15.+Social+Indicators+and+Metrics

=Chapter 15 Social Indicators and Metrics=

Michael Moe, Ammon Brown, Megan Welch
=15.1 Chapter Goal= The purpose of this chapter will give an overview of how education, employment, health, housing, crime, population, and equity affect sustainable development in Costa Rica.

=15.2= Sustainable design needs to focus on improving quality of life and limiting negative impacts on the environment, two concepts closely linked to social sustainability. This indicates how integrated different fields of sustainability must be in order to succeed.Focusing on sustainability on a social level, as well as monitoring the influence of construction requires regional and local focus. While understanding environmental impacts at a global scale is important, implementation of sustainable initiatives is much more comprehensible and achievable when done on a local level and monitored by local authorities that are well attuned to area-specific issues and environments. Furthermore, to successfully make a positive global impact, regions must be treated differently in both policy and action. Examining community on a local level can create the basis for healthy by focusing on tasks that communities can accomplish, global sustainability will be achieved.

=15.3 Education=



Education, as a lifelong process, is widely accepted as a fundamental prerequisite for the achievement of sustainable development. It cuts across all areas being a particularly critical element in meeting basic human needs, and in achieving equity, capacity building, access to information, and strengthening science. The primary objectives in addressing these issues include: striving for universal access to basic education, reducing adult illiteracy, integrating sustainable development concepts in all education programs to achieve interdisciplinary learning, promoting broad public awareness, and strengthening vocational and scientific training. Ticos and Ticas are very aware in their education. Many students can be in school for three hours and the rest of the day it is a hands on learning experience at home. Education is also recognized as a means of changing consumption and production patterns to a more sustainable path. Education, both formal and informal, is regarded as a process by which human beings and societies can reach their full potential. There is a close association between the general level of education attained and the persistence of poverty irrespective of the level of a country’s development. It is vital to changing people’s attitudes to achieve ethical awareness, values, attitudes, skills, and behavior consistent with the goal of building a more sustainable society. In this way, people are better equipped to participate in decision-making that adequately and successfully addresses environment and development issues. =15.4 Employment =

Unemployment is useful and relevant to measuring sustainable development, especially if uniformly measured over time, and considered with other socioeconomic indicators. It is one of the main reasons for poverty in rich and medium income countries and among persons with high education in low income countries. It should be noted, however, that it is common to find people working full-time but remaining poor due to the particular social conditions and type of industrial relations prevalent in their industry or occupation.

Costa Ricas unemployment rate is approximately 6%. With respect to salary, a tendency to adjust according to productivity has been identified. In the last 29 years, real salary at the general level has tended to decrease, with exception in the agricultural sector, which shows a positive rate owing to relative scarcity, regional demand, and the Costa Rican reluctance to work in the sector. Despite this, the rural salary is not enough to satisfy basic needs. Surprisingly in the context of legislation that is quite protective of workers’ rights, it is permissible to work from the age of 12, entitling employers to engage children as domestic servants. The only safeguard in relation to this provision is that “servants aged over 12 but under 18 may work no more than 12 hours a day” and that under-14s shall be entitled to time off to attend primary school. It also establishes that “any serious breach by the domestic worker of respect or courtesy to those entitled to expect this by virtue of the employment shall constitute just cause for dismissal without liability on the part of the employer”. This is odd given that there is no matching provision for disrespectful treatment of the employee by the employer.

=15.5 Health, Sanitation, and Water Supply=

Health and sustainable development are closely connected. Safe water supply and sanitation, proper nutrition and a safe food supply, unpolluted living conditions, the control of disease, and access to health services all contribute to healthy populations. Conversely, poverty, lack of information and education, natural and human-induced disasters, and rapid urbanization can all exacerbate health problems. Pollution control and health protection services have often not kept pace with economic development. As a consequence, poor health is associated with decreased productivity, particularly in the labor-intensive agricultural sector.

Population with Access to Safe Drinking Water; Accessibility to improved water sources is of fundamental significance to lowering the fecal risk and frequency of associated diseases. Its association with other socioeconomic characteristics, including education and income, makes for a good universal indicator of human development. When broken down by geographic (such as rural/urban zones), or social or economic criteria, it provides useful information on equity issues. Around 48% of the costa rican population had urban sanitation connections to public sewerage or had individual septic tanks. Rural coverage is lower, with about 92% of the 1.7 million rural inhabitants connected to public water supply and about 97% connected to sanitation services, mostly through the use of septic tanks.

