MEASURING OUTCOMES A Model for Tracking Economic Social

MEASURING OUTCOMES A Model for Tracking Economic, Social, Environment and Cultural Factors Presented by Joonmo Kang and Carla Fleisher Faculty advisors Ken Harrington and Judi Mc. Lean Parks INTRODUCTION The Missouri Botanical Garden views economic development as an important aspect of environmental conservation and education efforts In 2006 Washington University became involved in MBG’s program to preserve littoral forest in the area of the Mahabo commune ASSUMPTIONS Baseline economic, social, and environmental estimates The difference between baseline estimates and actual measures represents development due to MBG’s involvement Different projects are being planned and implemented to develop Mahabo’s economy OVERVIEW OF THE MODEL The model is divided into three main sections This development will help ensure the success of conservation efforts For each section, the model first predicts the baseline estimate to show where Mahabo would stand without MBG’s involvement and predicts what will happen to the Mahabo given on the available data PURPOSE Create a comprehensive, dynamic representation of Mahabo’s economy Track the effect of MBG’s project in Mahabo on economic, social, and environmental factors Capture trends in growth Determine the point at which development will become self-sustainable Serve as a guide for future development projects Allow users to make predictions about the future based on trends in the data Make use of data that already exists DESIGN User-friendly layout with economic, social, environmental factors in the most left hand column and rows spanning 2002 -2020 Summaries at the top with individual sections underneath Dynamic so that data can easily be manipulated and updated Transparent so that formulas can easily be integrated and updated Uses data collected by the government and community champions General Summary provides general information about the village such as population, family income, geographic size In addition to the general information, the summary estimates the total economic impact and expected impacts on the environment by measuring the rate of deforestation Summary of the Social Impacts selects education, health, crime rate, and other factors to measure social impact Summary of the Economic Impacts measures the economic effect of MBG, Blessing Basket Project, Tiavo bank loans, the health clinic, the school system, and the school nutrition program For each group, the model shows units of the capital assets, labor, and its operating cost LIMITATIONS/CONCERNS Can only represent quantifiable aspects of Mahabo’s situation Lack of consideration for external forces Lack of data and anecdotal evidence CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS Community leaders and Washington University faculty and students will continue to gather data to be entered in the model Anecdotal evidence from community members would provide an important validation of the trends observed in the model Once fully functional, should track trends and capture the point at which development in the commune has gained enough momentum to be self -sustaining