Sustainability Indicators: Measuring the Immeasurable

✍ Scribed by Simon Bell, Stephen Morse

• Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd.
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 251
• Edition: Revised and Updated
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Widely considered to be a foundation text in the crucial task of doing sustainability, this revised and fully updated edition of Sustainability Indicators continues to address this vital dimension. Building on the groundbreaking first edition, the authors bring the indicator literature up to date and show that the basic requirement for a systemic approach is now well-grounded in experiential evidence. They examine the origins and development of the Systemic Sustainability Analysis (SSA), which as been developed in practice in a number of countries on an array of projects since the first edition. They also look at how SSA has evolved into Systemic Prospective Sustainability Analysis (SPSA) and now into IMAGINE, and they provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of projects which undertake work in the general field of sustainable development and in particular how a wide range of participatory methodologies have been adopted.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 6
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes......Page 10
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations......Page 14
Foreword......Page 18
Acknowledgements......Page 22
Part I The Bad Application of Good Science?......Page 24
Introduction and objectives......Page 26
Two roots of sustainability......Page 29
The meaning of sustainability......Page 33
Space and time in sustainability......Page 37
System quality......Page 40
Sustainability in practice......Page 43
Indicators of ecosystem health......Page 45
Sustainability indicators and indices......Page 50
Sustainability indicators: A realistic and reasonable approach to measuring sustainability?......Page 64
Introduction and objectives......Page 68
Maximum sustainable yield......Page 71
Problems with applying maximum sustainable yield......Page 78
Maximum sustainable yield as a sustainability indicator......Page 83
Sustainability indicators in marine ecosystems: The AMOEBA approach......Page 85
Conclusions......Page 93
Introduction and objectives......Page 98
Sustainable communities......Page 101
Institutional sustainability......Page 107
Projects, appraisal and sustainability......Page 115
Part II The Application of Grounded and Pragmatic Systemisism......Page 122
Introduction and objectives......Page 124
Changes in thinking: From science to systems......Page 127
The demise of narrow scientism......Page 129
Systems approaches to problem-solving......Page 133
A range of systems approaches......Page 137
A problem-solving approach: The soft systems method......Page 138
Problem description: The learning organization approach......Page 140
Appraisal: The participatory rural appraisal approach......Page 142
Project handling: The logframe approach......Page 145
An overview of systemic approaches......Page 148
New definitions and new thinking: Holism, eclecticism, systemisism and future casting......Page 149
Emerging premises for SI development......Page 154
Introduction and objectives......Page 156
The project scenario for SIs......Page 159
The stakeholder scenario for SIs: Participation and coalition......Page 163
Accommodating multiple views of sustainability......Page 165
Introducing the systemic sustainability analysis idea: The Imagine Approach......Page 170
Introduction and objectives......Page 176
Step 1:The beginning of the process – understand the context......Page 180
Step 2: Identify the main SIs and the band of equilibrium......Page 193
Step 3:The development of AMOEBA and scenario-making......Page 204
Step 4: Review and meta-scenario-making......Page 211
Step 5: Publicity, publicizing and marketing the message – influencing policy......Page 212
Conclusion: Renewing the cycle......Page 214
Part III Where Next? Humility and Honesty......Page 216
Introduction and objectives......Page 218
Managing expectation in the projectified world order......Page 220
Organic and empowering approaches compared to inorganic and dehumanizing approaches......Page 222
Culture change......Page 224
The essential need for reflective practice......Page 226
Future research priorities......Page 227
Epistemological questions......Page 228
Assessment of SIs......Page 229
References......Page 232
Index......Page 246