The countrywide increase in coverage rates in water and sanitation masks shortcomings in the quality of service. Furthermore, 96% of all urban waste water collected is discharged into rivers and receiving bodies without any treatment, generating public health risks and water resources contamination. In most of the regions of the country, water production capacity is very close to current demand, so the risk of facing water deficits in the near future is high and in fact, various cities already suffer from water shortages and rationing.

**15.6 Safety, Security, and Housing**



Adequate shelter is one of the essential components of sustainable development. The availability of adequate shelter substantially contributes to safer, more equitable, and productive. Costa Rica has long been considered the safest nation in Central America. The country doesn’t even have a military, and has a long history of staying out of its neighbors’ wars and scuffles. But because so many travelers over a million head to Costa Rica every year, pickpocketing and petty theft is very common, and is specifically directed towards tourists.

Crime prevention and criminal justice are an integral part of the development process. Civil society, good governance, and democracy rest on the promotion of justice as an essential condition for social stability, security, peace, human rights, and long-term sustainable development. Crime and Security are healthier settlements. Living conditions, especially in urban areas, are influenced by excessive population concentration, inadequate planning and financial resources, and unemployment. Rural-urban migration exacerbates this situation contributing to the development of slums and informal settlements. Poor living conditions are associated with poverty, homelessness, poor health, social exclusion, family instability and insecurity, violence, environmental degradation, and increased vulnerability to disasters.

=15.7 Welfare and quality of life=

Such a stable and secure climate is necessary to support the goals of poverty eradication, economic investment, environmental stewardship, gender equality, participation, and sustainable livelihoods. Overall, crime appears to be on the increase and represents a challenge for sustainable development. Globalization is creating an environment conducive to new and expanded forms of criminality including the smuggling of migrants, drug trafficking, corruption, computer crime, and the illegal firearms trade.

Costa Rica achieves a Happy Planet Index Score of 64.0 and ranks #1 of all the countries analysed. Costa Rica's HPI score reflects a high life expectancy, high levels of experienced well-being, and a moderate ecological footprint. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) ranked Costa Rica first in its 2009 Happy Planet Index, and once again in 2012. The NEF also ranked Costa Rica in 2009 as the "greenest" country in the world.

=15.8 Population, growth and distribution= Population provides an important contextual reference on sustainable development for decision makers looking at the interrelationships between people, resources, the environment and development. Population change is a significant signal as countries try to reduce poverty, achieve economic progress, improve environmental protection, and move to more sustainable consumption and production. More stable levels of fertility can have a considerable positive impact on quality of life. In many countries, slower population growth has bought more time to adjust to future population increases. Urbanization has become a dominant trend in the growth and distribution of the population. Rapid population growth and migration can lead to unsustainable living conditions and increased pressure on the environment.

 Access to land and resources ment, especially in ecolo gically-sensitive areas. Costa Rica's infrastructure has suffered from a lack of maintenance and new investment. The country has an extensive road system of more than 30,000 kilometers, although much of it is in disrepair. Most parts of the country are accessible by road. The search for better living conditions in urban areas reflects rural unemployment and underemployment; poor rural social services; unavailability of arable land; natural disasters, particularly drought; and civil unrest. It implies the need for more effective programs to support rural development. The informal urban settlements that often develop are precarious and marginal. They tend to lack basic services and tenure security; are located in areas predisposed to natural disasters; and are characterized by poverty, inadequate health and education facilities, and high crime rates. In Costa Rica on most roads, the ride is long and coarse to travel from place to place. The access to land and resources vary from one road dirt lanes to marked lanes. This possible limited access of an unpaved rocky road has the potential to lead to a lack of work, or in the off chance that one would be forced to move because of lack of job resources.

=15.9 Role of Women, Gender Equality, Equity, and Social Exclusion= The lower the ratio of wages offered to women, the less the attraction for women to join the labor force, which in turn deprives the economy of a vital component of development. This disadvantage could also be attributed to inequalities in educational opportunities for women and the need for policy makers to correct this inequity. It is generally acknowledged that if women are more educated, they are more likely to contribute to the broader productivity of society while enhancing child and maternal health and welfare. Costa Rica has shown to have a high rate of women in workforce and getting a higher education. After visiting the structures lab and recognizing that the ratio of women to men was about 50%, you can begin to wonder how these women are contributing to the sustainable development.

