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Regional sustainability: How useful are current tools of sustainability assessment at the regional scale?

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  • Graymore, Michelle L.M.
  • Sipe, Neil G.
  • Rickson, Roy E.
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    Abstract

    Sustainability assessment methods are primarily aimed at global, national or state scales. However, modelling sustainability at finer spatial scales, such as the region, is essential for understanding and achieving sustainability. Regions are emerging as an essential focus for sustainability researchers, natural resource managers and strategic planners working to develop and implement sustainability goals. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of current sustainability assessment methods - ecological footprint, wellbeing assessment, ecosystem health assessment, quality of life and natural resource availability - at the regional scale. Each of these assessment methods are tested using South East Queensland (SEQ) as a case study. It was selected because of its ecological and demographic diversity, its combination of coastal and land management issues, and its urban metropolitan and rural farm and non-farm communities. The applicability of each of these methods to regional assessment was examined using an evaluation criteria matrix, which describes the attributes of an effective method and the characteristics that make these methods useful for regional management and building community capacity to progress sustainability. We found that the methods tested failed to effectively measure progress toward sustainability at the regional scale, demonstrating the need for a new method for assessing regional sustainability.

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    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6VDY-4T2GWK5-1/2/ea0fdef4f466483b43221cb8a7596db9
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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Ecological Economics.

    Volume (Year): 67 (2008)
    Issue (Month): 3 (October)
    Pages: 362-372

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    Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:67:y:2008:i:3:p:362-372

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    Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon

    Related research

    Keywords: Sustainability assessment Regional sustainability Sustainability indicators Natural resource management;

    References

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    1. Alison Todes, 2004. "Regional planning and sustainability: limits and potentials of South Africa's integrated development plans," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 843-861.
    2. Reed, Mark S. & Fraser, Evan D.G. & Dougill, Andrew J., 2006. "An adaptive learning process for developing and applying sustainability indicators with local communities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 406-418, October.
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    Cited by:
    1. Petra Wächter & Michael Ornetzeder & Harald Rohracher & Anna Schreuer & Markus Knoflacher, 2012. "Towards a Sustainable Spatial Organization of the Energy System: Backcasting Experiences from Austria," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 4(2), pages 193-209, February.
    2. Graymore, M.L.M. & Sipe, Neil G. & Rickson, Roy E., 2010. "Sustaining Human Carrying Capacity: A tool for regional sustainability assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 459-468, January.
    3. Wallis, Anne M. & Graymore, Michelle L.M. & Richards, Anneke J., 2011. "Significance of environment in the assessment of sustainable development: The case for south west Victoria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 595-605, February.
    4. van Zeijl-Rozema, Annemarie & Ferraguto, Ludovico & Caratti, Pietro, 2011. "Comparing region-specific sustainability assessments through indicator systems: Feasible or not?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 475-486, January.

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