Reserch Report BC Journl of Ecosystems nd Mngement Identifying indictors of community sustinbility in the Robson Vlley, British Columbi John R. Prkins 1, Jeji Vrghese 2, nd Richrd C. Stedmn 3 Abstrct This pper outlines method of developing indictors of well-being in smll, forest-bsed communities. It lso describes some specific mesures of well-being in prticulr forest-bsed community in the Robson Vlley Forest District, British Columbi. In this project, we ttempted to strike blnce between relying on loclly obtined informtion collected through workshops, interviews, nd mil survey nd informtion obtined from the socil science literture. We took brod-bsed pproch towrd indictor development by identifying gols nd indictors pertining to the entire region. Our pper explores this theoreticl orienttion in some detil nd then provides n ccount of the dilogicl methods used to identify community-bsed indictors. Of the six community gols we identified, we discuss mintining community cpcity t length by exmining the empiricl dt from five indictors nd then drwing some conclusions bout the sttus of community cpcity in the Robson Vlley. KEYWORDS: community sustinbility, criteri nd indictors, community gols, community cpcity, British Columbi. Contct Informtion 1 Socil Science Reserch Group, Northern Forestry Centre, Cndin Forest Service, 5320 122 Street, Edmonton, Albert, T6H 3S5. E-mil: jprkins@nrcn.gc.c 2 Socil Science Reserch Group, Northern Forestry Centre, Cndin Forest Service, 5320 122 Street, Edmonton, Albert, T6H 3S5. E-mil: jeji.vrghese@ulbert.c 3 The Pennsylvni Stte University, Deprtment of Agriculturl Economics nd Rurl Sociology, College of Agriculturl Sciences, Pennsylvni Stte University, 111-B Armsby Building, University Prk, Pennsylvni, 16802. E-mil: rstedmn@psu.edu in FORREX Forest the Robson Vlley, Reserch British Extension Columbi Prtnership1
Introduction For nturl resource mngers, the lst decde could be described s the indictor yers. Forest certifiction, provincil nd ntionl criteri nd indictors for mnging sustinble forests, the Cndin Model Forest Progrm, nd mny non-forestsector indictor inititives re flooding into the mngement nd policy-mking ren. These inititives help nturl resource mngers report on their progress towrds chieving sustinble forests, nd in some cses they fcilitte the implementtion of more innovtive pproches to mnging sustinble forests. Either implicitly or explicitly, ech inititive opertes from theoreticl frmework tht ssists in the development nd orgniztion of indictors. Some inititives re mnged in top-down fshion by non-locl experts who give limited considertion to locl vlues nd context. Other inititives re very much bottom-up, with strong considertion for locl knowledge nd expertise, but limited concern for stndrdized mesures nd comprbility with other jurisdictions. Some inititives re focused on the forest industry s perspective of which forests re the primry focus wheres other inititives ttend to lrger issues relted to sustinble communities nd livelihoods. This pper outlines method of developing indictors of well-being in smll, forest-bsed communities. It lso describes some specific mesures of well-being in prticulr forest-bsed community in the Robson Vlley Forest District 1, British Columbi. The study ws conducted with support from the Robson Vlley Enhnced Forest Mngement Pilot Project(EFMPP 2 ), from spring 2000 to spring 2002. In this project, we ttempted to strike blnce between relying on loclly obtined informtion nd informtion obtined from the socil science literture. Also, we took brod-bsed pproch towrd indictor development by identifying gols nd indictors pertining to the entire region. In this pper we explore this theoreticl orienttion in some detil nd then provide n ccount of the interctive methods used to identify community-bsed indictors. Of the six community gols we identified, we discuss one mintining community cpcity t length by exmining the empiricl dt from five indictors nd then drwing some conclusions bout the sttus of community cpcity in the Robson Vlley. Theoreticl Orienttion For the purpose of this study, n indictor of community sustinbility ws defined s socil, economic, nd/or environmentl fctor tht is deemed crucil for mesuring the community s progress towrd chieving future desired stte. Two importnt ides re implied by this definition. First, this study ttempted to incorporte fctors from within both the biophysicl nd socil domins of ecosystem mngement. In this sense, the term socil refers to the socil construction of these indictors nd not to restricted socil domin of sustinbility. Although forest mngement literture often incorportes community concerns in terms of socil indictors, this study develops locl-level indictors tht trnscend economic, environmentl, nd socil considertions. We ttempted to strike blnce between relying on loclly obtined informtion nd informtion obtined from the socil science literture. Second, the definition implies tht specil ttention is given to chieving future desired sttes. Unlike some development inititives tht dvocte for one type of development over nother (e.g., menity-bsed ctivities over intensive resource-extrction ctivities), we ttempted to incorporte community-bsed gols nd spirtions into the indictor selection process. Much like community residents, locl gols nd spirtions re lwys diverse nd often conflicting. However, the diversity is beneficil for severl resons. It llows for brod cross section of residents to find connection between t lest some of the indictors nd gols nd the concerns of their own 1 Following the 2002 B.C. Ministry of Forests reorgniztion, the Robson Vlley Forest District (previously prt of the Prince George Forest Region) ws combined with the Clerwter Forest District to become the Hedwters Forest District of the new Southern Interior Forest Region. 2 The EFMPP is co-opertive effort between government, the forest industry, nd the cdemic community. Its gol is to estblish new, or to enhnce existing, forest mngement processes or tools by utilizing the expertise nd experience of other EFMPP sites, model forests, cdemi, nd reserchers. For further bckground, refer to http://www.for.gov.bc.c/hcp/enhnced/robson/efmpp/index.htm. 2
