ALERT: This system is being upgraded on Tuesday December 12. It will not be available
for use for several hours that day while the upgrade is in progress. Deposits to DukeSpace
will be disabled on Monday December 11, so no new items are to be added to the repository
while the upgrade is in progress. Everything should be back to normal by the end of
day, December 12.
Conceptualizing and operationalizing human wellbeing for ecosystem assessment and management
Abstract
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd There is growing interest in assessing the effects of changing
environmental conditions and management actions on human wellbeing. A challenge is
to translate social science expertise regarding these relationships into terms usable
by environmental scientists, policymakers, and managers. Here, we present a comprehensive,
structured, and transparent conceptual framework of human wellbeing designed to guide
the development of indicators and a complementary social science research agenda for
ecosystem-based management. Our framework grew out of an effort to develop social
indicators for an integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) of the California Current
large marine ecosystem. Drawing from scholarship in international development, anthropology,
geography, and political science, we define human wellbeing as a state of being with
others and the environment, which arises when human needs are met, when individuals
and communities can act meaningfully to pursue their goals, and when individuals and
communities enjoy a satisfactory quality of life. We propose four major social science-based
constituents of wellbeing: connections, capabilities, conditions, and cross-cutting
domains. The latter includes the domains of equity and justice, security, resilience,
and sustainability, which may be assessed through cross-cutting analyses of other
constituents. We outline a process for identifying policy-relevant attributes of wellbeing
that can guide ecosystem assessments. To operationalize the framework, we provide
a detailed table of attributes and a large database of available indicators, which
may be used to develop measures suited to a variety of management needs and social
goals. Finally, we discuss four guidelines for operationalizing human wellbeing measures
in ecosystem assessments, including considerations for context, feasibility, indicators
and research, and social difference. Developed for the U.S. west coast, the framework
may be adapted for other regions, management needs, and scales with appropriate modifications.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Science & TechnologyLife Sciences & Biomedicine
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Human wellbeing
Indicators
Ecosystem-based management
Integrated ecosystem assessment
Social-ecological system
Sustainability
ENVIRONMENTAL-MANAGEMENT
FISHING COMMUNITIES
SOCIAL-SCIENCE
HEALTH
CONSERVATION
INDICATORS
SERVICES
IMPACTS
COASTAL
US
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/18614Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.envsci.2016.06.023Publication Info
Breslow, SJ; Sojka, B; Barnea, R; Basurto, X; Carothers, C; Charnley, S; ... Levin,
PS (2016). Conceptualizing and operationalizing human wellbeing for ecosystem assessment and
management. Environmental Science and Policy, 66. pp. 250-259. 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.06.023. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/18614.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
More Info
Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Xavier Basurto
Truman and Nellie Semans/Alex Brown & Sons Associate Professor
I am interested in the fundamental question of how groups (human and non-human) can
find ways to self-organize, cooperate, and engage in successful collective action
for the benefit of the common good. To do this I strive to understand how the institutions
(formal and informal rules and norms) that govern social behavior, interplay with
biophysical variables to shape social-ecological systems. What kind of institutions
are better able to govern complex-adaptive systems? and how can societies (la

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy
Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator, and subject.
-
Evaluating the best available social science for natural resource management decision-making
Charnley, S; Carothers, C; Satterfield, T; Levine, A; Poe, MR; Norman, K; Donatuto, J; ... (14 authors) (Environmental Science and Policy, 2017-07-01)© 2017 Increasing recognition of the human dimensions of natural resource management issues, and of social and ecological sustainability and resilience as being inter-related, highlights the importance of applying social ... -
Deforestation risks posed by oil palm expansion in the Peruvian Amazon
Vijay, V; Reid, CD; Finer, M; Jenkins, CN; Pimm, SL (Environmental Research Letters, 2018-11-01)Further expansion of agriculture in the tropics is likely to accelerate the loss of biodiversity. One crop of concern to conservation is African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). We examined recent deforestation associated with ... -
Measuring resilience is essential if we are to understand it.
Pimm, Stuart L; Donohue, Ian; Montoya, José M; Loreau, Michel (Nature sustainability, 2019-10-09)"Sustainability", "resilience", and other terms group under the heading of "stability." Their ubiquity speaks to a vital need to characterise changes in complex social and environmental systems. In a bewildering array of ...