Chapter 6
Implications
Abstract It is important to consider the ramifications of the fieldwork study findings for the sampled study area in comparison to Costa Rica at the national level and
globally to the world. This chapter revisits the fieldwork results from the study area
in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor and examines the solutions presented
by the Footprint Calculator for the categories of city, energy, food, and population. It
is important to do this because local–regional lifestyle or cultural trends in the
corridor operate to lower the Ecological Footprint (or augment biocapacity), offering
lessons learned or solutions. The chapter then draws upon the lessons learned from
these solutions as well as uniquely from the study area based on the fieldwork
findings. As part of this assessment is a sensitivity analysis based on three scenarios
stemming from questions in the Footprint Calculator. The findings reveal housing to
be the most affected in the sensitivity analysis, followed by transportation, and lastly
by food categories. Finally, the contributions of the field study as a case study justify
the research and present the implications of the case study.
Keywords Case study · Field study · Data quality · Lessons learned · Sensitivity
analysis · Cultural implications · Lifestyle choices · Rural environment ·
Socioeconomics
It is important to consider the ramifications of the fieldwork findings for the sampled
study area in comparison to Costa Rica at the national level and globally to the
world. This chapter revisits the fieldwork results from the study area in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor and examines the solutions presented by the Footprint Calculator for the categories of city, energy, food, and population. It is
important to do this because some local–regional lifestyle or cultural trends in the
corridor may operate to lower or augment the Ecological Footprint (and
biocapacity), offering lessons learned or solutions.
When compared to the world’s Ecological Footprint of 2.8 global hectares per
person for 2016 (Global Footprint Network 2020), Costa Rica’s Ecological Footprint is similar at 2.7 global hectares per person. To achieve strong sustainability,
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. J. Thornbush, The Ecological Footprint as a Sustainability Metric,
SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62666-2_6
81
Implications
Abstract It is important to consider the ramifications of the fieldwork study findings for the sampled study area in comparison to Costa Rica at the national level and
globally to the world. This chapter revisits the fieldwork results from the study area
in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor and examines the solutions presented
by the Footprint Calculator for the categories of city, energy, food, and population. It
is important to do this because local–regional lifestyle or cultural trends in the
corridor operate to lower the Ecological Footprint (or augment biocapacity), offering
lessons learned or solutions. The chapter then draws upon the lessons learned from
these solutions as well as uniquely from the study area based on the fieldwork
findings. As part of this assessment is a sensitivity analysis based on three scenarios
stemming from questions in the Footprint Calculator. The findings reveal housing to
be the most affected in the sensitivity analysis, followed by transportation, and lastly
by food categories. Finally, the contributions of the field study as a case study justify
the research and present the implications of the case study.
Keywords Case study · Field study · Data quality · Lessons learned · Sensitivity
analysis · Cultural implications · Lifestyle choices · Rural environment ·
Socioeconomics
It is important to consider the ramifications of the fieldwork findings for the sampled
study area in comparison to Costa Rica at the national level and globally to the
world. This chapter revisits the fieldwork results from the study area in the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor and examines the solutions presented by the Footprint Calculator for the categories of city, energy, food, and population. It is
important to do this because some local–regional lifestyle or cultural trends in the
corridor may operate to lower or augment the Ecological Footprint (and
biocapacity), offering lessons learned or solutions.
When compared to the world’s Ecological Footprint of 2.8 global hectares per
person for 2016 (Global Footprint Network 2020), Costa Rica’s Ecological Footprint is similar at 2.7 global hectares per person. To achieve strong sustainability,
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. J. Thornbush, The Ecological Footprint as a Sustainability Metric,
SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62666-2_6
81