On measuring sustainable development indicators

Sustainable development, as proposed by the Brundtland Report, requires carefully managed change to improve environmental and economic conditions as well as the quality of life for all people. Some of the problems involved in this demanding challenge faced by individuals, local communities, nations and the international community are discussed. In particular, nine indicators of sustainable development—gleaned from economic, socioeconomic and environmental studies—are critically reviewed. It is argued that a programme of detailed theoretical and empirical research is needed to develop a series of measures or indicators of sustainable development for strategic decision making and detailed environmental management.     

A regional-scale sustainable development index: the case of Baja California Sur,Mexico

Sustainable development, as a multi-dimensional concept, is difficult to measure. Some efforts using indicators and indices have appeared in recent years, but most were developed on a national scale. Use of sustainability indicators has proven valuable for attaining better management of the environment by minimizing information gaps and maximizing community capabilities in terms of economic, social, environmental, and institutional sustainability dimensions. However, at least in the case of developing countries, the potential exists that national sustainability measures, based on national level indicators, may mask problems in sub-national zones with highly unsustainable conditions. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate sustainable development at a local level, the use of which could be helpful in comparing different regions within a country or even among different countries. National sustainability indicators should result from a combination (whether additive or proportional) of regional sustainability indicators, as developed in this paper.     

Measuring sustainable governance in the European Union

This paper examines the problem of measuring sustainable governance in the European Union (EU-27) through the use of duality and the Slutsky equation. The proposed methodology is based on the application of a three-dimensional optimisation model, where the arguments of the objective (sustainable social welfare) function are economic goods that contribute to sustainable economic growth; environmental goods that provide for sustainable environmental protection; and social goods through which sustainable social development is achieved. The dual problem, formulated through this three-dimensional theoretical model, is solved to find the optimal solution, indicating a certain sustainability level. We suggest that this solution can be used for calculating the value of what we define here as the sustainable governmental policy indicator, which is considered to provide quantitative measurement of government policies on sustainable development within the context of ‘good governance’. Furthermore, it is suggested that the Slutsky equation can be used as a reliable method for long-term monitoring and planning of national as well as international good governance with regard to sustainable development policies. In its empirical part, the paper applies the theoretical model in an analysis of the sustainable development indicators (as set out in the Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) of the EU) in Bulgaria for the period 2000–2010 and compares them to those of the EU-27.     

Capacity building for sustainable development: some Mexican perspectives

A broadly defined scientific Capacity Building (CB) for Sustainable Development (SD) is needed all around the world, and the development of innovative capacities in the developing countries is a priority. For this, first we need to know how this concept is applied in some developing countries. In this paper we present some Mexican experiences in the field of capacity building for sustainable development. The main problems are the monodisciplinary training of the specialists, the absence of a sound policy for promotion, career development and assessment of researchers, as well as of their projects when they are interdisciplinary and development-oriented. The main proposals to solve these problems are the creation of mechanisms that foster and legitimize interdisciplinary work; a decentralized planning process with the specific objective of establishing the needs and orientations on a regional basis; provide resources to long-term projects, and finally, consensus on asking international funding agencies for stronger support for public higher education institutions in developing countries in order to increase and strengthen their capacity for education and research in general, and in the field of SD in particular.     

Measuring and assessing indicators of sustainable development for Scotland: a pilot survey

In this paper, we review three broad classes of indicators of sustainable development. These are economic, ecological and sociopolitical indicators. We then report the results of a pilot study which measured five different indicators for Scotland: an approximate environmentally-adjusted Net National Product; the Pearce-Atkinson Measure; Net Primary Production; Appropriated Carrying Capacity; and the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare. We find that not all indicators point in the same direction, but a majority suggest that Scotland is at best only marginally sustainable. Data limitations, however, suggest a degree of caution in the interpretation of these results.     