community. It lso provides n opportunity to ssess competing community gols more objectively nd to find strtegies through policy chnge or informl coopertion to del with resulting conflicts. This study ws guided by two considertions. First, in evluting qulity of life, both personl life domins nd societl conditions my be considered (Shen nd Li 1998). This considertion ws informed by the qulityof-life literture nd ws key to orgnizing the locl-level orienttion of this study. Personl life domins include vribles such s fmily life, reltions with friends nd reltives, nd leisure life, wheres societl conditions refer to housing, employment, recretion, etc. In this sense, the generl objectives defined by qulity-of-life reserch frmework focus on the good life or, in other words, on the community s commonly held beliefs nd norms. These beliefs nd norms re bsed on how residents might describe the importnt qulities of their community, nd wht contributes to their well-being. Community workshops nd interviews long with secondry dt from sources such s economic development strtegies, ssisted us in identifying fctors tht contribute to qulity of life in the Robson Vlley. The second considertion is sense of concern for sustinbility tht goes well beyond the mesurement of wht contributes to the good life. It resontes with the scientific literture on sustinble communities. This sustinbility pproch guided the non-locl orienttion of this study, which incorported ides nd lessons lerned from other reserch nd other indictor inititives. Towrd this end, sustinbility evlution frmework developed by Hrt (1999) provides us with model of community sustinbility tht integrtes economic, socil, nd environmentl vribles. Her sustinble community evlution frmework tkes into considertion the linkges between these three vribles, s well s inter- nd intr-genertionl equity. Hrt provides checklist of 14 questions for evluting the relevnce of given indictor to some bsic sustinbility concerns (such s crrying cpcity). According to Hrt (1999:29), crrying cpcity hs to do with the rte t which resources re used up compred to the rte t which they re renewed or restored. Along these lines, severl questions cn be sked bout ll indictors. For instnce, does the indictor ddress the crrying cpcity of locl nd externl nturl resources? Does the indictor provide long-term view of the community? Does the indictor mesure link between the economy nd the environment? Determining relevnt indictors i.e., ones tht ddress community gols s well s sustinbility concerns is no smll tsk. However, the benefits of this pproch not only force considertion of these questions, they lso compel reserchers nd community leders to focus ttention on res where indictors re lcking. In ttempting to mesure community cpcity, our study delt with severl specific theoreticl concepts. The first concept is commonly known s humn cpitl, which is the productive investment of resources in humn beings rther thn in plnts nd mchinery (Jry nd Jry 1991:217). At the level of the individul, humn cpitl refers to person s collective skills nd cpbilities. It encompsses elements of humn productivity s diverse s cretivity, entrepreneuril bility, eduction, nd specilized skills. Forml trining cn be esily mesured s one dimension of humn cpitl. Informl skills nd bilities such s ledership nd entrepreneurship, however, re more difficult to mesure. The second concept, commonly known s socil cpitl, refers to the connections between individuls or to the network of socil reltions tht builds trust within the community nd fosters the community s socil nd economic productivity. This reciprocity ssists community members in deling with socil problems tht rise from complex socil situtions. Putnm (2000), for exmple, suggests tht improvements in socil cpitl cn stimulte economic ctivity by reducing the costs of doing business. For instnce, where thick webs of connection exist between individuls, nd where those connections re mrked by high levels of trust, the opportunity to develop new business reltionships is enhnced nd the costs of ccommodting distrust (e.g., legl fees) re minimized. Finlly, sense of plce ws introduced s component of community cpcity. Sense of plce is defined s the menings nd ttchments held by n individul or group for sptil setting (Stedmn 1999, 2001). In this study, we mesured sense of plce in two wys. Stisfction scores mesured one s ttitude towrds the condition of the setting; for instnce, residents were sked bout their stisfction with the physicl lndscpe nd with community services. Attchment scores mesured the importnce of the setting to one s sense of self; for instnce, residents were sked if they felt like they were prt of the community. Incresingly, these socil dimensions re thought to be importnt components of community sustinbility. 3
FIGURE 1. Robson Vlley Forest District. Description of the Study Are The Robson Vlley Forest District (Figure 1) covers pproximtely 1.4 million h in est-centrl British Columbi. The district comprises two villges (Vlemount nd McBride) nd numerous dispersed rurl communities (including Dunster, Crescent Spur-Loos, Tete June Cche, Albred, nd Dome Creek). The popultion of the Robson Vlley is pproximtely 4000. Roughly hlf live in Vlemount nd McBride nd the other hlf re dispersed in rurl res. The min trnsporttion routes through the vlley re Yellowhed Highwy 16 (which connects Prince George with Jsper Ntionl Prk), Highwy 5 (which connects Tete June with Kmloops), nd the CN Rilwy. Vlemount, with popultion of bout 1300 nd locted ner the junction of the two highwys, is the region s lrgest popultion center. McBride, with popultion of bout 740, is locted 80 km northwest of Vlemount on Highwy 16. Both villges re hevily dependent on the forest industry nd mjor wood processing mills re locted in both communities. As gtewy villges to severl mountin prks, however, both communities benefit from n ctive tourism industry tht includes hiking, snowmobiling, heliskiing, whitewter rfting, nd fishing. 4
