IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v7y2015i5p5735-5751d49341.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Conceptualizing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Assessment in Development Cooperation

Author

Listed:
  • Jean Hugé

    (Systems Ecology & Resource Management Lab, Biology Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
    Centre for Sustainable Development, Universiteit Gent, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Nibedita Mukherjee

    (Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK)

  • Camille Fertel

    (Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD)—HEC Montreal, Côte-Sainte-Catherine Rd. 3000, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • Jean-Philippe Waaub

    (Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD)—HEC Montreal, Côte-Sainte-Catherine Rd. 3000, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada
    Department of Geography, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada)

  • Thomas Block

    (Centre for Sustainable Development, Universiteit Gent, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Tom Waas

    (Centre for Sustainable Development, Universiteit Gent, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Nico Koedam

    (Plant Biology & Nature Management Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Farid Dahdouh-Guebas

    (Systems Ecology & Resource Management Lab, Biology Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
    Plant Biology & Nature Management Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

Abstract

Sustainability assessment has emerged as a key decision-support process in development cooperation in response to the growing acknowledgement of the impacts of global change. This paper aims at conceptualizing the effectiveness of sustainability assessment as applied in development cooperation, by focusing on the sustainability assessment practice by actors of the official Belgian Development Cooperation. The conceptualization of the effectiveness of sustainability assessment is synthesized in a set of issues and concerns, based on semi-structured interviews. The paper highlights the specificity of sustainability assessment in the development cooperation sector (e.g., through the cultural and discursive compatibility dimensions of assessment in a North-South context). Effectiveness is inherently linked to the expected functions of sustainability assessment in the decision-making process, which include fostering organizational change, shaping contextually adapted framings of sustainability and operationalizing the sustainability transition. These findings highlight the relevance of a discourse-sensitive approach to sustainability assessment if one is to strengthen its credibility and legitimacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Hugé & Nibedita Mukherjee & Camille Fertel & Jean-Philippe Waaub & Thomas Block & Tom Waas & Nico Koedam & Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, 2015. "Conceptualizing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Assessment in Development Cooperation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:5735-5751:d:49341
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/5735/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/5735/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hugé, Jean & Waas, Tom & Eggermont, Gilbert & Verbruggen, Aviel, 2011. "Impact assessment for a sustainable energy future'Reflections and practical experiences," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6243-6253, October.
    2. Julia Hertin & John Turnpenny & Andrew Jordan & Mans Nilsson & Duncan Russel & Björn Nykvist, 2009. "Rationalising the Policy Mess? Ex Ante Policy Assessment and the Utilisation of Knowledge in the Policy Process," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(5), pages 1185-1200, May.
    3. Ness, Barry & Urbel-Piirsalu, Evelin & Anderberg, Stefan & Olsson, Lennart, 2007. "Categorising tools for sustainability assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 498-508, January.
    4. Hicks, Robert L. & Parks, Bradley C. & Roberts, J. Timmons & Tierney, Michael J., 2010. "Greening Aid?: Understanding the Environmental Impact of Development Assistance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199582792, Decembrie.
    5. Maarten Van Opstal & Jean Huge, 2013. "Knowledge for sustainable development: A worldviews perspective," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/184399, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Tom Waas & Jean Hugé & Thomas Block & Tarah Wright & Francisco Benitez-Capistros & Aviel Verbruggen, 2014. "Sustainability Assessment and Indicators: Tools in a Decision-Making Strategy for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-23, August.
    7. Soderbaum, Peter, 2007. "Issues of paradigm, ideology and democracy in sustainability assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 613-626, January.
    8. David Griggs & Mark Stafford-Smith & Owen Gaffney & Johan Rockström & Marcus C. Öhman & Priya Shyamsundar & Will Steffen & Gisbert Glaser & Norichika Kanie & Ian Noble, 2013. "Sustainable development goals for people and planet," Nature, Nature, vol. 495(7441), pages 305-307, March.
    9. Mark A Burgman & Marissa McBride & Raquel Ashton & Andrew Speirs-Bridge & Louisa Flander & Bonnie Wintle & Fiona Fidler & Libby Rumpff & Charles Twardy, 2011. "Expert Status and Performance," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-7, July.
    10. Lorraine Whitmarsh & Bjorn Nykvist, 2008. "Integrated Sustainability Assessment of mobility transitions: simulating stakeholders' visions of and pathways to sustainable land-based mobility," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1/2), pages 115-127.
    11. Bill Hopwood & Mary Mellor & Geoff O'Brien, 2005. "Sustainable development: mapping different approaches," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 38-52.
    12. Tom Waas & Jean Huge & Thomas BLOCK & Tarah Wright & Francisco Javier Benitez Capistros & Aviel Verbruggen, 2014. "Sustainability assessment and indicators: Tools in a decision-making strategy for sustainable development," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/189410, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Jean Hugé & Tom Waas, 2011. "Converging impact assessment discourses for sustainable development: the case of Flanders, Belgium," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 607-626, June.
    14. Angus Morrison-Saunders & Thomas B Fischer, 2006. "What Is Wrong With Eia And Sea Anyway? A Sceptic'S Perspective On Sustainability Assessment," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 8(01), pages 19-39.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elvis Modikela Nkoana & Aviel Verbruggen & Jean Hugé, 2018. "Climate Change Adaptation Tools at the Community Level: An Integrated Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Sarah Feron & Harald Heinrichs & Raúl R. Cordero, 2016. "Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-22, May.
