Home About IEF Conferences Newsletter Resources PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE 8TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM (Thessaloniki, Greece, 15-17 October 2004)

No system can be managed without information, which is why we have dashboards and bank statements. Achieving sustainability also requires information, and there have been major efforts, especially since the Rio Earth Summit adopted Agenda 21, to devise indicators of sustainability. Indicators can provide guidance for adaptive management, which is necessary when we do not fully understand complex systems. Indicators are increasingly used by governments and non-governmental organizations, and include statistics, materials flows, ecological footprints, scientific data and other types of information for decision-making. Economic indicators are reasonably well developed, but there are significant gaps in social and environmental indicators necessary for sustainability. Most indicators concern the material side of development, and more needs to be done to balance this with indicators of social, cultural, scientific, ethical and spiritual development. There are indicators that individuals, families and communities can use to measure the sustainability of their lifestyles. More should be done to help each person develop and use such indicators to manage their own well-being and sustainability. Such indicators can also contribute substantially to education for sustainable development.

Indicators
No system can be managed without information
Dashboards
Bank statements
Achieving sustainability also requires information
Indicators are numbers/symbols that tell something about the system

Use of indicators
Information for decision-making
Public information
Early warning, vulnerability
Indicators can provide guidance for adaptive management, which is necessary when we do not fully understand complex systems.

Types of indicators
Statistics (GNP, unemployment rate)
Materials flows
Ecological footprints
Scientific data (CO₂ concentration)
Maps, GIS
Other types of information

Indicators of sustainable development
Rio Earth Summit adopted Agenda 21
UNDP Human Development Index
Commission on Sustainable Development, Programme of Work on Indicators
SCOPE project on Indicators of Sustainability
Menu of 134 indicators, DSIR framework
Revised set of 52 core indicators
SCOPE Assessment of Sustainability Indicators

NGO Initiatives
Environmental Sustainability Index
Ecological Footprint
WWF Living Planet Index
IUCN Wealth of Nations
BIC Spiritually Based Indicators for Development

Local Indicators
Sustainable Seattle
Fraser Valley, BC, Canada
Local Agenda 21 in many communities

Status of indicator development
Challenge of measuring sustainability and sustainable development
Temporal and spatial scales
Planetary limits
Vulnerability and resilience
Irreversibility
Reference values, baselines, targets
Data drivenness

Defining Development
Other dimensions than material:
Cultural diversity
Global consciousness
Equality of men and women
Participation in science/knowledge

Process of indicator development
Challenges of developing indicators through processes that ensure their universal applicability:
Comparing countries
Diversity of development goals
Equity
Democracy

Individual indicators
There are indicators that individuals, families and communities can use to measure the sustainability of their lifestyles.
More should be done to help each person develop and use such indicators to manage their own well-being and sustainability.
Such indicators can also contribute substantially to education for sustainable development.

Examples of individual indicators
Water consumption, use of polluting materials (detergent, cleaners, toxics)
Energy: Electricity/gas consumption, heating bills, CO2 budget
Transport: automobile mileage, public transport use, bicycle use, walking
Food: purchases of fast food,organic, fair trade; weight gain; number of meatless meals
Clothing: number of shirts, dresses, shoes; expenditures on clothes
Housing: number of rooms per person, cost
Technology: number of electronic devices bought/discarded
Contact with nature, animals (hrs/week)
Travel for recreation, tourism (km)
Experiences of beauty, cultural diversity
Community: participation in activities
Solidarity: gifts to charity, development
Altruism: volunteer service
Spirituality: daily prayer

Action
Make up your own sustainability indicator profile
Compare your progress yearly
In school, develop a class indicator profile (choose, measure, analyze)