Documents gthered from municipl offices suggest tht controlled growth with focus on keeping smlltown tmosphere is theme common to both villges. Vision sttements for McBride nd Vlemount include the need to build diverse economies, nd other considertions for enhncing qulity of life. According to these documents, which were developed through community surveys nd workshops, McBride nd the surrounding re envision the future to include: resonble growth rtes, nd more diverse economy with more smll businesses. The community would mintin the integrity of the re, people s vlues, nd the qulity of the environment. The ge distribution would be vried in ges, mintining the youth nd middle ge popultions. As well, there would be broder locl eduction opportunities. (McBride nd Are Economic Development Committee 1996:21) Vlemount nd re envisions trnsformtion from one-industry community to mixed-economy villge with specilized forestry bse nd growing tourism nd service sector (Vlemount nd Are Economic Development Commission 2000b:39). From historicl perspective, the Robson Vlley hs witnessed rpid socil nd economic chnge. Compred to the settlement yers of the erly 1900s, when the vlley ws ccessible only by ril nd numerous smll lumber opertions dotted the lndscpe, highwy trvel nd resource sector consolidtions (nd, more recently, contrctions) hve since stimulted significnt trnsformtion within the communities. Unique religious nd culturl trditions nd wys of life hve survived much of this trnsformtion nd hve dded to the rich texture of vlley life. As expressed by workshop prticipnts during this study, these culturl trditions re importnt contributors to qulity of life. pproches tht define or prescribe specific trjectory for sustinble development (such s tourism-bsed development, or lrge-scle industril expnsion), the brod reserch pproch used for this study is nonprescriptive. In other words, our reserch efforts re oriented round community gols nd spirtions, nd round suite of relted indictors nd mesures. We used severl methods including workshops, interviews, community surveys, nd sustinbility evlution frmework. These methods helped elucidte importnt reltionships between locl-level informtion nd socil science informtion while generting suite of locl-level indictors. Our study methods re described below nd Figure 2 provides schemtic of our reserch frmework. Generlly, workshops nd interviews were conducted first, followed by the community survey, nd ending with comprehensive ssessment of the indictor suites. Workshops Workshops provided residents with the opportunity to develop list of qulity-of-life priorities for their community. Workshop outcomes formed the bsis for determining generl community gols tht could be checked ginst secondry sources (e.g., economic development strtegies). Workshop prticipnts were identified from list supplied by n individul well cquinted with mny Robson Vlley residents, nd involved in mny community-level economic development nd forestry inititives. The list of potentil prticipnts ws broken down into the following ctegories: loggers, tourism opertors, environmentlists, working fmilies, service industry, economic development, retirees, nd eductors. We contcted 22 people in McBride; of the 13 people who greed to prticipte in the workshop in McBride, ll 13 ttended. Methods nd Results One of the overrching themes in the literture on socil indictors nd community sustinbility is the need to identify nd vlidte indictors tht represent the needs, gols, nd spirtions of specific communities. Unlike the generic nd ll-too-fmilir indictors of economic life (e.g., verge income nd unemployment rtes), locl-level indictors must be, first nd foremost, sensitive to the specific community in question, nd they must cover more specific set of community dimensions. Therefore, the indictors developed for one community re not esily trnsferble or comprble to other locles. Furthermore, unlike some reserch Community Input Primry Dt Secondry Dt Community Gols Locl-Level Indictors of Community Sustinbility FIGURE 2. Reserch frmework. Socil Science Input Indictor Identifiction Mesures Identifiction Effectiveness Criteri Sustinbility Criteri 5
We contcted 19 people in Vlemount; of the 12 people who greed to prticipte, 5 people ttended. In order to supplement the low ttendnce in Vlemount, personl interviews were conducted with eight residents. These workshops nd interviews were conducted in the summer of 2000. The workshop formt included brief introduction to the Enhnced Forest Mngement Pilot Project nd the socil indictors project reltive to inititives for mesuring sustinble forests [such s the Cndin Council of Forest Minister s criteri nd indictors frmework (CCFM 1995)]. The reminder of the twohour workshop ws dedicted to brinstorming session on community issues, gols, indictors, nd fctors ssocited with community well-being. During this prt of the workshop, themes were recorded on flip chrts, discussed, nd confirmed by workshop prticipnts. For both workshops, 13 specific themes were identified, summrized in written form, nd miled to the workshop prticipnts for comment. The themes formed the bsis of community survey tht ws dministered by mil to rndom smple of vlley residents in the following months. Community Survey Bsed on the themes developed through the workshops nd interviews, brod rnge of sttements ssocited with community gols nd priorities ws prepred for use in survey of the overll community (see Tble 3). Rther thn customizing the survey for ech community, we employed single list of sttements becuse themes in both workshops were observed to be quite similr, nd becuse stndrdizing survey sttements opened the possibility tht the survey results would revel differences between communities. The survey lso included questions pertining to community indictors tht socil scientists consider to be importnt spects of community sustinbility e.g., questions relted to sense of plce were dded to the questionnire thus further linking our locl versus non-locl pproch. Also, severl of the survey questions were modified from the questionnire dministered by the New Rurl Economy Project (NRE 2002), which is ntionl inititive to exmine the sustinbility of rurl communities. Specificlly, questions bout community ledership style, the qulity of community services, household dependency, membership in voluntry orgniztions, nd entrepreneurship were tken from the New Rurl Economy Project. Survey Response Rtes nd Demogrphic Profile The survey smple ws drwn from the 4000 residents of the Robson Vlley. Respondents were rndomly selected by third-prty mrketing firm nd recruited by telephone to prticipte in the mil survey. With 357 