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Dr. Tho Ha Vinh is the son of a Vietnamese father and a French mother. He was born in 1951 and is married since 1971 to Lisi Ha Vinh, they have 2 children and five grandchildren, and one great-grand daughter.
He is a member of the Order of Interbeing and received the Dharmacharya (ordained lay Buddhist teacher) Lamp Transmission from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2001
He is the founder of ELI: Eurasia Learning Institute for Happiness and Wellbeing, the Chairman of Eurasia Foundation and the co-founder of Eurasia Association.
As Program Director GNH center Bhutan from 2012 to 2018, he developed learning programs both for Bhutanese and international audiences on how to implement the core principles of Gross National Happiness in family, education, schools, organizations, businesses, cities (Stuttgart Germany, Munich Germany, Vienna Austria), and provinces (Kanton Thurgau Switzerland).
As former Head of Training, Learning and Development at the International Committee of the Red Cross, he has trained humanitarian professionals working in war zones and emergency response in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. He has spent much of his time on the field, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine, Darfur to name just a few, in order to assess the needs and the appropriate responses.
He is a visiting professor in adult education and humanitarian work in several Universities UCL/Belgium, Geneva/Switzerland, Schumacher College /UK, Hue University / Vietnam.
He is a well-known international speaker on GNH, Happiness and Wellbeing and beyond GDP for education, business and communities.
Together with his beloved wife, Lisi, he is the co-founder of Eurasia Foundation, a humanitarian NGO developing educational programs for children and youths living with disabilities, as well as ecological projects in Vietnam for over 20 years.
Eurasia created the Peaceful Bamboo Family in Hue in 2009, a community for people with special needs, member of the Camphill Movement, and a living example of implementing Gross national Happiness at community level, thanks to its holistic development in community building, biodynamic farming, special education, green technology etc.
He has created two University programs on Gross National Happiness in Osnabrück and Geneva
He holds a PhD in Psychology and Education from Geneva University
He is a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute/USA, and a member of the Presencing Institute/USA.
He wrote the Happy Schools Curriculum, an innovative educational program introducing Mindfulness, Social and Emotional Learning and Care for the Planet in the Vietnamese education system. This program has been successfully implemented in Vietnam and is now being piloted in Switzerland.
He consults with companies wanting to implement Gross National Happiness principles in their organization, including B. Grimm /Thailand, Happy Mandala / China BITIS / Vietnam, Mainetti/ Vietnam, SIG/Switzerland.
He is the author of several books:
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