Final report - Integrated Land Management Bureau

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
In 2006, B.C. coastal First Nations and the provincial government signed Protocol
Agreements committing to an Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) approach to
maintain and enhance ecological integrity and human well-being (HWB) in the North and
Central Coast land use plan areas of British Columbia. An EBM Working Group is
developing a monitoring framework to track the effects of EBM and other initiatives on
defined social and economic objectives. Two matrices called Schedules C and G present
six social and economic objectives, including indicators, rationale, data sources, and
desired direction for each objective. The objectives cover economic, population, and
cultural dimensions.
The EBM Working Group (EBMWG) commissioned Rubus EcoScience Alliance to
propose a practical monitoring framework based on the most current available science on
human well-being to measure impacts of land use decisions, agreements, and EBM and
other strategies on HWB, using Schedules C and G as a starting place.
The project involved:
literature review of frameworks and research on human well-being
creation of logic models for each of the five components of human well-being to
show the theoretical links between indicators and objectives
establishment of indicator selection criteria
identification of a full suite of primary and secondary indicators to define human
well-being
review of the existing indicators in Schedules C and G in light of the literature on
HWB
investigation of existing sources of social and economic statistics to determine
their appropriateness for measuring the selected indicators
compiling sample data for each indicator for which existing data are available
descriptions of primary data collection methods
The literature that addresses human well-being is voluminous. There is debate among
researchers about definitions and measures of human well-being and there is no one
“right” choice for measuring HWB. Choosing indicators that are grounded in the
literature, measurable, and that address Schedules C and G objectives is a delicate
balancing act. New knowledge on human well-being, particularly in resource-based
communities, is constantly unfolding.
Part 1 of the report summarizes a review of the literature on HWB frameworks and
presents a full slate of indicators for human well-being. Part 2 discusses the assessment of
existing indicators in Schedule C and G and describes primary data collection methods
for measuring indicators for which there is no reliable existing data source.
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