Communities around the world have developed local statistics to
measure their collective well-being. Starting in the 1970's, more
and more communities realized that so-called economic indicators
-- like Gross Domestic Product, employment statistics, average
family income, etc. -- could be high or rising, while the quality
of life experienced by people could be quite low. Even seemingly
affluent communities realized they were haunted by drug abuse,
environmental decay, a frantic pace of life, alienation, mounting
health problems, and so on. So they decided to create statistics
of their own, ones which would more accurately reflect the felt
sense of their community's health and well-being. As alternatives
to Quality of Life, many communities choose indicators related
to Sustainability or Healthy Communities.
All statistics provide informational feedback for reflection by
the organization, community or society gathering the statistics,
and therefore are an important resource for collective intelligence.
The more these statistics reflect the true needs and aspirations
of the community and the harmonious relationships between the
community and the world around it, the more co-intelligent those
statistics can be considered. The movement to gather indicators
of community health, sustainability and quality of life is a vital
part of building a co-intelligent culture.
(For an example of a city creating its own quality of life indicators,
see Measuring Community Health.
For a national example, see The
Underdeveloped Happiness Kingdom.)
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation's
"Community Indicators" page
Video
Who's Counting: Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies, and Global Economics -- a very moving film about the measurables and immeasurables in our lives, and how economic measurements and policies affect them.
Organization
Redefining Progress has also
developed a national measure of quality of life, the Genuine Progress Indicator.
Sustainability Measures offers many resources about sustainability indicators
Books
Calvert-Henderson
Quality of Life Indicators, edited by Hazel Henderson, Jon Lickerman, and
Patrice Flynn. Here are detailed, sensible ways to measure a dozen
diverse aspects of our
national well-being, so we as citizens can tell if things are
getting better or worse, and take
action.
Community
Indicators Handbook. Indicators are quantifiable measures of
economic, environmental and community sustainability. Book outlines
the
process for indicator development, identifies selection criteria,
profiles
community indicator programs, and provides access to extensive
resources
for indicator program development. Available from Redefining Progress
(above)
Maureen Hart's Guide
to Sustainable Community Indicators Explains how to identify good indicators
for your community (including for specific topics and sectors) and introduces
key principles to use when thinking about sustainability. Includes a list of
almost 700 indicators already being used in various communities.
Up is not always up by Tom Atlee
How Less Work can Make the World Better by Tom Atlee