Photo credit: David Clode via Unsplash
OneNature President, Beth Allgood, co-authored an article that has just been published in the International Journal of Community Well-being, “Tethering Natural Capital and Cultural Capital for a More Sustainable Post-COVID-19 World”.
This article, written in 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, focuses on how the pandemic exacerbated large forces like climate change, cultural ethnocentrism and racism, and the magnification of wealth inequality. These difficult-to-navigate issues that harmed communities and their well-being allowed us to learn vital lessons that inform the field of community well-being long after the end of the pandemic.
Authors Craig Talmage, Beth Allgood, Brien Ashdown, Ava Brennan, Sally Hill, Eric Trevan, and John Waugh took a look at how scholars used political capital, financial capital, and social capital to address and approach these complex issues. The authors argued that natural capital and cultural capital hold significance and must not be overlooked.
The article displays the deep connections between natural capital and social capital through literature review and community cases from around the world. By connecting modern understandings of natural capital and cultural capital, this article enhances community development theory and practice through informing practices and strengthening community well-being. The authors propose a better way to incorporate economic, environmental, and social justice in both scholarship and practice to enhance community development and respond to the ways the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the world.