respondents, the confidence intervl for this survey is pproximtely 3.5% (Dillmn 2000). Tble 1 outlines the response rtes for the villge nd vlley residents. The smple drws from just over 20% of the totl combined popultions of McBride nd Vlemount, but from only 3.8% of the rurl vlley popultion. To reflect more ccurtely the proportion of totl popultion in ech jurisdiction, responses were weighted using smpling fctor of 0.59 for McBride, 0.60 for Vlemount, nd 3.2 for the rurl res of the vlley. Compring Sttistics Cnd s community profile dt (Sttistics Cnd 1998) with the respondent profiles llowed us to ssess the representtiveness of our smpling reltive to the lrger community. The respondents represented the community well in terms of verge ge (dominted by those between 40 nd 60 yers old) nd gender (eqully split between mles nd femles). The verge ge of the respondents ws higher in the rurl vlley. The smple did not, however, represent the unemployed (the unemployment rte TABLE 1. Survey implementtion: overview Are Respondents (no.) Smple size (no. people) Response rte (%) McBride 111 132 84.1 Vlemount 190 245 77.5 Rurl vlley 56 63 88.9 Totl 357 440 81.0 Including Dunster, Crescent Spur-Loos, Tete-June Cche, nd Albred. 6
rnged from 10 to 22% in the census dt, but <3% in the survey smple). As result, findings from this survey my underestimte the priorities of unemployed vlley residents. From Gols to Indictors nd Mesures In this section, we describe the process of moving from primry dt collected in workshops nd surveys, to the identifiction of specific indictors nd mesures of community sustinbility. The reserch tem needed to consider ides from community-bsed dt sources (both primry nd secondry) s well ides from the socil science literture. This process is prticulrly chllenging becuse it ttempts to combine reserch frmework with sustinbility evlution frmework. The finl outcome is, idelly, set of indictors tht re ttentive to community interests nd gols, but lso relevnt nd pproprite for incorporting into the protocols for monitoring the mngement of sustinble forests in the Robson Vlley. Identifiction of Gols The community gols in Tble 2 indicte which issues re priorities for Robson Vlley residents. These priorities represent ctegories requiring the ttention of forml nd informl community leders, nd they collectively form bsis for ssessing community wellbeing. Although not formlly endorsed by the municipl ledership, these gol sttements reflect priorities identified within primry nd secondry dt sources. Identifiction of Indictors Most of the indictor selection occurred s result of nlyzing the outcomes of the workshops, interviews, nd survey. A few indictors (such s sense of plce, progressive industry bse, entrepreneurship, socil cpitl) were dded bsed on the socil science literture. As such, identifiction of indictors involved locl input nd non-locl (or socil science) input. Both of these pproches re described in more detil below. Locl input: secondry dt, workshops, interviews, nd surveys. Identifying nd prioritizing indictors involved creful nlysis of secondry dt tht were vilble through locl economic development strtegies nd community surveys, nd obtined through interviews, workshops, nd qulity-of-life survey conducted within the community. Secondry dt reveled, for exmple, tht people lived within the rurl vlley becuse of nture, smll-town tmosphere, nd jobs (McBride nd Are Economic Development Committee 1996). In McBride nd re, the economic growth priorities included recretion nd tourism, followed by smll business nd the service industry. Forestry, tourism, eduction, nd griculture were identified s key development opportunities. Vlemount documents suggested commitment to mixed economy bsed on forestry, tourism, nd services (Vlemount nd Are Economic Development Commission 2000); key res of concern included wter nd ir qulity, helth cre, eduction, nd visul qulity (Vlemount nd Are Economic Development Commission 2000b). Tble 3 summrizes the responses to set of 20 specific sttements for the Robson Vlley within the qulity-of-life survey. Survey respondents were lso sked to choose the most importnt nd second-most importnt indictors of qulity of life within their community. The most importnt ws ssigned double the weight of the second most importnt nd smpling fctor ws used to determine weighted percentge for the Robson Vlley s whole. The survey sttements re listed in rnked order. Although some themes were TABLE 2. Community gols McBride nd Vlemount Mintin nturl menities (ecologicl integrity, esthetics) Mintin community cpcity Mintin ctive community living Mintin modern services Increse community economic diversity Rurl vlley Mintin nturl menities (ecologicl integrity, esthetics, preservtion) Mintin community cpcity Mintin modern services Increse community economic diversity Individul economic well-being Individul economic well-being 7
TABLE 3. Survey results supporting identifiction of community-level indictors Survey sttement McBride Vlemount Rurl Rnked weighted b (%) Domin p-vlue Number of respondents 111 190 59 Modern services such s hospitls nd eductionl fcilities Trditionl jobs in the forest products sector 6.59 (0.82) 6.37 (0.94) 5.65 (1.58) 18.0 Economic <0.05 6.03 (1.21) 5.92 (1.33) 4.96 (1.84) 10.7 Economic <0.05 Mintining nturl ecologicl processes 5.05 (1.67) 5.16 (1.53) 5.59 (1.78) 7.8 Environmentl NS Mintining the griculturl economy 6.03 (1.16) 5.35 (1.26) 6.09 (1.06) 6.6 Economic <0.05 Other pproches to forestry, such s community forests, woodlots, nd vlue-dded ctivities 6.04 (1.15) 5.67 (1.34) 5.91 (1.30) 6.5 Economic NS Low unemployment 6.42 (0.85) 6.23 (1.11) 6.03 (1.16) 6.5 Economic NS A fmily-oriented community 6.27 (0.95) 6.24 (1.04) 6.16 (1.17) 6.3 Socil <0.05 Mintining self-sufficient lifestyle such s hunting, fishing, nd grdening 5.60 (1.54) 5.45 (1.53) 5.64 (1.45) 5.9 Economic NS Solitude 4.66 (1.60) 4.76 (1.57) 5.67 (1.25) 5.4 Environmentl <0.05 Community control of locl decision mking 6.15 (1.03) 5.84 (1.33) 5.94 (1.08) 4.4 Socil NS Low cost of living 6.07 (1.03) 5.86 (1.24) 5.96 (1.05) 4.3 Economic NS Developing your community s tourism destintion A nturl forest lndscpe undisturbed by humns 5.53 (1.36) 5.28 (1.65) 4.71 (1.76) 4.2 Economic <0.05 3.84 (1.82) 4.36 (1.86) 5.09 (1.84) 3.3 Environmentl <0.05 Lrge res of wild, rodless lnd 3.91 (1.99) 4.34 (1.82) 5.23 (1.94) 2.1 Environmentl <0.05 High-qulity recretionl opportunities 5.32 (1.48) 5.11 (1.68) 3.83 (1.91) 1.4 Socil <0.05 A working community culture (insted of tourism destintion) Incresing the number of people who live in your community 6.06 (1.06) 5.65 (1.32) 5.53 (1.37) 1.3 Socil <0.05 5.49 (1.31) 5.32 (1.17) 4.85 (1.66) 1.2 Economic <0.05 Locl clubs, orgniztions, nd events 5.58 (1.35) 5.62 (1.29) 4.86 (1.77) 0.7 Socil <0.05 A thriving rts nd culturl life 4.78 (1.43) 4.54 (1.60) 4.51 (1.82) 0.4 Socil NS Culturlly diverse community members 4.47 (1.57) 4.31 (1.53) 4.73 (1.69) 0.0 Socil NS Seven-point scle. 1 = not t ll importnt. 