Would you like to learn more about how social-environmental-economic impact assessments can help inform policymaking? Check out this article by Sloane M. Hawes, Erin Flynn, Philip Tedeschi, & Kevin N. Morris

Please enjoy the following article from the Journal of Urban Affairs, available online.

Humane Communities: Social change through policies promoting collective welfare, by Sloane M. Hawes, Erin Flynn, Philip Tedeschi, & Kevin N. Morris

Abstract:

A Humane Community is defined by the presence of leaders, institutions, and policies working collaboratively across social and political systems to create and implement sustainable human, animal, and environmental welfare. Social-environmental-economic impact assessment (SEEIA) is a tool that can be used to inform policymaking at the municipal, county, state, and national levels to gain a comprehensive assessment of a proposed policy’s impacts on humans, animals, and the environment. In this paper, the Humane Community framework will be described and demonstrated by summarizing three previous studies that applied SEEIA to three different animal welfare policies: the “Compassion Center” concept of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; the “No Kill” Resolution of Austin, Texas; and the “Pit Bull Ban” in Denver, Colorado. The authors will discuss how SEEIA studies support stakeholders in identifying potential mechanisms including, but not limited to, legislative efforts through which social change can be generated to achieve a Humane Community.