Social sustainability : elements and influences
(Book - Regular Print)

ProQuest Number: 30240910

Advisor: Alison Ormsby.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Master of Arts from Prescott College in Environmental Studies: Social Sustainability.

M.A.,Prescott College,2022.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-66).

"Social sustainability is an essential pillar of organizational success; lack of social sustainability is often an element of organizational failure. This study examined the interpersonal elements of social sustainability through two lenses and approaches. The first was a comparative case study on the interpersonal elements of social sustainability in six intentional communities, three located in Israel and three in Thailand. The comparative case study involved visiting each community and engaging in participant observation, conducting key informant interviews, and distributing anonymous surveys to community members. It investigated what interpersonal elements both undermined and supported social sustainability, as well as conflict management in these communities. The second research component involved facilitating a series of workshops. These workshops combined a diverse range of interpersonal skills frameworks to give participants actionable tools they could use to improve the social dimension of sustainability in groups and relationships in their lives. Participants were asked to participate in an anonymous survey after the workshop in order to gauge their satisfaction with and the usefulness of the frameworks presented in the workshop. Five main factors were found to bolster social sustainability: support; a strong sense of similarities in vision; a shared spiritual orientation; viewing community living as a personal growth practice; and egalitarian power structure. Five factors were found to undermine social sustainability: lack of privacy and alone time; few long-term community members; lack of support in community-related tasks; Founder?s Syndrome; and need for formal rules and structure. Causes of conflict varied widely by community. Conflict themes that were raised in multiple communities included: levels of contribution to the community; finances; and romantic partner conflicts. It is recommended that future researchers continue examining the effects of interpersonal dynamics on social sustainability in communities."--leaf 5.

Also available in an electronic form.