197
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Lucatello et al. (eds.), Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate
Change in the Global South, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22464-6_12
Chapter 12
Sustainability Assessment in Indigenous
Communities: A Tool for Future
Participatory Decision Making
D. Galván-Martínez, I. Espejel, M. C. Arredondo-García,
C. Delgado- Ramírez, C. Vázquez-León, A. Hernández, and C. Gutiérrez
Abstract Developing an adequate set of indicators and a more consistent methodology to assess sustainability in a community is a task that requires understanding
the level of viability of the systems involved and their contribution to sustainable
development. The objective of this research was to design and apply an index to
estimate the sustainability of rural indigenous communities characterized by intercultural processes. Three communities inhabiting the arid zones of Baja California,
Mexico: Pa Ipai, Kumiai, and Cucapá are the study cases. To develop such an index,
a review was made of the most common indicators used worldwide for measuring
sustainability in rural communities. The method to reduce and focalize the list of
indicators consisted in identifying indicators from the answers given to questionnaires applied to 166 individuals chosen at random in the three studied communities. The answers were analyzed applying the content analysis qualitative tool. The
responses were assigned a weight ranging from 0 to 1 according to the remoteness
(0) or proximity (1) to sustainability of response. The results depicted, in a spider
graph, that the Pa Ipai community has the highest values towards sustainability,
while Kumiai is on average and, the community of Cucapá with the lowest values
and, therefore, far from achieving sustainability. For the particular case of the
D. Galván-Martínez · C. Gutiérrez
Programa de Doctorado en Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, Universidad Autónoma de Baja
California, Ensenada, Mexico
I. Espejel (*)
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California UABC,
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
e-mail: ileana.espejel@uabc.edu.mx
M. C. Arredondo-García
Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico
C. Delgado-Ramírez
Escuela de Antropología e Historia del Norte de México, INAH, Chihuahua, Mexico
C. Vázquez-León · A. Hernández
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, Mexico
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
S. Lucatello et al. (eds.), Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate
Change in the Global South, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22464-6_12
Chapter 12
Sustainability Assessment in Indigenous
Communities: A Tool for Future
Participatory Decision Making
D. Galván-Martínez, I. Espejel, M. C. Arredondo-García,
C. Delgado- Ramírez, C. Vázquez-León, A. Hernández, and C. Gutiérrez
Abstract Developing an adequate set of indicators and a more consistent methodology to assess sustainability in a community is a task that requires understanding
the level of viability of the systems involved and their contribution to sustainable
development. The objective of this research was to design and apply an index to
estimate the sustainability of rural indigenous communities characterized by intercultural processes. Three communities inhabiting the arid zones of Baja California,
Mexico: Pa Ipai, Kumiai, and Cucapá are the study cases. To develop such an index,
a review was made of the most common indicators used worldwide for measuring
sustainability in rural communities. The method to reduce and focalize the list of
indicators consisted in identifying indicators from the answers given to questionnaires applied to 166 individuals chosen at random in the three studied communities. The answers were analyzed applying the content analysis qualitative tool. The
responses were assigned a weight ranging from 0 to 1 according to the remoteness
(0) or proximity (1) to sustainability of response. The results depicted, in a spider
graph, that the Pa Ipai community has the highest values towards sustainability,
while Kumiai is on average and, the community of Cucapá with the lowest values
and, therefore, far from achieving sustainability. For the particular case of the
D. Galván-Martínez · C. Gutiérrez
Programa de Doctorado en Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, Universidad Autónoma de Baja
California, Ensenada, Mexico
I. Espejel (*)
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California UABC,
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
e-mail: ileana.espejel@uabc.edu.mx
M. C. Arredondo-García
Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Mexico
C. Delgado-Ramírez
Escuela de Antropología e Historia del Norte de México, INAH, Chihuahua, Mexico
C. Vázquez-León · A. Hernández
El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, Mexico