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Towards sustainability on Bowen Island : a case study Savelson, Aviva
Abstract
The future of human health and that of all other species depends on the viability and sustainability of a host of environments and ecosystems. Human behaviour(s) have profound effects (both positive and negative) on such ecosystems. Despite the obviousness of these statements, there remains a lack of clarity around the mechanisms for altering specific behaviours related to sustainability and their impact on the physical environment. This research grapples with the issue of why it is necessary to identify relations between human behaviour and achieving sustainability. It studied a dialogue process as a means to enable people to move from learning about what sustainability might be to taking action toward making the Georgia Basin region more sustainable. The dialogue process that was studied used QUEST, a user-friendly, interactive, computer software program designed to engage the public in creating future scenarios up to the year 2040 and the Precede-Proceed Planning Framework, a planning model adopted from the field of Health Promotion. In combining these two tools, the goal was to first initiate a dialogue on what sustainability might look like in a regional context, with the use of QUEST and then consider the preliminary planning steps needed to actualize some of those ideas using the Precede-Proceed planning model. This two-step approach was applied in a workshop setting with some members of the Bowen Island community and the research revolved around describing and reflecting on the application of the process and its outcomes in the community. The purpose of this dialogue framework was to provide citizens of Bowen Island with a well-structured, theoretically sound means of generating positive discourse and decision making around issues of sustainability on Bowen Island. The application of the dialogue process had some promising outcomes. QUEST facilitated learning about some of the complex interactions between socio-economic and environmental aspects of how the Georgia Basin region functions. Learning about the consequences and tradeoffs of potential futures was a central theme in the research. This kind of learning helped to reinforce and expand people's thinking about sustainability. However, for a local island community, it was difficult to translate these regional ideas about desired futures into practical terms. Using the Precede-Proceed framework enabled participants to identify and prioritize potential strategies and articulate constructive objectives. The framework helped to create coherence in understanding what strategies should be focused on. With this clarity, some of the workshop participants were inspired to work together to implement their ideas. Although the results of this study indicate that using this kind of dialogue process had its benefits it mostly reinforced the need for more practical examples of policy and program planning process in this vain. Engaging citizens in these conversations makes it possible to incorporate their perspectives into wider public planning.
Item Metadata
Title |
Towards sustainability on Bowen Island : a case study
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2004
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Description |
The future of human health and that of all other species depends on the viability and sustainability of
a host of environments and ecosystems. Human behaviour(s) have profound effects (both positive
and negative) on such ecosystems. Despite the obviousness of these statements, there remains a
lack of clarity around the mechanisms for altering specific behaviours related to sustainability and
their impact on the physical environment. This research grapples with the issue of why it is necessary
to identify relations between human behaviour and achieving sustainability. It studied a dialogue
process as a means to enable people to move from learning about what sustainability might be to
taking action toward making the Georgia Basin region more sustainable.
The dialogue process that was studied used QUEST, a user-friendly, interactive, computer software
program designed to engage the public in creating future scenarios up to the year 2040 and the
Precede-Proceed Planning Framework, a planning model adopted from the field of Health Promotion.
In combining these two tools, the goal was to first initiate a dialogue on what sustainability might look
like in a regional context, with the use of QUEST and then consider the preliminary planning steps
needed to actualize some of those ideas using the Precede-Proceed planning model. This two-step
approach was applied in a workshop setting with some members of the Bowen Island community and
the research revolved around describing and reflecting on the application of the process and its
outcomes in the community. The purpose of this dialogue framework was to provide citizens of
Bowen Island with a well-structured, theoretically sound means of generating positive discourse and
decision making around issues of sustainability on Bowen Island.
The application of the dialogue process had some promising outcomes. QUEST facilitated learning
about some of the complex interactions between socio-economic and environmental aspects of how
the Georgia Basin region functions. Learning about the consequences and tradeoffs of potential
futures was a central theme in the research. This kind of learning helped to reinforce and expand
people's thinking about sustainability. However, for a local island community, it was difficult to
translate these regional ideas about desired futures into practical terms. Using the Precede-Proceed
framework enabled participants to identify and prioritize potential strategies and articulate
constructive objectives. The framework helped to create coherence in understanding what strategies
should be focused on. With this clarity, some of the workshop participants were inspired to work
together to implement their ideas. Although the results of this study indicate that using this kind of
dialogue process had its benefits it mostly reinforced the need for more practical examples of policy
and program planning process in this vain. Engaging citizens in these conversations makes it
possible to incorporate their perspectives into wider public planning.
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Extent |
9153838 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-11-24
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0091689
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2004-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.