7 = extremely importnt. Stndrd devition in brckets. b Clculted bsed on smpling fctor of 0.59 for McBride, 0.60 for Vlemount, nd 3.2 for rurl vlley. Note: <0.05 = significnt difference between men scores. NS = Not significntly different between men scores (suggesting potentil commonlities between communities). 8
common to the entire re, others were unique to specific demogrphic ctegories. In generl, McBride residents reveled strong commitment to services, trditionl forestry jobs, fmily-oriented community, nd low unemployment, but they plced lower priority on nturl menities thn the Vlemount or rurl vlley residents. Vlemount residents showed similr orienttion, with strong commitment to services, trditionl forestry jobs, low unemployment, tourism employment, nd fmilyoriented community. The survey reveled tht rurl residents hve strong commitment to services, nturl ecologicl processes, n griculturl economy, forestry jobs, self-sufficiency, nd fmily tmosphere. As result of these shred gols, suite of indictors common to villge nd rurl communities (common indictor suite) ws developed. The rurl vlley shres lrge number of indictors with Vlemount nd McBride; however, differences in priority res resulted in few unique indictors within ech suite. The level of overlp of the indictor suites reflects common priorities mong Robson Vlley residents. Ech indictor ws clssified into one of three domins environmentl, socil, or economic to fcilitte the comprison of groups of similr items. The lph score (Tble 4) indictes the degree to which the domins represent relible groupings. The relibility of the environmentl nd economic domins ws significntly different between groups, wheres the relibility of the socil domins ws not significntly different between groups. Overll, the environmentl domin ws of more importnce to the rurl Robson Vlley residents thn to either McBride or Vlemount residents, nd the economic domin ws of more importnce to McBride nd Vlemount residents thn to the rurl vlley residents. The differences were lso reflected in the composition of the suite of indictors, with the rurl vlley suite contining more environmentl indictors nd the McBride/Vlemount suite contining more economic indictors. Non-locl input. Socil scientists ply n importnt role in bridging the lerning gp for communities by summrizing nd communicting experiences from other studies of qulity-of-life indictors. Informtion glened from other processes is incorported into this project through the inclusion of survey questions relted to key spects of community life (e.g., ttchment, stisfction, nd volunteerism). Indictors such s forest compny mills moving towrds certifiction were dded, bsed on nticipted community gols such s the desire to estblish progressive industry bse. Identifiction of Mesures The identifiction of pproprite mesures ws driven by the reserch tem, mostly in order to pinpoint specific dt tht could spek to community gols nd hve relevnce to sustinbility concerns. Bsed on the indictors, mesures were identified tht could mke use of vilble dt nd meet some specific criteri. Wheres indictor identifiction employed combintion of locl nd non-locl input, the identifiction of mesures ws primrily non-locl process. For ech indictor, we ttempted to identify t lest one mesure from primry or secondry dt source. To mesure economic diversity we used three mesures: n index derived from census dt, number of visitor-oriented business licences, nd number of jobs in the forest sector. For other indictors, like fmily-oriented community, we used census dt only. The finl suite of indictors ws determined bsed on n evlution of ech mesure s effectiveness nd relevnce to community sustinbility. Tble 5 provides summry of the indictors nd mesures developed for McBride nd Vlemount nd Tble 6 provides summry of indictors nd mesures developed for the rurl vlley. TABLE 4. Relibility of indictor ctegories Domin Items (no.) Alph score (men score) McBride (men score) Vlemount (men score) Rurl vlley (men score) Environmentl 4 0.80 4.30 4.64 5.44 Socil 7 0.66 5.54 5.37 5.25 Economic 9 0.62 5.96 5.68 5.39 Significnt difference between men scores (p<0.05). 9
TABLE 5. Socil indictor suite for McBride nd Vlemount: summry Gols Indictors Mesures Sustin nturl menities Nturl resources Length of mintined hiking nd multi-use trils within the Robson Vlley Aesthetic qulity Stisfction with visul qulity of locl lndscpe Mintin ctive community living Locl recretion ctivities b Rte of prticiption nd types of vlley outdoor ctivities Mintin community cpcity Sense of plce Degree to which people re ttched to their community Degree to which people re stisfied with their community Fmily-oriented community Socil cpitl Humn cpitl Number of children <15-yr old Socil involvement Librry circultion rtes Adult nd student eductionl enrolment Community control in decision mking Degree to which people perceive forml nd informl ledership to be diversified nd representtive of the popultion Mintin modern services Service infrstructure Helthcre expenditures s percentge of totl income Accessibility of services Librry circultion rtes Increse community economic diversity Diverse economic bse Economic diversity index Number of visitor-oriented business licenses Number of jobs in forest sector Low economic lekge Progressive industry bse Alterntive forestry Entrepreneurship Proportion of spending in locl businesses Number of forest compnies (mills) working in the vlley moving towrds/mintining certifiction Proportion of nnul cut (volume) from smll opertors (woodlots nd community forests) nd smll-scle slvgers Number of new business licenses Enhnce individul economic well-being Unemployment c Youth/young dult unemployment rte Unique to McBride nd Vlemount. b Indictor lso ddresses gol of sustining nturl menities. c Indictor lso ddresses gol of incresing community economic diversity. 10
