Abstract
For local community indicator-driven programming, localizing international well-being standards, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), increases the capacity to connect, interact, and engage with systems at both the international level and the local, individual level. Making efforts to connect local communities to SDGs means more than just achieving these broader, international aims. It means incorporating best practices strategies into serving the youth, adults, households, and individuals that make up these local communities. These members are the most critical partners in connecting local communities to become more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable.
Currently, counties in California’s San Francisco Bay Area are working with their local communities to localize SDGs. Santa Cruz County, a small beach community on the central coast of the state, is one of these counties that is changing the way they engage with and connect to SDGs. This article uses Santa Cruz County as a case study to understand how to mainstream, incentivize, and meaningfully engage with SDGs at the local level. For the past two decades, Santa Cruz County has localized SDGs through implementation of a multi-sector approach, which includes a combination of tracking community wellbeing through a robust community assessment project, providing youth violence prevention programs, and releasing reports focused on youth wellbeing. These consistent efforts are supported by including applicable and measurable objectives and goals found at the local, state, and national levels. Examples of these efforts include: (1) Healthy People 2020, released by the US Department of Health and Human Services, is a series of goals that Santa Cruz County integrates into its community indicator programs, which benchmark local progress; and (2) County Health Rankings, under the auspices of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provide an additional schema from which to improve and progress toward the frameworks discussed at the international level. Collectively, these programs facilitate Santa Cruz County’s continuous efforts toward achieving equity and eliminating disparities and ultimately creating social and physical environments that promote sustainable development standards for all.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The complete report is available at www.appliedsurveyresearch.org
- 2.
Santa Cruz County. (2014). Economic Vitality Study.
- 3.
Dean Runyan Associates, Inc. (2019). California Travel Impacts 2010-2018p.
- 4.
Visit Santa Cruz County (VSCC). Tourism Facts. Accessed on July 26, 2016, from http://www.santacruzca.org/partners/tourism-facts.php
- 5.
California Housing Partnership. (2018 September). Santa Cruz County’s Housing Emergency and Proposed Solutions.
- 6.
NAEYC. A Call for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. Accessed on October 2, 2019, from https://www.naeyc.org/policy/excellence
- 7.
University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Research and Education. Economic Impacts of Early Care and Education in California.
- 8.
Heckman, James, The Life-cycle Benefits of an Influential early Childhood Program. Accessed on October 17, 2017, from https://heckmanequation.org/the-heckman-equation/
- 9.
Search Institute. Accessed on August 2, 2016, from http://www.search-institute.org/research/developmental-assets
- 10.
Search Institute. Accessed on August 2, 2016, from http://www.search-institute.org/research/developmental-assets
- 11.
U.S. Department of Education. 2010. Diverse Learners.
- 12.
U.S. Department of Education. 2010. Diverse Learners.
- 13.
U.S. Department of the Treasury with the U.S. Department of Education. 2012. The Economics of Higher Education.
- 14.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2011). National Healthcare Disparities and Quality Report. Washington, DC.
- 15.
Billings, J., Bidman, A.B., Grumbach, K., et al. (1995). Preventable hospitalizations and access to health care. Journal of American Medical Association, 274(4): 305–311.
- 16.
ChildStats.gov. America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. Usual Source of Health Care. 2015. http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/care2.asp. Accessed October 21, 2015.
- 17.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Child Health USA 2014. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014.
- 18.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2011). Healthy People 2020 objectives. Retrieved from http://healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=1
- 19.
Bernstein J, Chollet D, Peterson S. How Does Insurance Coverage Improve Health Outcomes?. ISSUE BRIEF 2010. Available at: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/~/media/publications/pdfs/health/reformhealthcare_ib1.pdf. Accessed October 21, 2015.
- 20.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2020. Healthy People 2020. Accessed on August 9, 2016, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/maternal-infant-and-child-health
- 21.
What is PedNSS/PNSS? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/pedness/what_is/pnss_health_indicators.htm. Accessed October 2015.
- 22.
Kaye K, Stewart Ng A. TEEN CHILDBEARING, EDUCATION, AND ECONOMIC WELLBEING. Why It Matters: Teen Childbearing, Education, and Economic Wellbeing 2012. Available at: https://thenationalcampaign.org/sites/default/files/resource-primary-download/childbearing-education-economicwellbeing.pdf. Accessed October 2015.
