Using Social Indicators to Promote Best Management Practice Adoption in the Midwest
Clifty Creek - taken by Josh Richardson
Watershed groups, coordinators, and research teams often spend a great deal of time collecting and analyzing information about environmental conditions such as soil type, topography, hydrology, and land use in their watersheds. However, relatively little time is spent collecting and analyzing information about the social conditions in their watershed. Many watershed management efforts require changes in the behavior of individuals that affect environmental conditions that, in turn, impact water quality. Social indicators can help watershed groups better understand and address social conditions, such as the knowledge, attitudes, capacity, and behaviors of those individuals who affect water quality in the watershed. To learn more about social indicators click here. This site will provide additional information about the research that is being conducted by faculty, staff, and students at Purdue University, The Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University on how to incorporate social indicator data into watershed groups' educational and outreach programs.
