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"Describing the elephant": A framework for supporting sustainable development processes

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  • Sinclair, Philip

Abstract

Sustainable development and participatory governance are among the central policy priorities of our time. The challenge is at all scales of development and participation. Finding and validating methodological approaches has become urgent. Existing decision processes such as multi-criterion decision analysis (MCDA), multi-objective decision making (MODM), life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) are frequently used, with varying degrees of satisfaction reported. It appears that sustainable development can be assessed and analysed in different ways, any of which may be of use but none of which seems to be complete. The use of all, however, appears to involve such complexity as to be not feasible. There is a need for a more integrated and systematic approach to decision-making. In this paper, existing decision aid processes and frameworks are reviewed, and a novel evolutionary approach is proposed that can support them all.

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  • Sinclair, Philip, 2011. ""Describing the elephant": A framework for supporting sustainable development processes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2990-2998, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:15:y:2011:i:6:p:2990-2998
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Rae, Callum & Bradley, Fiona, 2012. "Energy autonomy in sustainable communities—A review of key issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6497-6506.
    2. Aleksandras Vytautas Rutkauskas, 2012. "Using Sustainability Engineering to Gain Universal Sustainability Efficiency," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Sinclair, Philip & Peters, Michael & Fudge, Shane, 2015. "Introducing “ecoputation”: A universal systems design process," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 311-330.
    4. Yanine, Franco F. & Sauma, Enzo E., 2013. "Review of grid-tie micro-generation systems without energy storage: Towards a new approach to sustainable hybrid energy systems linked to energy efficiency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 60-95.
    5. P. Leviäkangas & S. Michaelides, 2014. "Transport system management under extreme weather risks: views to project appraisal, asset value protection and risk-aware system management," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 72(1), pages 263-286, May.

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