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Community quality-of-life (QOL) indicators continue to gain attention and interest in their use as many communities and regions design and apply them. Evolving from early use as data systems, indicators are increasingly being integrated into overall planning and other public policy activities. Their use is found not only in monitoring and evaluation applications, but also in the context of increasing citizen partici- tion in guiding communities towards achieving desired goals. Indeed, the emphasis in many indicator applications now includes linking actions to outcomes - making sure that the indicators are integrated, useful and effective in helping communities address QOL issues. The use of QOL indicators to consider a full spectrum of c- munity and regional well-being is exciting and the focus on integration is certain to bring new and innovative applications to the forefront. This is the third book in a series covering best practices in community QOL indicators. Each volume presents individual cases (chapters) of communities at the local or regional levels that have designed and implemented community indicators programs. In Volume I, we present eight chapters from a variety of contexts - from the county level in the U. S. , to the large megalopolis of Sao Paulo, to looking at a cross section of communities throughout Europe. Also included are three chapters from Canada, a leader in applying community indicator systems.
List of contents
Connecting Outcomes to Indicators: The Santa Cruz County California Community Assessment Project (CAP).- Pace of Life and Quality of Life: The Slow City Charter.- The Clark County Monitoring System - An Early Warning Indicator System for Clark County, Nevada.- Evaluating Progress Toward Sustainable Development in Milwaukee's Menomonee River Valley: Linking Brownfield's Redevelopment with Community Quality-of-Life.- Examining the Spatial Distribution of Urban Indicators in São Paulo, Brazil.- Quality of Life and Cultural Diversity in Peel Region (Ontario, Canada).- Measuring Quality of Life in Canadian Municipalities.- The Indices of Community Well-Being for Calgary Community Districts: A Neighborhood-Based Approach to Quality of Life Reporting.
About the author
M. J. Sirgy a social/consumer/organizational psychologist (Ph.D., U/Massachusetts, 1979), Professor of Marketing, and Virginia Real Estate Research Fellow at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). He has published extensively in the areas of consumer behavior, marketing communications, business ethics, and quality of life. He presently serves as an editor of the Quality-of-Life/Marketing section of the Journal of Macromarketing and co-editor-in-chief of Applied Research in Quality of Life. He co-founded the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies in 1995 and is currently serving as its Executive Director. He was also the president of the Academy of Marketing Science (2002-03).In 1992, he received the Distinguished Fellow recognition from the Academy. In 1997, he received the Distinguished Fellow recognition from the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. In a recent survey of scholarly productivity in business ethics, he was ranked as 82nd among 2,371 business ethics scholars world-wide. In 2003, the board of directors of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies elected him to receive the highest distinction of the society, namely the Distinguished Quality-of-Life Researcher Award.
Rhonda Phillips, Ph.D, AICP, CEcD.
Community investment and well-being comprise the focus of Rhonda`s research and outreach activities. With public, private and non-profit experience, she offers both practice and academic perspectives. As a professor in the School of Community Resources Development at Arizona State University, Rhonda works with faculty, staff, students and organizations to expand the reach of community-based education and research initiatives for enhancing quality of life. Her focus is community planning, development, and tourism planning as well as community indicator and evaluation systems for monitoring progress towards community development and economic development revitalization goals.
Prior to joining ASU, she served nine years on the faculty at the University of Florida`s Urban and Regional Planning Department where she was founding director of the Center for Building Better Communities. This outreach center provided community and economic development revitalization services throughout Florida. Her work before joining academe was in community and economic development at the state, local and regional levels; she holds dual professional certifications in urban and regional planning (American Institute of Certified Planners) and economic and community development (Certified Economic and Community Developer with the International Economic Development Council).
Rhonda`s honors include serving as the 2006 Fulbright Scholar in Northern Ireland at the University of Ulster, focusing on heritage and cultural based tourism as community and economic development strategies via The Heritage Initiative. Her work in tourism has included arts-based development as well as developing community indicator systems for tourist-based economies.
Summary
Community quality-of-life (QOL) indicators continue to gain attention and interest in their use as many communities and regions design and apply them. Evolving from early use as data systems, indicators are increasingly being integrated into overall planning and other public policy activities. Their use is found not only in monitoring and evaluation applications, but also in the context of increasing citizen partici- tion in guiding communities towards achieving desired goals. Indeed, the emphasis in many indicator applications now includes linking actions to outcomes – making sure that the indicators are integrated, useful and effective in helping communities address QOL issues. The use of QOL indicators to consider a full spectrum of c- munity and regional well-being is exciting and the focus on integration is certain to bring new and innovative applications to the forefront. This is the third book in a series covering best practices in community QOL indicators. Each volume presents individual cases (chapters) of communities at the local or regional levels that have designed and implemented community indicators programs. In Volume I, we present eight chapters from a variety of contexts – from the county level in the U. S. , to the large megalopolis of Sao Paulo, to looking at a cross section of communities throughout Europe. Also included are three chapters from Canada, a leader in applying community indicator systems.
