Rural Community Wellbeing
The Rural Community Wellbeing Dashboard is Now LIVE!
There are many systems for assessing quality of life and wellbeing. However, many of these systems were designed for urban areas, or rely on labour-intensive data collection and analysis. Rural communities require easy access to reliable information that is relevant to the rural context.
ROI has developed a dashboard that displays wellbeing indicators for communities across Ontario. The dashboard was developed in collaboration with project partners, including the Ontario Ministries of Agriculture, Food, and Agribusiness and Rural Affairs, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and EcoCanada. Dashboard development and indicator selection were informed through engagement with a focus group of rural data champions whose involvement was integral to this process.
ROI’s Community Wellbeing Dashboard improves access to data and evidence for local decision making. The information on the dashboard can help communities:
- establish baselines
- identify priorities for change and research
- share stories and celebrate successes
- reveal data gaps for decision making
- monitor progress over time in future reports
The dashboard currently features over 60 indicators with data from 10 different sources.
Phase 1 of this project was completed in March 2023. ROI worked with four rural communities to create a pilot wellbeing dashboard. Early dashboard design was informed through feedback from four rural community partners.
Phase 2 commenced in June 2023 and focused on improving the pilot dashboard leading to the live launch of the Rural Community Wellbeing Dashboard!
The remainder of phase 2 work will focus on expanding indicator selection, identifying data sources, and engaging with communities to mobilize knowledge.
Who's Listening
Rural Ontario Institute
