Towards a co-evolutionary framework for implementing sustainable development

SUMMARY

A quantitative method which can be used to gauge the sustainability of existing socio-cultural, economic and environmental constructs is proposed. An underlying assumption of the approach is that a co-evolutionary relationship exists between social, cultural, economic and environmental systems and that these cannot be addressed in a reductionist and deterministic manner. The method focuses on both broad trends and patterns of variance in a multivariate data matrix, it allows the identification of dominant trends as well as underlying tensions, does not treat socio-cultural, economic and environmental heterogeneity as statistical noise and can be applied at different administrative scales. Furthermore, it may be used to identify potential sources of human insecurity, factors that may affect the probability of positive human survival, developmental patterns at odds with the established values system of civil society that can be targeted for political action, and to inform public debate. In addition, the method can be used to identify unexpected synergies between variables and may serve as an early warning system for regional planners.