TABLE 6. Socil indictor suite for rurl vlley: summry. Gols Indictors Mesures Sustin nturl menities Ecosystem services Songbird bundnce Number of red- nd blue-listed species Aesthetic qulity Stisfction with visul qulity of locl lndscpe Mintin community cpcity Sense of plce Degree to which people re ttched to their community Degree to which people re stisfied with their community Fmily-oriented community Socil cpitl Humn cpitl Community control in decision mking Number of children <15-yr old Socil involvement Adult nd student eductionl enrolment Degree to which people perceive forml nd informl ledership to be diversified nd representtive of the popultion Mintin modern services Accessibility of services Stisfction with ccess to services Increse community economic diversity Diverse economic bse Number of jobs in forest sector Number of jobs in griculture Alterntive forestry Proportion of nnul cut (volume) from smll opertors (woodlots nd community forests) nd smll-scle slvgers Enhnce individul economic well-being Unemployment b Youth/young dult unemployment rte Unique to the rurl vlley. b Indictor lso ddresses gol of incresing community economic diversity. Evlution Frmework There re two dimensions to the evlution frmework. First, effectiveness criteri were compiled from number of sources including Besleme et l. (1999) nd Sirgy et l. (2000). Effectiveness involves n ssessment of understndbility, relevnce, ccessibility of dt, relibility of dt, cost of obtining dt, temporl comprbility of dt, sensitivity of dt to locl policy chnge, type of mesure (cuse, stte, or effect), nd mesurement of condition or perception. Second, relevnce of the mesure to community sustinbility ws ssessed using Hrt s sustinbility frmework with 14 criteri (Hrt 1999). At the core of this evlution is cpcity ssessment, which is bsed on the following criteri: 1. Crrying cpcity of nturl resources monitors the use of nturl resources. 2. Addressing the crrying cpcity of ecosystem services refers to whether the stte of ecologicl services (e.g., ir nd wter) is ddressed by the indictor. 3. If the beuty nd life-ffirming qulities of nture re considered, then point is given for ddressing the crrying cpcity of esthetic qulities. 4. A point is given for socil cpitl if the mesure monitors the bility of community to work together. 5. Humn cpitl mesures the skills, bilities, helth, nd eduction of community members. 6. Addressing the crrying cpcity for community s built/finncil cpitl emphsizes the need to consider community s bility to mintin nd enhnce existing resources. 11
7. Not t the expense of globl sustinbility tkes into ccount the linkges between communities nd reffirms the need to consider sustinbility in globl context. Tble 7 shows how two specific mesures were evluted. It is importnt to note tht ll rtings were determined subjectively by the reserch tem. Therefore, these ctegories re best thought of s thinking tools rther thn firm rules. The min point to this exercise ws to encourge the reserch tem to consider indictors nd mesures tht ddress the multi-fceted nture of community sustinbility. Comprehensive Assessment of Indictor Suite In ddition to ssessing ech mesure, it ws importnt to consider the strengths nd limittions of the entire suite of indictors, with respect to community sustinbility. Tble 8 shows this comprison. The lower scores indicte where the developers of future indictor mesures might focus their efforts. For exmple, indictors for two res intr/inter-genertionl equity nd ecosystem services were reltively under-identified in this study. Mesuring Community Cpcity This project developed indictors nd mesures for six distinct gols for McBride nd Vlemount nd five gols for the rurl vlley. In this section we explore the indictors nd mesures ssocited with just one of those gols community cpcity nd rrive t some generl conclusions bsed on vilble dt. Of the indictors developed within this project (see Tbles 5 nd 6), those ssocited with community cpcity re: sense of plce, fmily-oriented community, socil cpitl, humn cpitl, nd community control of decision mking. In exmining sense of plce, Tbles 9 nd 10 provide bseline dt on levels of ttchment nd stisfction in the region. In Tble 9, we note tht in response to the sttement I feel like I m definitely prt of my community, rurl vlley residents re more ttched thn Vlemount residents. However, Vlemount s score for overll, I m very ttched to my community is slightly higher thn for I feel like I m definitely prt of my community, nd it shows no significnt difference between communities. Community stisfction scores re lso high (see Tble 10), lthough residents re less stisfied with job opportunities nd community services thn with personl reltionships nd the physicl lndscpe. In mesuring the fmily dimensions of community life, we note the proportion of children residing in Vlemount declined from 28% of the totl popultion to 21% over 10-yer period (1991 2001) (Tble 11). This decline is similr for the rurl jurisdiction, but is less severe for McBride. Socil cpitl ws mesured by prticiption rtes in voluntry orgniztions. We note tht 76% of respondents in McBride prticipte in some cpcity (Tble 12), which ppers to be the result of higher rtes of prticiption in religious life. Through nother mesure of socil cpitl, we lso note tht use of the public librry incresed substntilly over the lst 20 yers (Tble 13). For instnce, in Vlemount, where community size hs remined reltively constnt, the number of librry ptrons incresed from 534 in 1981 to 1423 in 2001. In terms of humn cpitl, s mesured by student enrolment, the totl elementry nd secondry enrolment declined from 761 to 662 between 1995 nd 2000 (Tble 14). Although this sttistic likely reflects declining numbers of totl children in the region, the effect on humn cpitl remins n issue in terms of vilble future humn resources. Rtes of entrepreneurship lso provide useful mesure of humn cpitl. Compred to McBride, Vlemount reported higher rtes of entrepreneurship (Tble 15). Finlly, the level of community control