community finder, and a newsletter). A new program in the Map Centre assists users to create their own maps by geography
Nova Scotia Community Counts Project Description: Hundreds of communities and thousands of facts are available on one website. Nova Scotia Community Counts provides to a wide range of data and makes it easy illustrate the unique nature of each community. Project staff gathers information from government departments and agencies about the province’s social, health, economic, and environmental conditions, then turn it into data that can easily be used by decision makers. The website presents data under the categories of finances, statistics, geography, topic, community profile, economic region profile, policy views, and other resources (links, community finder, and a newsletter). A new program in the Map Centre assists users to create their own maps by geography, theme, population characteristics, and community assets. For example, you can create a local map of services for seniors, availability of child care, or responses to crime, and then compare it to other communities and the province. This website continues to grow and evolve in response to feedback and demonstrated needs from its users. Why is this important? Government, communities, and businesses make decisions about policy, programs, and planning without adequate information. Often the data they need is not available, takes too long to retrieve, is out of date, or doesn’t directly relate to their question. Nova Scotia Community Counts provides free, easy access to all existing provincial data on a single website. Its social and economic data allows communities to map a big picture of themselves and compare it with other communities. And it’s designed to support evidencebased decisions by governments and other organizations, particularly related to the health and well-being of Nova Scotians and to developing sustainable communities. Funders: Economics and Statistics, Nova Scotia Department of Finance Who might be interested? Community groups and citizens Researchers and students Development and business organizations Community health boards Government departments, agencies, and regional boards For more information contact: Name: Malcolm Shookner, Manager Institution: Nova Scotia Community Counts You can view more on the website.
