An adaptive learning process for developing and applying sustainability indicators with local communities

Sustainability indicators based on local data provide a practical method to monitor progress towards sustainable development. However, since there are many conflicting frameworks proposed to develop indicators, it is unclear how best to collect these data. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the literature on developing and applying sustainability indicators at local scales to develop a methodological framework that summarises best practice. First, two ideological paradigms are outlined: one that is expert-led and top–down, and one that is community-based and bottom–up. Second, the paper assesses the methodological steps proposed in each paradigm to identify, select and measure indicators. Finally, the paper concludes by proposing a learning process that integrates best practice for stakeholder-led local sustainability assessments. By integrating approaches from different paradigms, the proposed process offers a holistic approach for measuring progress towards sustainable development. It emphasizes the importance of participatory approaches setting the context for sustainability assessment at local scales, but stresses the role of expert-led methods in indicator evaluation and dissemination. Research findings from around the world are used to show how the proposed process can be used to develop quantitative and qualitative indicators that are both scientifically rigorous and objective while remaining easy to collect and interpret for communities.     

Participative multi-criteria analysis for the evaluation of water governance alternatives. A case in the Costa del Sol (Málaga)

This paper presents the results of a participatory multi-criteria evaluation of urban water supply alternatives in Costa del Sol Occidental in Málaga (Spain). Multi-criteria and social research techniques were combined, relying on social actors' involvement throughout the research work. The paper documents that participatory processes allowed to unveil framings, perspectives, values and interests, as well as understanding of the social and institutional context in which the waters are governed. The deployment of this methodological approach has in this case provided an extended diagnosis which was the starting point to explore non a priori foreseen management alternatives by the researchers. The methodological approach proved useful for problem structuring in a collective, flexible and iterative way, unveiling existing water management conflicts and their motivations, and improving the quality and effectiveness of the information exchange and the reflection process, among social actors, even if the whole process developed in a research setting rather than in a policy for real one. Participatory multi-criteria evaluation could in this case, contribute to identify policy options that could be better defended before all the social actors, including the general public, thus attempting to achieve shared ground. The paper suggests some methodological considerations for applying participatory multi-criteria evaluation based on the outcomes of the case study application.     

制度与社会创业:基于文献的整合框架

社会创业是深嵌于制度情境中的独特创业活动,二者之间的复杂关联是当前社会创业研究的焦点。已有文献对这一问题的探索不仅主题零散,也缺乏一个整合性研究框架。本文运用系统文献综述法对过去30年管理学和创业学主流学术期刊文献进行梳理,概括了四个主要研究议题,即制度对社会创业选择、过程和绩效的影响以及社会创业对制度变革的促进。在此基础上,整合创业研究的“情境-行为-结果”和“情境-思维-行为”两种研究范式,提出了制度与社会创业双向互动的“制度-认知-行为-结果”(简称ICBO)的跨层次分析框架。最后,基于中国情景的历史特征与数字化新兴实践提出了未来研究展望和建议。本文研究有助于深化对社会创业制度成因的认识,也有助于推动合意性的社会创业政策制定。     

Linking corporate sustainability and innovation in supply chain management – evidence of a Taiwan leading glass recycling company

This empirical study presents a combination of insights from corporate sustainability practices, supply chain management, and innovation literature, and a case study to discover new understandings on factors influencing firms to incorporate sustainable innovation initiatives into their supply chain practices. There is an apparent lack of literature in this field due to its modernity and evolving nature. Also, there is a lack of insights into how firms could translate sustainable innovation initiatives into practice. This study addresses this gap by examining a successful glass recycling company through the lenses of sustainable innovation context and the Global Reporting Initiative G3 Guideline framework. Primary data are collected through observations and in-depth interview before it is coded and analysed using nVivo. The findings show that sustainable innovation practices are mainly directed at improving the technological processes, resource sharing, and reduction of production cost among supply chain partners. A conceptual sustainable innovation framework is also proposed. This study contributes to sustainable innovation literature by providing insights into the evaluation of a firm's innovative sustainability efforts.     

科学、价值与判断在环境影响评估架构中之整合

公共政策研拟，尤其是环境影响评估，不仅牵涉技术性科学层面，同时涵盖社会性价值评估与政策性决策判断。旨在探讨如何将科学、价值与判断等因素合理融合于环境影响评估作业过程中，并据此研拟一环境影响评估架构，作为中国台湾地区环保部门开发案审核依据之参考。本文所研拟之环境影响评估架构的理论基础包括社会选择理论、社会判断理论及多属性评估方法。通过社会选择理论分析环境政策制定的机制；通过社会判断理论解释科学与价值如何整合于政策制定及其可行性中；而通过多属性评估方法建立开发案评选的集体决策技术。以山坡地开发为例说明此架构在实践中的应用。     

Sustaining sustainability science: The role of established inter-disciplines

The establishment of new interdisciplinary fields such as ecological economics, human ecology or technology assessment can be interpreted as a logical consequence of striving for new sustainability sciences that address current global, multi-dimensional and multi-scale challenges. These set out to bridge the gap between the natural and the social sphere, between scientific analysis and societal action. This paper aims at re-assessing the contribution of established inter-disciplines to sustainable development. Journal articles of ecological economics, technology assessment and science and technology studies are evaluated and compared along several proposed features of sustainability science. The results converge in two crucial aspects. (1) Concise societal or political recommendations are not part of present day ‘normal science’, be it a disciplinary or an explicitly interdisciplinary research context. (2) Participatory exercises are rarely applied as a socio-politically embedded practice, despite a high interest in such exercises as an object of study and discussion.     