in decision mking ws mesured by the perceptions of survey respondents regrding the ppropriteness of using community consulttion for decision mking. Respondents from the rurl vlley considered current levels of consulttion to be more pproprite thn did respondents from the villges, especilly those from Vlemount (Tble 16). So wht do ll of these numbers men? First, where trends re vilble, one cn observe decreses or increses in, for instnce, the number of children within the community, or the number of librry ptrons. With other mesures, bseline dt re vilble, but the vlue of mesurement will be relized only severl yers from now when trends in community ttchment, stisfction, voluntry prticiption, nd entrepreneurship re observed. Second, mny of the mesures developed nd reported in this study cn be used to inform indictors such s humn cpitl. Spce limittions here llow us to describe only few mesures (For complete list of mesures, refer to Vrghese et l. 2002). We recognize the multi-dimensionlity nd complexity ssocited with the notion of community cpcity nd, therefore, we hve ttempted to blnce this pproch with mesures tht touch on severl spects of cpcity nd with dt vilble from primry nd secondry sources. Some preliminry conclusions bout community cpcity cn be mde. Stisfction scores generlly pper to be high, lthough they reflect some degree of disstisfction with services nd job opportunities. 12
TABLE 7. Evlution of community sustinbility: two exmples Criteri Degree to which people re stisfied with their community Number of visitor-oriented business licenses Understndble nd useble by the community 1 1 Long-term view of progress 1 1 Economic, socil, or biologicl diversity 0 1 Intr- or inter-genertionl equity 0 0 Shows linkges between different community fcets 3 2 Nturl resources 1 0 Ecosystem services 1 0 Aesthetic qulities 1 1 Socil cpitl 1 0 Humn cpitl 1 1 Built/finncil cpitl 1 1 Not t the expense of globl sustinbility Prtilly true True Sustinbility rting 11/13 8/13 TABLE 8. Comprison of both indictor suites cross sustinbility dimensions Hrt's (1999) sustinbility criteri McBride nd Vlemount Rurl vlley Understndble (is bsed on community input) 13 11 Long-term view of progress 19 14 Addresses economic, socil, or biologicl diversity 11 8 Addresses intr- or inter-genertionl equity 4 7 Addresses economy nd environment linkges 9 7 Addresses environment nd society linkges 9 6 Addresses society nd economy linkges 13 7 In terms of crrying cpcity, this mesure ddresses: Nturl resources 9 5 Ecosystem services 4 5 Aesthetic qulities 8 3 Socil cpitl 12 9 Humn cpitl 15 11 Built/finncil cpitl 12 9 Not t the expense of those outside the Robson Vlley 19 14 13
TABLE 9. Community ttchment Survey sttement McBride Vlemount Rurl vlley People in my community re open to opinions tht re very different from their own People here re willing to contribute time nd money for community projects 3.10 (1.4) 3.30 (1.42) 3.20 (1.75) 4.99 (1.47) 4.88 (2.36) 5.23 (1.51) I feel like I m definitely prt of my community 4.95 (1.61) 4.56 b (1.60) 5.31 b (1.60) My community is n importnt prt of who I m 4.92 (1.63) 4.64 (1.71) 4.95 (1.77) Overll, I'm very ttched to my community 5.41 (1.54) 5.13 (1.53) 5.51 (1.65) Seven-point scle. 1 = strongly disgree. 7 = strongly gree. Stndrd devition in brckets. b Significnt difference between men scores (p<0.05). TABLE 10. Stisfction with community ttributes Survey sttement McBride Vlemount Rurl vlley p-vlue Importnt personl reltionships 3.42 (0.64) 3.32 (0.67) 3.47 (0.68) NS Community services 2.82 (0.62) 2.65 (0.71) 2.89 (0.80) <0.05 Physicl lndscpe 3.63 (0.59) 3.60 (0.62) 3.66 (0.76) NS Stisfied with job opportunities 2.14 (0.85) 2.30 (0.90) 2.49 (0.86) <0.05 Overll community stisfction 3.25 (0.60) 3.14 (0.63) 3.41 (0.54) <0.05 Four-point scle. 1 = extremely disstisfied. 4 = extremely stisfied. Stndrd devition in brckets. Note: <0.05 = significnt difference between men scores. NS = not significntly different between men scores (suggesting potentil commonlities between communities). TABLE 11. Proportion of children <15 yr old Yer Vlemount (%) McBride (%) Frser-Fort George B b (%) Robson Vlley Forest District (%) 1991 28.4 23.3 27.4 27.3 1996 25.7 25.0 25.1 25.7 2001 21.8 21.7 21.6 NA NA = not vilble t this time. b Federl census district, the boundry of which corresponds roughly to tht of the Robson Vlley Forest District. 14
TABLE 12. Prticiption in orgniztions McBride (no. nd % b ) Vlemount (no. nd % b ) Rurl res (no. nd % b ) Respondents who sy they prticipte c 80 (76.2) 120 (64.5) 38 (69.1) Type of prticiption Religious 24 (21.6) 30 (15.8) 6 (10.7) Professionl 22 (19.8) 29 (15.3) 13 (23.2) Civic 67 (60.4) 59 (31.0) 53 (94.6) Socil 45 (40.5) 94 (49.5) 12 (21.4) Unctegorized 7 (8.1) 19(10.0) 2 (3.6) Orgniztions (vg. no.) 2.1 1.9 2.3 Number of orgniztions mentioned by respondents. The mximum number ctegorized ws eight for one individul. b Does not dd up to 100 becuse mny respondents prticipted in more thn one type of orgniztion. c Not significntly different between communities. TABLE 13. Public librry mterils: circultion rtes nd ptrons Public librry Yer Community size (no. people) Librry ptrons b (% of popultion) Mterils circultion rtes b (rte/popultion) Vlemount 1981 1 135 534 11 579 1986 1 161 770 15 143 1991 1 128 978 17 761 1996 1 305 1 084 20 481 2001 1 195 1 423 27 855 McBride & District 1981 645 506 11 847 1986 592 841 22 813 1991 580 958 24 749 1996 740 900 25 148 2001 715 1175 18 885 Robson Vlley totl c 1981 4 205 1 040 (24.7) 23 426 (5.6) 1986 3 867 1 611 (41.7) 37 956 (9.8) 1991 3 642 1 936 (53.2) 42 510 (11.7) 1996 4 080 1 984 (48.6) 45 629 (11.2) 2001 3 965 2 598 (65.5) 46 740 (11.8) Popultion of community where the librry resides is included s reference, but it is importnt to remember tht ech librry serves the dispersed rurl residents. b Stndrd devition in brckets. c Robson Vlley totl is clculted by dding the two librry figures together. Community size figure for this portion includes the entire vlley. 15
