Dr. Teresa Belton studied Art History at the University of East Anglia 1971-1974, during which time she was a founder member of the UEA Eco-action Group. After taking a Diploma in Arts Administration at City University, London, she worked for two years as foyer manager at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, mounting exhibitions to accompany stage productions, and other cultural events.
While her three sons were young, she was involved in developing the charity Play for Life which aimed to stimulate fresh public thinking about the kinds of free-time activities which nurture the social, emotional, cultural and spiritual development of children of all ages. This led to doctoral research into the influence of television on children’s story-making. Following this, she worked both outside and inside academia: for four years as education officer for a rural regeneration partnership and for fifteen years as a researcher in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, where she is now an academic associate.
Teresa combined her long-standing personal concern for the environment, enjoyment of creativity, and interest in wellbeing and the origins of attitudes, values and behaviours with her professional social science research skills to piece together the varied facets of her book Happier People Healthier Planet: How putting wellbeing first would help sustain life on Earth
