Building Community
Capital
Dr Trevor Hancock
Health Promotion Consultant
Victoria BC, Canada
Outline
1. Community Capital
2. Development
3. Partners
4. Community DevelopmentBuilding Community Capital
1. Community
Capital
Health and Wealth
“A nation’s health
is a nation’s wealth.”
Masthead of The Sanitarian,
published in Britain in the 19th
century
What is Wealth?
Experts in ‘alternative economics’
have long suggested that wealth
consists of four forms of capital.
That view is increasingly accepted by,
among others, the World Bank, the
World Economic Forum, even (parts
of) Wall Street.
Economic
capital
Economic capital the means
• creation of adequate wealth
and healthy jobs
• equitable distribution of wealth
and income
• ecologically sustainable
development
Natural
capital
Economic
capital
Natural capital the bedrock
• high environmental quality
- air, water, soil
• healthy ecosystems and
sustainable resources
• habitat and wildlife conservation
Natural Capitalism
• Increase
productivity of
natural resources
– implement whole
system design
– adopt innovative
technologies
• Shift to biologically
inspired production
models
– closed loop systems
• Move to solutionsbased business
model
– services (e.g.
illumination) not
goods
• Reinvest in natural
capital
(Lovins,
Lovins and
Hawken, 1999)
Social
capital
Natural
capital
Economic
capital
Social capital the glue
Three aspects of social capital
• social cohesion and ‘civicness’ (Putnam)
• public investment in the ‘soft’ social
infrastructure (health services, education,
social services, libraries etc)
• the judicial, political and
constitutional infrastructure of
society
Social
capital
Natural
capital
Human
capital
Economic
capital
Human capital the end
• educated, innovative,
creative people
• participatory governance
and civil rights
• healthy people
Social v human
capital
Social capital is distinguished
from human capital in that it
does not exist within any single
individual but instead is
concerned with the structure of
relationships between and
among individuals. Coleman, 1998
The four forms of
community capital
Social
capital
Natural
capital
Human
capital
Economic
capital
Healthy Community
model
Global Wealth
A 1995 World Bank study
suggested that of the world’s total
wealth
• 20% is ‘produced assets’ (economic
wealth)
• 20% is ecological (natural) capital
• 60% is a combination of social and
human capital
2. Development
What is
Development?
“A gradual unfolding or
growth”
Chambers 20th Century
Dictionary, 1972 edition
Health and
Development
The four forms of wealth
require four forms of
development if health is to
be maximised.
Economic development
• development of the economy to
provide the means of ensuring
that the basic determinants of
health are adequately met, thus
avoiding absolute material
deprivation
– enables us to ‘purchase’ health
Social development
• development of the communities
and societies of people to
ensure that everyone has an
equal opportunity of benefiting
from development, thus
reducing relative material and
psychosocial deprivation and
ensuring social equity and
health.
Sustainable
development
• development in a manner that is
indefinitely environmentally
sustainable, ensuring that future
generations and other species can
continue to survive and thrive,
while providing for economic,
social and human development
today and in the future.
Human development
• ensuring that every human
being attains their fullest
possible human potential.
Real Capitalism
Real capitalists do not build
just one form of capital economic capital - by
depleting the other three
forms of capital.
They build all four forms of
capital.
A New Capitalism
for the 21st Century
The new capitalism must
simultaneously increase
• ecological capital
• social capital
• economic capital
• human capital
3. Partners
How is Health
Produced?
The main determinants of health are
• peace
• food
• shelter
• education
• income
• stable ecosystem
• sustainable
• social justice and
resources
equity
Ottawa Charter for Health WHO, 1986
Who Produces
Health?
Those who
• build peaceful relations, locally and
globally
• grow our food
• build our homes and communities
• educate our kids
• create good jobs
Partners for health
• Public sector
•
•
•
•
•
– local government
– local schools
Community/NGO sector
Faith organisations
Private sector
Labour unions
etc.
Who should be our
private sector partners?
Those whose bottom line
improves when our bottom
line improves.
–then we share a common
interest
Caveat partner!
Don’t partner with those who
• make money from selling ill
health
– the tobacco industry and others
• lose or don’t make money if the
health of the population
improves
– the ‘medical-industrial complex’?
• profit in ways that harm health
Private Sector
Partners for Health
Whose bottom line improves
when the public’s health
improves?
•
•
•
•
health and life insurance companies
tourism and recreation industries
sport and fitness industries
all businesses
Partners/2
Who are the real creators of health
in that they provide the basic
determinants of health?
•
•
•
•
•
food producers
home builders
teachers
clean water industries
creators of healthful employment
Partners/3
Who is already working to
increase all four forms of
capital simultaneously?
• community gardeners
• community-based energy retrofits
• public transportation
4. Community
DevelopmentBuilding Community
Capital
Some examples
Community gardens
• Social capital
– Working together
– Learning about food from other
cultures
– Inter-generational links
• Ecological capital
– Creating greenspace
– Organic production
Community gardens
• Economic capital
– Reducing cost of food
– Creating local employment
• Human capital
– Being active
– learning about food and nature
– eating better
Energy Retro-fits
in housing
• Social capital
– Working together
– Creating local planning group
• Ecological capital
– Saving energy
– Reducing greenhouse gases and
other pollutants
Energy Retro-fits
in housing
• Economic capital
– Creating local employment
– Increasing disposable income
• Human capital
– Improving health via better
housing quality
– Acquiring skills and knowledge
Public transit
• Social capital
– The ‘great democratiser’
– Increases access for people
without cars
• Ecological capital
– Saving energy
– Reducing greenhouse gases and
other pollutants
Public transit
• Economic capital
– Reduced cost of living
– Increased disposable income
• Human capital
– Reduced disease due to air
pollution
– Safer mode of transport
– More active way of commuting
It takes a whole
community to raise
healthy people