Community-Based Monitoring in Support of Local Sustainability

TLDR

Community‑based monitoring activities are growing in Canada and are needed to support local sustainability through context‑specific, iterative, and adaptive approaches. The study develops an enhanced conceptual framework for Canadian CBM based on community mapping, participation assessment, capacity building, and information delivery. The framework was evaluated by guiding a pilot CBM project in 31 Canadian communities, applying the four dynamic themes of mapping, participation assessment, capacity building, and information delivery. The framework successfully directed the pilot and trained coordinators, but its limitations include insufficient attention to community diversity, linearity, and lack of adaptive synergy.

Abstract

Abstract Community-based monitoring (CBM) activities in Canada are increasing. A conceptual framework developed for and used to guide a pilot CBM project in 31 Canadian communities is evaluated. The framework provided the strategic direction necessary for successful implementation of the pilot and proved useful in the training of community coordinators hired for the project. Limitations of the framework include its inadequate attention to community diversity, its linearity, and insufficient expression of the adaptive and synergistic nature of its components. In order to support local sustainability, CBM appears to require an approach that is context-specific, iterative, and adaptive. Given these emergent characteristics, an enhanced conceptual framework for CBM in Canada is developed based on four dynamic themes: community mapping, participation assessment, capacity building, and information delivery.