Illustrations, Tables
448 pages
Publisher:
Island Press, USA
While the concept of sustainability has been widely embraced, it has been only vaguely defined and
is exceedingly difficult to measure. Sustainability indicators are critical to making the broad concept
of sustainability operational by providing specific measures by which decision makers and the public
can judge progress.
Sustainability Indicators defines the present state of the art in indicator development. It presents a
comprehensive assessment of the science behind various indicators, while placing special emphasis
on their use as communications tools. The contributors draw on their experience as academics and
practitioners to describe the conceptual challenges to measuring something as complex as
sustainability at local, regional, national, and global scales. The book also reviews existing indicators
to assess how they could be better employed, considering which indicators are overused and which
have been underutilised.
Sustainability Indicators will help planners and policy makers find indicators that are ready for
application and relevant to their needs, and will help researchers identify the unresolved issues
where progress is most urgently needed. All readers will find advice as to the most effective ways
to use indicators to support decision making.
Top
Email this page