    3. Elvis Modikela Nkoana & Aviel Verbruggen & Jean Huge, 2018. "Climate change adaptation tools at the community level: An integrated literature review," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/269477, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Corinna Salzer & Holger Wallbaum & Luis Felipe Lopez & Jean Luc Kouyoumji, 2016. "Sustainability of Social Housing in Asia: A Holistic Multi-Perspective Development Process for Bamboo-Based Construction in the Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-26, February.
    5. Martin Holubčík & Jakub Soviar & Viliam Lendel, 2022. "Sustainable cooperation management - insights from a selected company," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 10(2), pages 429-447, December.
    6. Hugé, J. & Rochette, A.J. & de Béthune, S. & Parra Paitan, C.C. & Vanderhaegen, K. & Vandervelden, T. & Van Passel, S. & Vanhove, M.P.M. & Verbist, B. & Verheyen, D. & Waas, T. & Janssens, I. & Jans, 2020. "Ecosystem services assessment tools for African Biosphere Reserves: A review and user-informed classification," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    7. E. M. Nkoana & T. Waas & A. Verbruggen & C. J. Burman & J. Hugé, 2017. "Analytic framework for assessing participation processes and outcomes of climate change adaptation tools," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1731-1760, October.
    8. Sarah Feron & Raúl R. Cordero, 2018. "Is Peru Prepared for Large-Scale Sustainable Rural Electrification?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-20, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anastasiia Moldavska & Torgeir Welo, 2015. "Development of Manufacturing Sustainability Assessment Using Systems Thinking," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Anastasiia Moldavska, 2017. "Defining Organizational Context for Corporate Sustainability Assessment: Cross-Disciplinary Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-25, December.
    3. Etheldreder Trecia Koppa & Innocent Musonda & Sambo Lyson Zulu, 2023. "A Systematic Literature Review on Local Sustainability Assessment Processes for Infrastructure Development Projects in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-37, January.
    4. Tom Waas & Jean Huge & Thomas BLOCK & Tarah Wright & Francisco Javier Benitez Capistros & Aviel Verbruggen, 2014. "Sustainability assessment and indicators: Tools in a decision-making strategy for sustainable development," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/189410, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Weiwei Li & Pingtao Yi & Danning Zhang, 2018. "Sustainability Evaluation of Cities in Northeastern China Using Dynamic TOPSIS-Entropy Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Frame, Bob & Brown, Judy, 2008. "Developing post-normal technologies for sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 225-241, April.
    7. Karel Doubravský & Alena Kocmanová & Mirko Dohnal, 2018. "Analysis of Sustainability Decision Trees Generated by Qualitative Models Based on Equationless Heuristics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Ahmed M. N. Masoud & Marika Belotti & Amani Alfarra & Sabrina Sorlini, 2022. "Multi-Criteria Analysis for Evaluating Constructed Wetland as a Sustainable Sanitation Technology, Jordan Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-24, November.
    9. Tobias Engelmann & Daniel Fischer & Marianne Lörchner & Jaya Bowry & Holger Rohn, 2019. "“Doing” Sustainability Assessment in Different Consumption and Production Contexts—Lessons from Case Study Comparison," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Michiel C. Zijp & Reinout Heijungs & Ester Van der Voet & Dik Van de Meent & Mark A. J. Huijbregts & Anne Hollander & Leo Posthuma, 2015. "An Identification Key for Selecting Methods for Sustainability Assessments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-23, March.
    11. Aleksandra Płonka & Mariusz Dacko & Łukasz Satoła & Aneta Dacko, 2022. "The Idea of Sustainable Development and the Possibilities of Its Interpretation and Implementation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-19, July.
    12. Jiean Ling & Eve Germain & Richard Murphy & Devendra Saroj, 2021. "Designing a Sustainability Assessment Framework for Selecting Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Technologies in Corporate Asset Decisions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, March.
    13. Carole Brunet & Oumarou Savadogo & Pierre Baptiste & Michel A Bouchard & Jean Chrysostome Rakotoary & Andry Ravoninjatovo & Céline Cholez & Corinne Gendron & Nicolas Merveille, 2020. "Impacts Generated by a Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Can Lead to Conflicts between Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Key Lessons Learned in Madagascar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-33, September.
    14. Nomeda Dobrovolskienė & Rima Tamošiūnienė & Audrius Banaitis & Fernando A. F. Ferreira & Nerija Banaitienė & Kamilė Taujanskaitė & Ieva Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė, 2019. "Developing a composite sustainability index for real estate projects using multiple criteria decision making," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 617-635, September.
    15. Juan Diego Araya & Ana Hernando & Rosario Tejera & Javier Velázquez, 2023. "Sustainable Tourism around Ecosystem Services: Application to a Case in Costa Rica Using Multi-Criteria Methods," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, March.
    16. Philipp Kranabitl & Clemens Faustmann & Hannes Hick, 2021. "Decision Making for Sustainable Technical Applications with the SMH Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    17. Liselotte Schebek & Thomas Lützkendorf, 2022. "Assessing Resource Efficiency of City Neighbourhoods: A Methodological Framework for Structuring and Practical Application of Indicators in Urban Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-21, June.
    18. Johanna Schumacher & Gerald Schernewski & Donalda Karnauskaitė & Marija Kataržytė & Stefanie Pakleppa & Kathrin Pape & Silke Schönwald & Matthias Völzke, 2020. "Measuring and comparing the sustainability of coastal tourism destinations in Germany, Lithuania, and Indonesia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2451-2475, March.
    19. Shoukohyar, Sajjad & Seddigh, Mohammad Reza, 2020. "Uncovering the dark and bright sides of implementing collaborative forecasting throughout sustainable supply chains: An exploratory approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    20. Iván Franchi-Arzola & Javier Martin-Vide & Cristián Henríquez, 2018. "Sustainability Assessment in Development Planning in Sub-National Territories: Regional Development Strategies in Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-30, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    sustainability assessment; effectiveness; development cooperation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
    • Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q3 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:5735-5751:d:49341. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.