Myriem Le Ferrand Radjef

Economics for Peace Institute spearheads research and implementation programs with two areas of focus: 1) "real local input" with social fieldwork; and, 2) the economics of community well-being and ecosystem stewardship. www.socialfieldwork.net (launch in 2020) www.econ4peace.org (launched 2010, updates forthcoming) Economics for Peace Institute works through education and economic development to build peace, to foster sustainability and to restore the Earth’s natural systems. The Institute promotes social fieldwork and participatory evaluation to revive regional economies. The Institute seeks to build a community of practitioners to support locals in conducting social fieldwork as a foundation for public policy decision. Real local input and socio-cultural indicators of quality of life are missing links in regional planning data used by electeds and stakeholders. The Institute advances neutral, science-based, participatory research strategies to reveal socio-cultural indicators of community well-being and ecosystem stewardship. These critical measures of social impact can unify local people to reach common regional objectives. Such a baseline is a necessary first step in conducting Environmental Impact Statements. The Institute was founded in 2008. Soon later, Obama first memorandum on open governance: government shall be "collaborative, transparent and participatory." As a secondary tier or effort, the Institute plans to target ecotourism. Participatory ecotourism voluntouring will serve as an earned income strategy to support conservation objectives and locally-administered revenue re-investment. Project sites will be evaluated using socio-cultural indicators of community well-being and ecosystem stewardship. In this way, we can strengthen conservation of critical habitat while strengthening local economies and culturally-informed preferences for sustainable livelihoods.