Social equity is one of the principal values underlying sustainable development, with people and their quality of life being recognized as a central issue. Equity involves the degree of fairness and inclusiveness with which resources are distributed, opportunities afforded, and decisions made. It includes the provision of comparable opportunities of employment and social services, including education, health and justice. The notion can be relevant both within and between communities and nations. Significant issues related to the achievement of social equity include poverty alleviation; employment and income distribution; gender, ethnic and age inclusiveness, access to financial and natural resources; and intergenerational opportunity. Impoverished people may feel powerless and isolated, and face pervasive and systematic problems related to insecure livelihoods, malnutrition and poor health, illiteracy, civil insecurity linked to violence and strife, and corruption. The concentration of the rural poor on marginal land leads to resource over-exploitation and land degradation.

=15.10 Eco-tourism = <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">

Ecotourism should preserve or even enhance the culture of a community. One way to enhance the ecotourism project and protect the native culture is to utilize the local knowledge and skills of the people. Local knowledge about the terrain, ecology, and natural history can be valuable for guiding tourists and skills in arts and crafts can be used to display local culture. Culture can even be incorporated into planning and marketing of ecotourism destinations and products. Ecotourists are more likely to appreciate local tradition, customs and cuisine than other market segments.

One serious impact of ecotourism is that it can lead to the “commofication” of culture. When people and their cultures become marketable commodities, this can lead to the erosion of the culture and community cohesion. The dangers associated with bringing formerly isolated populations into contact with affluent foreigners can be quiet high. Local populations may modify traditional cultures in the form of food, handicrafts, song, and dance in order to meet the different cultural standards and expectations of foreign tourists. Local community members could possibly view their area as being developed exclusively for foreign interests.

One advantage of ecotourism is that it is less threatening to cultures than mass tourism. Additionally, ecotourism does not necessarily mean that cultures will be negatively impacted. Ecotourism can potentially be very beneficial to local culture. According to Minca and Linda, “if properly developed, tourism is capable of supporting a new awareness and new representations of the local culture that can be revitalized by the interest of the tourist”. Ecotourism has the potential to foster greater appreciation of local cultures for tourists as well as the community members themselves if culture is appropriately integrated into ecotourism projects.

=15.11 Conclusion= <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Costa Rica is a middle-income country, with far lower poverty indicators than other countries in the region. Recent decades have brought with them increased international competition and considerable regional turbulence, yet Costa Rica has succeeded in maintaining a fair national human development strategy, based on public social services and universal access. Public social investment helps to mitigate the effects of poverty. The country also pursues a very active policy against discrimination against women. Nevertheless, there is a significant pay gap of 30% on average between men and women in the private sector, and an even bigger gap at the upper end of the scale. The female unemployment rate is also higher than the male. A 10% inflation rate over the last ten years and a lack of public finances made it impossible to invest enough in infrastructure and social services, the priorities of the previous Government and for the current one. The last fifteen years have seen a widening of the gap between the social classes, primarily as a result of growing income differentials. Another worrying trend is the two-fold increase in the number of people living in shanty towns, with no access to basic services, in greater San José.

Many current rating systems neglect the importance of social sustainability as it relates to the economy and built environment. Environmental inequalities also often reflect deficits in social issues. Failure to maintain urban infrastructure can lead to poor health and disease due to poor waste and water treatment. Ralph Chapman of New Zealand’s Ministry of Economic Development raises the important questions “how might better infrastructure contribute to health, say; how might reducing congestion contribute to both better social outcomes through access to community services; and how might a different energy policy emphasis contribute to both reducing infrastructure costs and improving security of supply, with social, environmental and economic benefits.” For sustainable initiatives to succeed and effectively save future generations, there must be a movement to improve existing global living qualities while still preserve the earth for future generations in an effort to create a global standard of sustainable living. Solving such environmental issues as pollution will also improve the life quality and comfort of the citizens. Additionally, for social sustainability to be achievable ecosystems must be protected and biodiversity must be preserved.

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