questions9_30.html

Questionaire 30 September Version

Definitions

Built Capital:
Built capital is the human-made infrastructure that is constructed or retrofitted to suit community needs. Examples include: houses, utility and transportation infrastructure, factories, markets, shops, and schools.

Human Capital:
Human capital is the aggregation of the knowledge, skills, and abilities possessed by the members of the community that enable members to contribute to the creation, development, and sustenance of the community. It is actively acknowledged that such knowledge and skills may be either innate or acquired, and that each member brings a unique and valuable contribution to the total of human capital.

Social Capital:
Social capital is “the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quantity and quality of society’s social interactions” (http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/scapital/whatsc.htm). Social capital be thought of as the glue that holds people and society together. Having a strong base of human connections is correlated with the degree of sustainability that can be achieved through a particular development path. Social capital is expressed not only through interpersonal relationships within a society, but also through participation in governance, and the various overlapping interactions that form human lifestyles.

Natural Capital:
Natural capital is all of the natural infrastructure of the planet, which produces ecosystem goods and services that contribute to the well-being of human and other species. This includes: mineral and biological raw materials, renewable energy and fossil fuels, waste assimilation capacity, and vital life support functions provided by functioning ecosystems.

Community Data (filled out by one person from each community)

General
Name
Location
Year Formed
Year Occupancy Began

Built Capital
Number of buildings or units
Building energy use per capita
    % renewable (sources)
    % produced on site (sources)
Transportation energy use per capita
    % renewable (sources)
    % produced on site (sources)
Extent to which buildings minimize energy needs: (Q3)
Extent to which building materials are from sustainable sources: (Q2)
Extent to which buildings deal with water and wastes: (Q4)

Human Capital
Total Population
    # Adults
    # Children
Education in the community: (Day care/preschool, K-12, University level, Short courses)

Social Capital
Meals together? (specify)
Governance System (i.e. consensus, consent, majority, leader, group of leaders etc.)
Ownership (%common vs. private)
Labor expected? (specify)
Internal LETS or equivalent?
Diversity
    Average age, age distribution
    Average income, income distribution
    Ethnic distribution
    Gender distribution
    Sexual orientation distribution
New member screening process? (if yes describe)
Unifying vision (e.g. spiritual, co-housing, sustainability, none, etc.)

Natural Capital
Land area total
    Built area
    Agriculture area (specify)
    Natural area (specify)
food production or delivery system:
% food produced on site
solid waste system
% solid waste treated (recycled) on site
wastewater system (% wastewater treated (recycled) on site)
water use (gal/person/day)
air emissions (tons/person/day)

Community Member Survey (filled out by as many community members as possible)

all questions on the following scale:
(5) Extremely good or strongly agree or definitely true
(4) Good or agree or true
(3) Average or Neutral
(2) Below average or disagree or not true
(1) Poor or strongly disagree or definitely not true

Quality of Life/Vision

1) How would you rate your overall quality of life?
2) How would you rate the contribution to your quality of life of all aspects of your local community compared to the contribution of the larger region in which you live.
3) To what extent do think that members of your community share a common vision of goals and of what is fundamentally important?

Built Capital

4) To what extent does the built infrastructure (both common and private) of your community contribute to your quality of life?
5) How would you rate the balance between public and private spaces in your community
6) To what extent does your personal income and the goods and services you can purchase with that income contribute to your quality of life?

Human Capital

7) To what extent does your own individual development contribute to your quality of life?
8) How would you rate the overall quality of support for individual development in your community?
a) How would you rate the opportunities for local employment in your community?
b) How would you rate the support of human health in your community?
c) How would you rate the educational opportunities in your community?

Social Capital

9) To what extent do interactions with others in your community contribute to your quality of life?
10) How would you rate the overall quality of social interactions in your community?
a) How would you rate the informal social interactions in your community (i.e. parties, common meals, group rituals, etc.?)
b) How would you rate the governance, decision making, and other formal social interactions in your community?
11) How would you rate the ownership provisions in your community?
12) How would you rate the processes for allocating work and rewarding contributions in your community?
13) How would you rate your community’s ability to appropriately welcome outsiders?

Natural Capital

14) To what extent do interactions with natural systems (both in your community and in the larger environment) contribute to your quality of life?
15) How would you rate your community’s efforts in preserving/restoring native habitat and ecosystem functions and services (both within the community and in the local region)?