Valuing humanity’s life support systems: inclusive wealth and satoyama landscapes

摘要: We present a new metric known as the inclusive wealth index (IWI) for evaluating progress in human well-being. The metric is based on a welfare economic framework but goes just beyond incorporating the economic component ofwelfare to include natural and social systems. There has been much debate ondeclining natural systems and the implications this will have on human well-being. We make a strong case in contradiction to recent literature from the natural sciences in our assertion that hurnanity’s life support systems include not just the natural systems but also the social and economic systems. We illustrate how local place-based programs can contribute to maintaining and strengthening these life support systems. The socio-ecological production ofsntoycmm landscapes in Japan will be used to illustrate this synergy.