
| Back to A methodological review of U.S. indicator projects | f. Willapa Indicators for a Sustainable
Community -Willapa, Washington The 1995 Willapa Indicator project was one of the least bottom-up indicator projects we reviewed. The Willapa Alliance and Ecotrust, two nonprofit organizations, initiated this project. The members of these groups selected the categories (and subcategories) of environment (water, land, species), economy (productivity, opportunity, diversity, equity), and community (learning, health, citizenship, stewardship). A "community committee" had input, but expressed frustration that their voices were not really heard. Ecotrust and the Alliance initially selected 80 indicators, which they narrowed down to 21 and published. The documents were sent to community leaders to review, but these leaders were not asked to share the document with their community members. As a result of the top-down nature of their 1995 project, they are conducting their second report quite differently. The Alliance and Ecotrust hosted a community development conference of 120 people to review the indicators, discuss their applicability to community concerns, and determine if any issues have been overlooked. Community members have been divided into eight working groups to review the document. Their second document will focus more on the interrelationships among indicators and, specifically, how business is linked to community and environment as well as economy. The Willapa Alliance plans to take the document ìon the road" to any community organizations that are interested in discussing the document and its relationship to Willapaís future. When asked about the lack of government involvement in the project, Cathleen Sase from the Willapa Alliance indicated that she felt it was an asset, not a problem. She said that by not working with the government they had more flexibility in choosing which indicators they could review. Their second draft is definitely more bottom-up than their first, but community involvement remains limited. This could hinder the projectís effectiveness. In a positive light, their attempt to look at linkages among indicators is an often neglected yet much needed focus, and their plans to take the document ìon the roadî suggests the project is evolving in the right direction. |
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