A Keyword Approach to Finding Common Ground in Community-Based Definitions of Human Well-Being.

Area of Science:

• Ecology and Environmental Science
• Social Science
• Urban and Regional Planning

Background:

• Ecosystem-based management (EBM) integrates ecosystem services and human beneficiaries into decision-making across scales.
• Local-scale EBM faces challenges in achieving consistent outcomes due to differing community priorities and resource availability.
• Identifying common community objectives is crucial for developing transferable indices of ecosystem benefits and human well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify common community objectives from strategic planning documents using a keyword-based approach.
• To develop transferable indices of human well-being based on these common objectives.
• To compare identified well-being commonalities with community demographics, location, and type.

Main Methods:

• Keyword-based analysis of strategic planning documents from coastal communities in the conterminous United States.
• Examination of eight domains of human well-being within these documents.
• Multivariate analysis to identify gradients and differences in well-being priorities across communities.

Main Results:

• Living Standards and Safety/Security were the most frequently addressed well-being domains; Health and Cultural Fulfillment were least addressed.
• Community type significantly influenced well-being priorities (five of eight domains), showing an urban-to-rural gradient.
• Urban communities prioritized Education and Living Standards, while rural communities focused on Social Cohesion and Leisure Time.

Conclusions:

• Automated keyword analysis is effective for extracting information from community strategic planning documents.
• Local-scale perceptions of well-being vary significantly by community type, not primarily by region.
• Findings support the development of tailored, transferable sustainability indices for communities with similar characteristics.