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Sustainability Assessment and Indicators: Tools in a Decision-Making Strategy for Sustainable Development

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Waas

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

  • Jean Hugé

    () (Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Laboratory of Systems Ecology and Resource Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Thomas Block

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

  • Tarah Wright

    () (Environmental Science Department, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, P.O. Box, Halifax, NS 15000, Canada)

  • Francisco Benitez-Capistros

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

  • Aviel Verbruggen

    () (University of Antwerp, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium)

Abstract

Recognizing the urgent need for sustainability, we argue that to move beyond the rhetoric and to actually realize sustainable development, it must be considered as a decision-making strategy. We demonstrate that sustainability assessment and sustainability indicators can be powerful decision-supporting tools that foster sustainable development by addressing three sustainability decision-making challenges: interpretation, information-structuring, and influence. Particularly, since the 1990s many substantial and often promising sustainability assessment and sustainability indicators efforts are made. However, better practices and a broader shared understanding are still required. We aim to contribute to that objective by adopting a theoretical perspective that frames SA and SI in the context of sustainable development as a decision-making strategy and that introduces both fields along several essential aspects in a structured and comparable manner.

Suggested Citation

  • 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, Open Access Journal, vol. 6(9), pages 1-23, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:9:p:5512-5534:d:39601
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    sustainability assessment; sustainability indicators; decision-making; impact assessment; sustainable development;
    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

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