TABLE 14. Student enrolment School 1990-91 (no.) 1995-96 (no.) 2000-01 (no.) McBride Centennil Elementry 198 b 186 183 McBride Secondry NA 152 128 Vlemount Elementry 266 264 193 Vlemount Secondry 147 159 158 Tot l NA 761 662 NA = not vilble t this time. b Estimted enrolment bsed on following yer. TABLE 15. Current nd nticipted business spirtions Survey sttement McBride (no. nd %) Vlemount (no. nd %) Currently business locted within the household 50 (45.0) 110 (57.9) Anticipting business in 2 yers by household member 17 (15.3) 31(16.3) TABLE 16. Perceived community consulttion in the Robson Vlley Survey sttement McBride Vlemount Rurl vlley Decisions ffecting the community re mde with pproprite consulttion with residents 3.92 (1.88) 3.54 b (1.79) 4.25 b (2.09) Seven-point scle. 1 = strongly disgree. 7 = strongly gree. Stndrd devition in brckets. b Significnt difference between men scores (p<0.05). Given recent reductions in government services nd industry closures, 3 these sentiments re likely more cute now. More importntly, ttchment levels in the Robson Vlley re generlly lower thn those observed in other locles. In response to the sttement my community is n importnt prt of who I m the men response score ws less thn 5 on 7-point scle. In comprison, similr study tht we conducted in Ssktchewn reported men scores of lmost 6 or greter in response to the sme sttement (Prkins, Vrghese, nd Stedmn 2001:17). Low ttchment levels my suggest tht residents hve willingness to migrte when locl circumstnces become less ppeling. Therefore, community cpcity to del with dverse socil or economic conditions my be negtively ffected by lower levels of community ttchment. In terms of the other mesures of community cpcity e.g., number of children residing in the re nd school enrolment decresed, but librry circultion rtes incresed nd voluntry prticiption rtes remined firly helthy it is difficult to ssess ny overll trends t this time. Once dt re estblished for these mesures, overll trends in community cpcity my become clerer. It does seem cler, however, tht forml levels of humn cpitl re declining within the 3 Shortly fter the field work for this study ws completed, Slocn Forest Products nnounced the closure of its mill in Vlemount. This closure is likely to ffect the results of this reserch, probbly by pushing economic diversity higher up the list of priorities. 16
vlley. This is due, in prt, to declining numbers of young people. Whether informl levels of humn cpitl s reflected in reltively high rtes of entrepreneurship nd levels of socil cpitl (especilly in the rurl vlley) cn compenste dequtely is not known t the moment but these possibilities provide both promise nd chllenge for the future. Conclusion This pper develops method of identifying nd mesuring community sustinbility t the locl level nd provides insights into the sustinbility of forestry-bsed community in the Robson Vlley Forest District. One benefit ssocited with this method is the wy it ties together two strong themes in contemporry notions of mnging sustinble forests. The first theme dels with the science of ecosystem mngement. Similr to the biophysicl dimensions of ecosystem mngement reflected in the Cndin Council of Forest Ministers criteri nd indictors frmework (CCFM 1995), where the bsic functioning of ecosystems is tken into considertion (i.e., biodiversity conservtion, nd soil nd wter qulity), our project took sciencebsed pproch in determining community sustinbility. We incorported importnt socil science insights into n ssessment of the bsic functioning of humn communities (i.e., humn cpitl nd socil cpitl), nd we developed indictors of those functions. The second theme dels with strong democrtic impulses in sustinble forest mngement (CCFM 1995). In s much s public prticiption plys vitl role in defining gols nd priorities for lndscpe mngement, public prticiption plys n importnt role in developing relevnt indictors of community well-being. Through extensive use of workshops, interviews, nd community surveys, nd by exmining other dt sources vilble within the community, we employed method tht opertes within the dynmic tension experienced between science-bsed mngement systems nd the democrtic (socil) processes tht help us define mngement priorities. In this sense, we re proposing working definition of community sustinbility tht identifies universl chrcteristics which re brodly pplicble to ll communities nd specific chrcteristics which re more pplicble to specific locles. We re lso proposing method, or collection of socil science reserch tools, to identify relevnt indictors nd to mesure the sustinbility of humn communities. Although this study is prescriptive in its outlook (gols re defined nd indictors re estblished), we re not providing prescription for ll forest-dependent communities. We re, however, providing conceptul tools nd dt sources tht such communities my wish to consider using. We re lso providing n ssessment of well-being tht cn be used by mny levels of government nd industry in vrious wys. For the municipl government seeking externl funds for community development, identifying res of strength nd wekness in the community cn fcilitte lerning within the community, cn focus ttention on res of need, nd, thus, cn help communicte importnt messges to externl funding gencies. For the locl forest compny, contributions to the community cn be directed more strtegiclly t specific community concerns. For instnce, if locl entrepreneurship is low, forest compnies my seek to bolster locl humn cpitl by sponsoring workshop or distnce eduction course for residents. This kind of trgeted giving cn be identified nd justified with suite of indictors like the ones developed in this study. Future reserch relted to indictors will del with the evolution of ides bout community sustinbility. These ides re chnging from older notions of community stbility to more dynmic notions of dptive cpcity nd resilience. Although we hve some rudimentry wys of mesuring resilience tht relte to community s bility to respond to different kinds of shocks, the science of ssessing the resilience of humn communities remins underdeveloped. On-going reserch will provide importnt sources of lerning in this regrd. Acknowledgements This project ws collbortion between the Cndin Forest Service nd the Robson Vlley Enhnced Forest Mngement Pilot Project (EFMPP). The EFMPP is co-opertive effort of the B.C. Ministry of Forests, the B.C. Ministry of Wter, Lnd nd Air Protection, the B.C. Ministry of Sustinble Resource Mngement, Forest Renewl BC, the forest industry, nd the cdemic community. 17