Are we leaving the community out of rural community sustainability? An examination of approaches to development and implementation of indicators of rural community sustainability and related public participation

摘要

Within the evolutionary process of developing community indicators of sustainable development (SI), increasing recognition is being given to the critical need for, and importance of, 'stakeholder' involvement in SI development and implementation. The paper critically reviews these and related efforts from the perspective of rural communities in Canada. The argument is presented that the process of development and implementation of rural community-level SI can significantly benefit from developmentand implementation of a methodological approach in support of principles and practices of effective stakeholder involvement. It is further argued that development of SI must be stakeholder-driven, and that a pivotal element in the SI development processis the facilitation of information sharing. The paper concludes with a proposal for an approach to stakeholder participation and information sharing achieved through research, testing and refinement, and integration of these concepts within the process of rural community sustainable indicator development.