Media Clipping – December, 2001, The Northumberland Business Report

GPI Atlantic can help Nova Scotia communities

By John Ashton

Last month GPI Atlantic (Genuine Progress Index) released its report: Major Findings in the Forest Industry in Nova Scotia.

An opportunity was lost to the general public to explain the "bigger picture" of GPI as it relates to other aspects of community well-being, progress, security and improvement.

This guide of our forest resources is part of the process and potentially what GPI is doing could have a very positive effect on the way Nova Scotian communities sustain themselves in the future.

This forest industry account is very important and detailed, but it doesn't give enough background information on the rational reason, existence and possibilities of GPI.

I had the opportunity in the past to attend the sustainable community conference in Sydney during which Ron Colemon, founder of GPI Atlantic, made a presentation on this unique exercise to measure and improve our well being and sustainability in any Nova Scotia community.

The Nova Scotia GPI, as presented by the conference, assigns explicit value to our natural resources, forestry, fisheries and non-renewable energy sources and assesses the sustainability of harvesting practices, consumption habits and transportation systems. It measures and values our unpaid voluntary and household work and it counts crime, pollution, road accidents and other economic cost, not gains, as at present. The index goes up if our society is becoming more equal, if we have more free time, and if the quality of life is improving. It counts our health, education attainment and economic security. It attempts in short to measure "that which makes life worthwhile." It is common sense economics that corresponds with the realities of our daily lives as we actually experience them.

The strongest interest to develop an index has been expressed by local communities who are urgently looking for ways to assess their well-being accurately and to measure progress genuinely. Currently GPI is conducting two experimental community studies, one in the urban area of Glace Bay, Cape Breton and the other in the rural area of King's County. The Glace Bay venture has been accepted favourably by the community who see this as a "kind of report card on the sustainability and future of their town.

The response was a healthy 80 per cent of the citizens who got involved.

The Glace Bay GPI process took about 18 months to get on its feet. Building trust and selling the concept to the community and partners which include businesses, health, law enforcement, youth and social, etc, was an important first step. Data and statistics were collected and a community well-being questionnaire developed with personal interviews sent to each dwelling to consult and collect information.

What this GPI process is doing is giving some social, civic, economic and moral control back to the people. Although this method of community involvement my be unique, it is not new... it is called democracy. This day and age, a large number of community people feel powerless and forgotten when it comes to having a say in their well-being and future.

We do live in a good province that does try to take care of all of its citizens. Things happen in the world that we may never understand or control, but we as citizens of our communities in Nova Scotia have an opportunity to be included, to be treated fairly and to improve, sustain and get involved with the well-being of our communities.

John Ashton owns Ashton Creative Designs and is a regular contributor to The Northumberland Business Report

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