical health (nutrition, exercise, sleep, preventive care), mental and emotional well-being (stress management, resilience), social relationships and community belonging, and material conditions such as income, housing, and employment. Measurement often uses subjective indicators like life satisfaction and happiness, alongside objective data such as disease rates and access to services. In Italy, the concept is elaborated through the framework of Benessere Equo e Sostenibile (BES), developed by ISTAT to monitor well-being beyond traditional economic metrics.

Policy and public life increasingly relate benessere to urban planning, education, and social policy. The aim is to balance economic performance with quality of life, promoting sustainable development, social equity, and access to health and cultural resources. In this sense, benessere serves as a guiding concept for evaluating progress at individual, community, and national levels.