- 23.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Why it matters: Teen pregnancy. 2012. Accessed November 2015 from: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/why-it-matters/wim_teens.aspx
- 24.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2020. Healthy People 2020. Accessed December 2015 from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/nutrition-and-weight-status
- 25.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight & Obesity. Healthy Food Environments. Accessed December 2015 from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies/healthy-food-env.html
- 26.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health-Related Quality of Life. Accessed September 2016 from http://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/concept.htm
- 27.
National Alliance to End Homelessness. Snapshot of Homelessness. Accessed September 2016 from http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/snapshot_of_homelessness
- 28.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2019). The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.
- 29.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2019). The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.
- 30.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2019). The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.
- 31.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2019). The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.
- 32.
American Psychological Association. Civic Engagement. Accessed September 2016 from http://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement.aspx
- 33.
Gergen, Christopher. (2012, April 17). The Benefits of Civic Engagement for Tomorrow’s Leaders. Accessed September 2016 from https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/17/benefits-civic-engagement-tomorrows-leaders
- 34.
Child Trends Data Bank. Neighborhood Safety. Accessed September 2016 from http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=neighborhood-safety
- 35.
Child Trends Data Bank. Neighborhood Safety. Accessed September 2016 from http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=neighborhood-safety
- 36.
California Department of Justice, Division of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence. (2010). Organized Crime in California. Retrieved from: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/publications/org_crime2010.pdf
- 37.
Howell, J. C. (2007). Menacing or mimicking? Realities of youth gangs. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 58(2), 39–50. Retrieved from: http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/Menacing-or-Mimicking.pdf
- 38.
Juvenile Arrests Summary – Kidsdata.org. Kidsdata.org. Available at: http://www.kidsdata.org/topic/30/juvenile-arrests/summary#jump=why-important. Accessed November 23, 2015.
- 39.
Prevent Juvenile Delinquency. Policy for Results 2015. Available at: http://www.policyforresults.org/youth/prevent-juvenile-delinquency. Accessed November 23, 2015.
- 40.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Department of Environmental Protection. Accessed September 2016 from http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dep/air/aq/health-and-env-effects-air-pollutions.pdf
- 41.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Air Quality. http://www.cdc.gov/air/
- 42.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Air Quality. http://www.cdc.gov/air/
References
Applied Survey Research (2016, September 27) Community connectedness and wellbeing at the local, regional, and (inter)national levels (PowerPoint Presentation)
Applied Survey Research (2017, November) Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project, Year 23. Retrieved from: https://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org/scccap
Evidence for Action (n.d.) What is a culture of health? Retrieved from Evidence for Action: https://www.evidenceforaction.org/what-culture-health
Friedman M (2015) Trying hard is not good enough: how to produce measurable improvements for customers and communities. PARSE Publishing. Retrieved from http://resultsaccountability.com/about/what-is-results-based-accountability/
Kern ML, Waters LE, Adler A, White MA (2015) A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the PERMA framework. J Posit Psychol, 10(3):262–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2014.936962
Positive Psychology Program (2017, February 24) The PERMA model: your scientific theory of happiness. Retrieved from: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/perma-model/
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2013, February 13) Santa Cruz County, CA: 2013 RWJF Culture of Health Prize. Retrieved from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2013/02/santa-cruz-county%2D%2Dcalifornia%2D%2D2013-roadmaps-to-health-prize.html
Seppala E (2014, May 8) Connectedness & Health: the science of social connection. Retrieved from Stanford Medicine: The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education: http://ccare.stanford.edu/uncategorized/connectedness-health-the-science-of-social-connection-infographic/
U.S. Census Bureau (2019) American community survey: community facts – Santa Cruz County. Retrieved from: https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml
United Nations (n.d.) Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from United Nations: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
United Way of Santa Cruz County (n.d.) Retrieved from Santa Cruz County’s Youth Violence Prevention Task Force: http://www.sccyvpt.org/
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brutschy, S., Anderson-Ochoa, J., Connery, J., Maurillo, D.R. (2021). How Local Communities Can Align with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: A Santa Cruz County Case Study. In: Abraham, D.B., Iyer, S.D. (eds) Promoting the Sustainable Development Goals in North American Cities. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59173-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59173-1_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-59172-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-59173-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)