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Sustainability solution space of the Swiss milk value added chain

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  • Binder, C.R.
  • Schmid, A.
  • Steinberger, J.K.

Abstract

Current indicator-based sustainability assessment approaches usually have three shortcomings: (i) ecological aspects are mostly overrepresented in relation to importance and complexity of economic and social aspects; (ii) they center on filling important gaps in scientific knowledge, but miss on utilization and implementation; and (iii) the assessment results themselves are difficult to implement in decision-making, as conflicting goals and the interaction between indicators have not been sufficiently considered. We propose an approach that fulfills systemic criteria, i.e., sufficient representation of the system including functional interaction among indicators; normative criteria, i.e., considering the different value perspectives of stakeholders by including them in the process and designing sustainability ranges rather; and (iii) procedural criteria, i.e. pursuing the assessment in a true transdisciplinary process. We present the SSP and its application for the Swiss milk value added chain. The system is described with a set of 8 ecological and 9 socio-economic indicators. The sustainability ranges were obtained through literature research and stakeholder interviews. The relationship among the indicators was elicited in a transdisciplinary workshop. The SSP program takes a geometric approach to determine the intersection space corresponding to the satisfaction of the normative ranges while taking into account the functional interactions of the indicators.

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  • Binder, C.R. & Schmid, A. & Steinberger, J.K., 2012. "Sustainability solution space of the Swiss milk value added chain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 210-220.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:83:y:2012:i:c:p:210-220
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.06.022
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    3. Ranjan Roy & Ngai Weng Chan, 2012. "An assessment of agricultural sustainability indicators in Bangladesh: review and synthesis," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 99-110, March.
    4. Jay Whitehead, 2017. "Prioritizing Sustainability Indicators: Using Materiality Analysis to Guide Sustainability Assessment and Strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 399-412, March.
    5. Evelien M. De Olde & Frank W. Oudshoorn & Eddie A. M. Bokkers & Anke Stubsgaard & Claus A. G. Sørensen & Imke J. M. De Boer, 2016. "Assessing the Sustainability Performance of Organic Farms in Denmark," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-20, September.
    6. Vivek Arulnathan & Mohammad Davoud Heidari & Maurice Doyon & Eric P. H. Li & Nathan Pelletier, 2022. "Economic Indicators for Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: Going beyond Life Cycle Costing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-27, December.
    7. Emilia Schmitt & Daniel Keech & Damian Maye & Dominique Barjolle & James Kirwan, 2016. "Comparing the Sustainability of Local and Global Food Chains: A Case Study of Cheese Products in Switzerland and the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-20, April.

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