A sustainability index for small island developing states

This paper proposes a novel approach to measuring the progress of small island developing states (SIDS) towards sustainable development (SD) as set by the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Currently, these goals do not provide adequate guidance on how countries might measure their progress towards sustainability. We use these goals and a subset of their targets to develop an index with concrete targets, through the use of pertinent sustainability indicators, that SIDS should aim to achieve a sustainable society. In addition to the three categorical pillars of SD (social, economic and environmental), we included the category Climate Change and Disaster Management (incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction). The basis of our decision is that the UN and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have both recognized the vulnerability of SIDS to both environmental hazards. Our index scores a total 70 individual indicators for the four categories to track the progress of a SIDS towards a sustainable society. Using the Caribbean nation, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, as our SIDS case study, we report the average of the scores for each category to illustrate its progress towards sustainability. Overall Trinidad and Tobago is slowly progressing towards a more sustainably developed society. Our results show that the nation is only moderately successful regarding progress in three traditional pillars of SD, social, economic and environmental. However, Trinidad and Tobago scores poorly in the Climate Change and Disaster Management category and needs to improve in this area especially due to its vulnerability.     

Practical application of sustainable development in decision-making processes in the Great Lakes Basin

SUMMARY

Sustainable development has become the conceptual framework within which societal, economic and environmental issues are addressed at every level around the world. In 1993, a United States-Canada assembly of more than 250 Great Lakes leaders was convened to evaluate the efficacy of creative processes under way in the Great Lakes Basin relative to sustainable development and to identify key success factors and process characteristics which are consistent with principles of sustainable development. A combination of eight criteria for effective project management (i.e. stakeholder involvement; leadership; information and interpretation; planning; human resource development; results and indicators; review and feedback; stakeholder satisfaction) and six principles of sustainable development (i.e. long-range planning and intergenerational responsibility; carrying capacity; anticipation and prevention; full cost accounting; integration of economic, social and environmental factors; efficiency, innovation and continuous improvement) were developed to evaluate and help improve decision-making processes. Such criteria and principles may be useful in improving decision-making processes in other parts of the world.     

Sustainable tourism management and development of a Greek coastal municipality

A process is presented to facilitate the sustainable management and development of tourist destinations. Based on a specific reforming of the Limits of Acceptable Change planning system and combined with the Tourism Carrying Capacity concept into a common framework, specific steps are described to integrate environmental, social and economic information of a tourist destination into indicators, which are afterwards compared with reference conditions. The Leopold matrix is applied to identify and classify restrictions of development and provide the basis for negotiations between managers, stakeholders and local communities. Through a feedback process of continuous monitoring and adjustment, the aim is to focus developmental activities on restricting factors until all indicators upgrade to reference. A case study at a Greek coastal municipality (Ilida – western Greece) is applied to demonstrate the process. Activity zones are identified and 18 indicators are selected. Results suggest high potential for tourism development of the area. However, low scores are assigned to 8/18 indicators, reflecting restrictions, requiring priority under a sustainable development plan. The proposed process offers managers and stakeholders the ability to easily visualize/identify restrictions and assign developmental priorities within a step-by-step upgrading process, toward the sustainable management and development of tourist destinations.     

土壤学与广东持续农业的发展

持续农业是关于建立资源、生态、地力、经济效益等各个方面均可持续发展的农业制度的一种思想．水土流失、土地退化、耕地锐减、环境污染，制约着广东农业的持续发展．土壤学应围绕持续农业开展研究工作．目前应加强土壤生态环境的保护，防治土地退化，提高土壤肥力，保证耕地生产力的持续发展．应开展土壤资源的动态变化研究，为合理开发和利用土壤资源提供科学依据．     

The implementation of environmental education to promote sustainability: an overview of the processes and challenges

ABSTRACT

This paper interprets aspects of the implementation of environmental education in a Higher Education Institution, situated in a developing country, to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The paper will allow educators to categorise the multiplicity of ESD programmes and projects in higher education institutions, determine their limitations and acceptability, and benefit from the theoretical framework of affective learning in designing new ESD interventions. The paper will also provide an overview of the processes required to establish ESD in developing and developed countries. This paper will further help universities to develop a better understanding of how integration of the three components of sustainable development – economic development, social development and environmental protection – can be incorporated in higher education. The paper explores the challenges for planning the implementation of ESD in an education faculty, outlining the potential lessons learned that could assist in improving ESD efforts in Faculties of Education.     

