Title
Monitoring local well-being in environmental interventions: a consideration of practical trade-offs
Author(s)
Palmer Fry, B.;Agarwala, M.;Atkinson, G.;Clements, T.;Homewood, K.;Mourato, S.;Rowcliffe, J.M.;Wallace, G.;Milner-Gulland, E.J.
Published
2017
Publisher
ORYX
Abstract
Within the field of environmental management and conservation, the concept of well-being is starting to gain traction in monitoring the socio-economic and cultural impact of interventions on local people. Here we consider the practical trade-offs policy makers and practitioners must navigate when utilizing the concept of well-being in environmental interventions. We first review current concepts of well-being before considering the need to balance the complexity and practical applicability of the definition used and to consider both positive and negative components of well-being. A key determinant of how well-being is operationalized is the identity of the organization wishing to monitor it. We describe the trade-offs around the external and internal validity of different approaches to measuring well-being and the relative contributions of qualitative and quantitative information to understanding well-being. We explore how these trade-offs may be decided as a result of a power struggle between stakeholders. Well-being is a complex, multi-dimensional, dynamic concept that cannot be easily defined and measured. Local perspectives are often missed during the project design process as a result of the more powerful voices of national governments and international NGOs, so for equity and local relevance it is important to ensure these perspectives are represented at a high level in project design and implementation.
Keywords
Conservation;evaluation;happiness;monitoring;validity;well-being

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PUB22467