New Paper: Methods for Assessing Social and Cultural Losses

Philip Halteman and several colleagues recently published a paper in the Policy Forum section of Science, based on work they have been involved with over the past many years. The article critiques the lack of inclusion of intangible social and cultural losses in impact assessments (citing losses experienced by Indigenous Peoples as a particularly egregious example), sets out seven “methodological requirements” for robust and defensible inclusion of those losses in logically consistent compensation efforts, and summarizes implications for public policy. The paper focuses on past losses (though similar methods could be used for likely future losses), is careful to highlight the partnerships and close involvement of the communities while maintaining their anonymity (at their request), and demonstrates that, though they are imperfect, methods do exist for including intangible as well as tangible losses in impact assessments.

You can find the paper here.

Photo: Jason Franson/The Canadian Press/AP Images