An approach to evaluation of sustainability for Guangzhou's urban ecosystem

Guangzhou has ambitions to build itself into a world class metropolis by 2010. Sustainable development is the only way to achieve this magnificent goal. Based on the ecological perspective of sustainable development and the principles of ecosystem integrity, this paper develops an approach for evaluation of sustainable development in Guangzhou between 1986 and 1995. A hierarchical evaluation system of four tiers of sustainability indicators was established. Using the method of fuzzy multistage synthetic evaluation, sustainability development level index, QIx, was calculated for the indicators at the B, C, D, and E tiers. Development stages were identified based on these index values. The coordination degree among the economic, social, and natural subsystems was also computed. Further, an overall sustainability index for each year was computed by combining the development level index and the coordination degree. It was found that the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou had generally become more sustainable, in spite of fluctuations in coordination degree. The development level index of the economic subsystem has surpassed that of social and natural subsystems since 1995. Appropriate measures must be taken to ensure coordinated development among the subsystems for the purpose of sustainable development.     

Devising indicators of sustainable development for the mining and minerals industry: An analysis of critical background issues

The exact application of sustainable development in the mining and minerals industry has precipitated considerable debate in recent years. Since the publication of the Brundtland Commission's Report, Our Common Future, numerous explanations have been put forth in an attempt to define sustainable development in the mining and minerals context. Specifically, the inability of the Brundtland Report to outline an effective sustainability framework, combined with its contention that no single blueprint for sustainable development exists, has prompted a number of academics and practitioners to provide personal viewpoints on the application of sustainable development in the mining and minerals industry. This paper focuses on one aspect of the mining and minerals-sustainable development debate: the corporate perspective. It first uses the burgeoning body of literature to define sustainable development in the corporate mining context. Second, it addresses, against the background of this interpretation, many of the salient issues associated with developing a series of plausible Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) for use in the mining and minerals extraction industry. The paper clearly illustrates the difficulty in both arriving at a suitable working definition of sustainable development for an industry, and developing an acceptable set of universal standards for measuring environmental and socioeconomic performance.     

The systems approach for sustainable development at catchment and parish group levels

SUMMARY

Sustainable development considers the development of urban and rural areas, and agriculture is an important element in reaching that aim. After decades of using synthetic pesticides, fertilisers and growth hormones in agriculture, farmers as well as the public, policy and decision makers require options to minimise the negative impacts of agricultural practices on the environment and humans consistent with so called sustainable development. Such options are possible, but require time and a range of approaches. Agricultural production systems in Kent belong to a system and so the systems approach becomes useful to solve their problems. Agricultural activities are interrelated, considering their hierarchical levels and their interactions. Hence, agroecology as a discipline using a systems approach suggests the catchment level as an appropriate unit for the analysis, design, development and evaluation of the ecological and socioeconomic interactions that take place within it. This kind of analysis ideally requires a multidisciplinary team, using disciplinary tools such as GIs and many sources of data. The combination of such a wide range of types of data in a systems approach to sustainability is described as a way to support the public, researchers, policy and decision makers.     

Using the sustainable development goals towards a better understanding of sustainability challenges

The United Nations General Assembly agreed and approved in September 2015 the document ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, which contains a set of measures aiming to balance economic progress and protection of the environment, whilst at the same time remain aware of the need to address the many disparities still seen between industrialised and developing countries. The Agenda document consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which among many other tasks, intend to eradicate poverty and create better health conditions in both developed and developing countries. But despite the need for and the relevance of the SDGs, it is unclear how they may help to address present and future sustainability challenges. Based on the need to shed some light on such a relationship, this paper describes each of the SDGs, and offers an analysis of the extent to which their implementation may offer support to ongoing attempts to handle some of the pressing problems seen in pursuing sustainable development. Three case studies are presented to show in practice how best the SDGs can be handled. The paper concludes that the process of implementing the SDGs offers unrivalled opportunities to advance equal opportunity and foster economic empowerment, helping countries to promote the cause of sustainable development in their territories, hence benefiting their populations.     

