The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics

In addition to evaluating the economic, ecological, and health impacts of major public policy initiatives, impact assessments typically also need to identify and evaluate an action's social and cultural (S/C) impacts. A wide range of S/C metrics have been suggested, and guidelines exist to help...

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Autores principales:	Douglas L. Bessette, Robin Gregory
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Resilience Alliance 2020
Materias:	cultural impact assessment indigenous metrics public policy social Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/18abb5b9f9ee44648cfa35a0b9937caf
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:18abb5b9f9ee44648cfa35a0b9937caf2021-12-02T14:38:19ZThe promise and reality of social and cultural metrics1708-308710.5751/ES-11730-250311https://doaj.org/article/18abb5b9f9ee44648cfa35a0b9937caf2020-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol25/iss3/art11/https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087In addition to evaluating the economic, ecological, and health impacts of major public policy initiatives, impact assessments typically also need to identify and evaluate an action's social and cultural (S/C) impacts. A wide range of S/C metrics have been suggested, and guidelines exist to help ensure their thoughtful and comprehensive development. Nevertheless, many of the S/C concerns identified as part of impact assessments remain vague, are difficult to measure or understand, and are more closely attuned to existing data than to concerns expressed by stakeholders or residents of Indigenous communities. Furthermore, S/C impacts are often deemphasized or, in some cases, outright ignored during project generation and as part of final decisions made by elected officials. Here, we examine the promise of well-designed S/C metrics and contrast it with the reality of how they are commonly deployed, with specific reference to four case studies in North America: municipal planning decisions in Oregon, wildlife decisions in Ohio, renewable energy decisions in Michigan, and pipeline decisions in the western United States and Canada. We argue the importance of moving beyond assessment to decision making, pointing out five reasons why critical S/C impacts are often neglected, and presenting recommendations for the design of clearer, more comprehensive metrics that will contribute to more socially responsive policy choices.Douglas L. BessetteRobin GregoryResilience Alliancearticleculturalimpact assessmentindigenousmetricspublic policysocialBiology (General)QH301-705.5EcologyQH540-549.5ENEcology and Society, Vol 25, Iss 3, p 11 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	cultural impact assessment indigenous metrics public policy social Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	cultural impact assessment indigenous metrics public policy social Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 Douglas L. Bessette Robin Gregory The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
description	In addition to evaluating the economic, ecological, and health impacts of major public policy initiatives, impact assessments typically also need to identify and evaluate an action's social and cultural (S/C) impacts. A wide range of S/C metrics have been suggested, and guidelines exist to help ensure their thoughtful and comprehensive development. Nevertheless, many of the S/C concerns identified as part of impact assessments remain vague, are difficult to measure or understand, and are more closely attuned to existing data than to concerns expressed by stakeholders or residents of Indigenous communities. Furthermore, S/C impacts are often deemphasized or, in some cases, outright ignored during project generation and as part of final decisions made by elected officials. Here, we examine the promise of well-designed S/C metrics and contrast it with the reality of how they are commonly deployed, with specific reference to four case studies in North America: municipal planning decisions in Oregon, wildlife decisions in Ohio, renewable energy decisions in Michigan, and pipeline decisions in the western United States and Canada. We argue the importance of moving beyond assessment to decision making, pointing out five reasons why critical S/C impacts are often neglected, and presenting recommendations for the design of clearer, more comprehensive metrics that will contribute to more socially responsive policy choices.
format	article
author	Douglas L. Bessette Robin Gregory
author_facet	Douglas L. Bessette Robin Gregory
author_sort	Douglas L. Bessette
title	The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
title_short	The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
title_full	The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
title_fullStr	The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
title_full_unstemmed	The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
title_sort	promise and reality of social and cultural metrics
publisher	Resilience Alliance
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/18abb5b9f9ee44648cfa35a0b9937caf
work_keys_str_mv	AT douglaslbessette thepromiseandrealityofsocialandculturalmetrics AT robingregory thepromiseandrealityofsocialandculturalmetrics AT douglaslbessette promiseandrealityofsocialandculturalmetrics AT robingregory promiseandrealityofsocialandculturalmetrics
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The promise and reality of social and cultural metrics

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