Measuring what matters

Elijah BisungPost-doctoral FellowGeography & Environmental ManagementUniversity of Waterloo

September 18, 2015

How do we measure the impacts?

…the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials…It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile…(Robert F. Kennedy, 1968)

Global Initiatives

GDP+ Measures of wellbeing ***GDP plus other basic indices (e.g. education, health)

1. Human Development Index

2. Inclusive Wealth Index

HDI: Life expectancy at birth KnowledgeMean years of schoolingExpected years of schooling Standard of livingGNI per Capita (PPP $)

GDP++ Measures of wellbeing

GDP+ plus broader economic welfare indicators that combine wealth distribution adjustments, and natural, social, and human capital adjustments

1. Gender Inequality Index 2. Adjusted Net Savings

3. The Genuine Progress Indicator

4. Inequality Adjusted Human Development Index

5. Multidimensional Poverty Index

Subjective wellbeing

Derived from domains and indices that require an individual to reflect on and evaluate their overall wellbeing, happiness or life satisfaction; these indices are typically based on the collection of primary data

How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?

0 1 2 3 4 5

How satisfied are you with your standard of living?

0 1 2 3 4 5

How satisfied are you with your health?

0 1 2 3 4 5

E.g. Australia unity wellbeing index

Objective/Subjective measures of wellbeing

1.UK Index of Wellbeing

2. Gross National Happiness 3. Taiwan National Wellbeing Index 4.Gallup-Healthways Wellbeing Index 5. Happy Planet Index (HPI) 6. National Well-Being Index

Objective wellbeing measuresWellbeing Measure Type Countries

AppliedSustainable Society Index Index 151 countries

Wellbeing of Nations Index 180 countries

Social Progress Index Index 132 countries

Australian National Development Index

Index Australia

Measure of Australia’s Progress

Dash-board

Australia

New Zealand Social Report Dash-board

New Zealand

Canadian Index of Wellbeing Index Canada Focused on

environment In progress Dash-board

Example of dash-board & Index

Measures of Australia Progress Canadian Index of Wellbeing

Canadian Index of Wellbeing Framework

Trends in domains of wellbeing…

GLOWINGEast African region

West Africa (Ghana)

South Africa

The Caribbean Economies that are particularly vulnerable…

A tool to track progress/change…

Social

Health

Economic

Environmental

Cultural

Political

A tool to gauge the impact of (policy) intervention(s)

Co-production of solutions-oriented knowledge through a transdisciplinary network

Public ConsultationsCollaborative development

Community organisations

government agencies

Academics,researchers

2015

As we try to measure what matters..…

1. What the numbers represent 2. Making the measures matter3. Ways of knowing

Dr. Susan J. Elliott

Dr. Bryan Smale

GLOWING research team

Acknowledgements