喀斯特生态系统区典型县域的能值分析

应用能值理论和方法,以喀斯特生态系统区典型县石林为例,通过一系列的能值指标定量分析了该县1949—2003年的生态系统的能值流动,评价了该县自然环境生产和社会经济发展,为其制定可持续发展战略提供科学的指导。     

Using MCA tools for evaluating community-managed forests from a green economy perspective: lessons from Nepal

ABSTRACT

Nepal is in the process of formulating its forest policies at the provincial level . Various community-managed forests have been designed in the past by the Nepal government to decentralize the forest for its sustainable management practice. This study facilitates the process of identifying appropriate forest management options in two of the provinces, namely Provinces Three and Gandaki. Four forest management options – passive, active, scientific and multiple – were identified following the existing management practices. For the evaluation of the overall performance of the options, a framework with three criteria, 10 indicators and 28 verifiers were designed. The framework followed the green economy perspective considering the improvement of the forest conditions, economic and social well-being, and low carbon emission. The Analytical Hierarchy Process was used to prioritize the best management option and analyse trade-offs to guide future decision-making and reduce the risk of unwanted consequences. Our results show that the elicitation of preferences for the evaluation criteria varied by stakeholder groups. Their preference was largely guided by improving the forest resource condition and economic well-being. Foresters prefer scientific and active forest management, policymakers prefer multiple-use forest management and scientific management, whereas community forest user groups prefer active forest management. We argue that a scientific management approach may contribute better to economic aspects, although it may often compromise the other aspects. The multiple forest management option seems to be the best for green economy considering ecological, economic and social consequences.     

Evolution,variability and sustainable development

SUMMARY

Sustainable development is a global challenge to science and society. In politics and economics the concepts for establishing a sustainable society are numerous, nonetheless necessary interdisciplinary approaches are still marginalised. Trying to foster a deeper communication between biology and social science, an evolutionary perspective on sustainable development is offered. Subsequently, the role of variability and diversity in evolution is highlighted. Hereby, special attention is devoted, among other things, to the links between variability and stability in the long term. Next, selection and variability are emphasised in the cultural context. This is followed by general implications for sustainability. In contrast to strategies aiming at short-term optimisation and economic efficiency, we argue that the conditions and circumstances maintaining variability and momentary sub-optimal alternatives are highly relevant for a socio-economic system that is heading for sustainable development.     

Moving towards sustainable development: rhetoric,policy and reality of ecological agriculture in China

Past decades have witnessed the rise of sustainable agriculture movements throughout the world. In parallel with this international trend, ecological agriculture (with essential goals of food security, rural employment, poverty alleviation, natural resource management and environmental protection) has been advocated as a workable approach for the realization of sustainable agriculture in China. Two decades of ecological agricultural development have shown that it not only gained legitimacy at the senior policy level but also became a focus of scientific research in fields such as ecological economics, ecology, and agricultural and environmental sciences. However, this endeavour is hardly known in the West and little attention has been paid so far to examining the broader politico-economic and sociocultural contexts within which it has evolved. This paper attempts to provide a general review of the emerging background, development history, policy initiatives and recent tendencies of ecological agriculture. In addition, the extant problems and potential contributions of this alternative practice to China's sustainable agricultural development are discussed. The purpose of this study is to identify the gap between the policy rhetoric and practical implementation of Chinese ecological agriculture and therefore to facilitate its moving towards sustainable development.     

持续农业内涵的目标界定

本文试用持续农业的目标来界定持续农业的内涵。持续农业就是具有农业生产可持续性、经济可持续性、生态可持续性和农村社会可持续性的农业。首先分别阐述了持续农业的４个目标，然后就目标之间的相关与独立关系、轻重缓急关系做了分析     

A review of ecological mitigation measures in UK environmental statements with respect to sustainable development

SUMMARY

The European and UK legislation on environmental assessment (EA), as well as requiring assessment of significant ecological effects, also requires development proponents to recommend mitigation measures for adverse impacts.

Drawing on a review of proposed ecological mitigation measures in 194 environmental statements (ES) for UK development proposals, this paper highlights problems with the current legislation in ensuring that ecological impacts are mitigated effectively, with a view to sustainable development.

The review reveals confusion about the extent to which ecological mitigation is required. First, there is no objective basis for deciding which potentially adverse impacts should be mitigated. Proposed mitigation measures do not always relate directly to the ecological impacts identified in ES and there is a high risk of residual adverse effects. Second, there is no generally accepted method for evaluating the effectiveness of proposed mitigation measures, despite a clear recommendation from the UK's Department of the Environment (DOE, 1989) that an ‘assessment of the likely effectiveness’ of mitigation measures should be included in ES. Methods which can be used to evaluate the likely feasibility, costs and redistributional effects of ecological mitigation measures in EA are needed. Some of the factors which should be taken into account are considered in this paper.