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Community Quality-of-Life Indicators pp 89–113Cite as

The Development of DISC (Decision Integration for Strong Communities): An Agile Software Application of Sustainability Indicators for Small and Rural Communities

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Part of the book series: Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being ((CQLWB))

Abstract

Small towns and rural communities, like many larger cities, are looking for ways to strengthen their economies, improve quality of life, and build on local assets. They are seeking to create their own path to sustainability that fits their size, geography, and resources and also preserves their distinctive characteristics. To address this need, the Decision Integration for Strong Communities (DISC) application was developed to offer relevant information curated to assist smaller communities with addressing their sustainability goals. To ensure DISC is useful to a variety of smaller and rural communities, EPA project staff reached out to small numbers of interested communities and potential users at different steps of the development process. In late 2019, the DISC application was beta tested by potential users and is now downloadable upon request to collaborating communities.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the following for their contributions to the successful development and execution of the DISC downloadable application.

EPA Region 10: Bruce Duncan, Karl Pepple, Charles Bert

EPA ORD: Melissa McCullough, Kurt Wolfe, Rajbir Parmar, Lisa Smith

ORISE/ORAU at EPA ORD: Vivian Phan, Seth Jenkins, Connor Thorson, Courtney McMillion, Paul Dunken, Kristi Swisher

EPA OCR: Alexis Rourk, Stephanie Bertaina.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US EPA, Office of Research and Development, CEMM/GEMMD, 1 Sabine Island Drive, Gulf Breeze, FL, 32561, USA

    Kevin Summers & Linda Harwell

  2. US EPA, Region 10, 1200 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA

    Viccy Salazar

  3. US EPA, Office of Research and Development, CPHEA/PESD, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    Dave Olszyk & Allen Brookes

Authors
  1. Kevin Summers
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  2. Viccy Salazar
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  3. Dave Olszyk
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  4. Linda Harwell
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  5. Allen Brookes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin Summers .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. LeMoyne College and Central New York Community Foundation, Syracuse, NY, USA

    Frank Ridzi

  2. Community Indicators Consortium, Issaquah, WA, USA

    Chantal Stevens

  3. RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Melanie Davern

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Disclaimer: The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any mention of trade names, products, or services does not imply an endorsement by the U.S. Government or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA does not endorse any commercial products, services, or enterprises.

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Summers, K., Salazar, V., Olszyk, D., Harwell, L., Brookes, A. (2020). The Development of DISC (Decision Integration for Strong Communities): An Agile Software Application of Sustainability Indicators for Small and Rural Communities. In: Ridzi, F., Stevens, C., Davern, M. (eds) Community Quality-of-Life Indicators. Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48182-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48182-7_6

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