While the concept of sustainability has been widely embraced, it has been only vaguely defined and is exceedingly difficult to measure. Sustainability indicators are critical to making the broad concept of sustainability operational by providing specific measures by which decision makers and the public can judge progress.
Sustainability Indicators defines the present state of the art in indicator development. It presents a comprehensive assessment of the science behind various indicators, while placing special emphasis on their use as communications tools. The contributors draw on their experience as academics and practitioners to describe the conceptual challenges to measuring something as complex as sustainability at local, regional, national, and global scales. The book also reviews existing indicators to assess how they could be better employed, considering which indicators are overused and which have been underutilized.
Sustainability Indicators will help planners and policy makers find indicators that are ready for application and relevant to their needs, and will help researchers identify the unresolved issues where progress is most urgently needed. All readers will find advice as to the most effective ways to use indicators to support decision making.
List of figures, Tables, Boxes and Appendixes Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Challenges to Sustainability Indicators
PART I. Crosscutting Issues Chapter 2. Meeting Conceptual Challenges Chapter 3. Identifying Methodological Challenges Chapter 4. Ensuring Policy Relevance
PART II. General Approaches Chapter 5. Indicators: Boring Statistics or the Key to Sustainable Development? Chapter 6. Sustainability Indicators: An Economist's View Chapter 7. The Institutional Dimension of Sustainable Development
PART III. Methodological Aspects Chapter 8. Frameworks for Environmental Assessment and Indicators at the EEA Chapter 9. Frameworks for Policy Integration Indicators, for Sustainable Development, and for Evaluating Complex Scientific Evidence Chapter 10. Integrated Assessment and Indicators Chapter 11. Qualitative System Sustainability Index: A New Type of Sustainability Indicator
PART IV. System and Sectoral Approaches Chapter 12. Indicators of Natural Resource Use and Consumption Chapter 13. Indicators to Measure Decoupling of Environmental Pressure from Economic Growth Chapter 14. Geobiosphere Load: Proposal for an Index Chapter 15. Sustainable Development and the Use of Health and Environment Indicators Chapter 16. Biodiversity Indicators Chapter 17. Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production (HANPP) as Indicator for Pressures on Biodiversity
PART V. Case studies Chapter 18. The Development of UK Sustainable Development Indicators: Making Indicators Work Chapter 19. Developing Tools for the Assessment of Sustainable Development in the Province of Brabant, the Netherlands Chapter 20. Sustainability Assessment Indicators: Development of Practice in China Chapter 21. A Core set of UNEP GEO Indicators Among Global Environmental Indices, Indicators, and Data Chapter 22. Further Work Needed to Develop Sustainable Development Indicators Chapter 23. Yale and Columbia Universities' Environmental Sustainability Index 2005
Annex: Menu of Selected Sustainable Development Indicators List of Contributors SCOPE Series List SCOPE Executive-Committee 2005 2008 Index
"" Sustainability Indicators brings us one step further in turning diverse scientific data into understandable and useful information that can be put to work in policy making processes and everyday life. As such, it is an authoritative reference volume for everyone involved with environmental information, sustainability issues, and the health of our planet.""
' Dr. Achim Steiner, United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director
""This comprehensive volume is essential reading for anyone working professionally in the field of sustainability a masterful job of surveying the current state of the field from a global scientific perspective. In addition to framing future research, the lessons here can (and should) be applied to business, local government, or any system where the measurement of sustainability is a condition of successful management.""
' Alan Atkisson, Executive Director, Earth Charter International
""Sustainability Indicators is necessary reading for scholars, policymakers, and activists engaged in the critical task of taking the measure of our world along the equally vital dimensions of our economy, social justice, and the environment. It provides an invaluable guide to re-setting our direction towards an uncompromised future.""
' Michael Gelobter, President, Redefining Progress
""Most useful for graduate students and researchers wanting to explore, develop, or use indicators of sustainability.""