3 pillars and 1 beam: Quality of river basin governance processes

This paper suggests a framework that may enhance quality assurance of evaluation of river basin planning and governance processes based on 3 pillars and 1 beam: inclusive governance, transparent assessment, socially robust knowledge and extended peer review. It was developed based on past evaluation experiences from 5 cases of European river basin governance processes, entailing analysis of emergent patterns and linkages among the 4 vertices of the ADVISOR tetrahedron (context, information, assessment and participation), looking into justifications of past practice according to 4 types of context: institutional, societal, knowledge and methodological. The paper also hints on quality requirements that could be recommended for future practice of river basin governance evaluation activities.     

Dynamic sustainability assessment: The case of Russia in the period of transition (1985-2008)

Russia has experienced twenty years of economic and social change, which had a substantial impact on the regional and sectoral patterns of the development of its economy, infrastructure, the quality of the environment and the well-being of its people. The current economic revival offers new opportunities and presents new challenges for the sustainable development of Russia.The paper employs the UN Sustainable Development framework of indicators and assesses sustainability of Russia using multi-criteria evaluation methods, namely the uncertainty randomization multi-criteria evaluation method “Analysis and Synthesis of Parameters under Information Deficiency” (ASPID). The analysis covers economic, environmental and social trends in Russia's development in 1985-2008 and assesses sustainability of this development from the point of view of multiple criteria.The results show the potential of employment of multi-criteria methods for the sustainability assessment at the macro level and offer useful insights into multidimensional nature of sustainability and the role of priority setting in the evaluation process. Such an analysis reveals the degree of harmoniousness of sustainable development policy. It shows how different sets of priorities determine the outcome of multidimensional analysis of sustainability and could potentially help in assessing progress and designing new policy instruments. This paper is one of the first to apply multi-criteria methods to the macro sustainability analysis in the dynamic setting.     

Designing trans-disciplinary research to support policy formulation for sustainable agricultural development

The article shows how existing multidisciplinary studies on sustainable agricultural development can be joined into a trans-disciplinary approach. Three interdisciplinary projects have been combined in a participatory discussion platform, in which researchers from different disciplines (economists, ecologists, social scientist and geographers) were brought together with a variety of stakeholders. The specific application of the developed method on agricultural development in Belgium, has revealed the need for crossing system boundaries within research, articulation of definitions on sustainable development, development of a coherent sustainability labelling policy and increasing the access to nation wide data both for researchers and policy makers.     

The inherent dangers of using computable general equilibrium models as a single integrated modelling framework for sustainability impact assessment. A critical note on Böhringer and Löschel (2006)

The search for methods of assessment that best evaluate and integrate the trade-offs and interactions between the economic, environmental and social components of development has been receiving a new impetus due to the requirement that sustainability concerns be incorporated into the policy formulation process. A paper forthcoming in Ecological Economics [Böhringer, C., Löschel, A., in press. Computable general equilibrium models for sustainability impact assessment: status quo and prospects, Ecological Economics.] claims that Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models may potentially represent the much needed “back-bone” tool to carry out reliable integrated quantitative Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs). While acknowledging the usefulness of CGE models for some dimensions of SIA, this commentary questions the legitimacy of employing this particular economic modelling tool as a single integrating modelling framework for a comprehensive evaluation of the multi-dimensional, dynamic and complex interactions between policy and sustainability. It discusses several inherent dangers associated with the advocated prospects for the CGE modelling approach to contribute to comprehensive and reliable sustainability impact assessments. The paper warns that this reductionist viewpoint may seriously infringe upon the basic values underpinning the SIA process, namely a transparent, heterogeneous, balanced, inter-disciplinary, consultative and participatory take to policy evaluation and building of the evidence-base.     

Environmental rationalities and the development state in East Asia: Prospects for a sustainability transition

This paper reviews what is known about recent trends in environmental governance among the newly industrializing countries of East Asia and the implications of these developments for a sustainability transition within the region. The conceptual starting point for the review is research that examines sustainability transitions within the framework of a multi-level perspective on system innovation. One of the challenges presented by this framework is that of understanding how existing political economies and governance structures promote stability or change in socio-technical regimes. By socio-technical regimes we mean the predominant organizational, social and technological configurations through which societal needs are constituted and met. In the case of the rapidly industrializing and urbanizing economies of East Asia, the trajectory of socio-technical regimes will have profound consequences for local, regional and global environments. Our review of trends in environmental governance as they relate to socio-technical regimes within the region traces a pattern of initial efforts to strengthen environmental regulatory regimes very much along the lines of the policy models of OECD economies. The degree to which these initial efforts have taken root varies from country to country in the region. What is beginning to emerge in several countries within the region, however, are a variety of policy and institutional innovations that hold promise for opening up spaces for change in socio-technical regimes, and for creating opportunities for new pathways of industrialization and urbanization to take hold that are less pollution, materials and energy-intensive.     

社会创业行为实现路径及内在机理——一项扎根理论的探索

基于8份社会创业者访谈材料，运用扎根理论方法，对社会创业在中国制度环境中的实现路径进行探索性分析。结果表明，社会创业意愿是社会创业的前置因素，制度情景和社会痛点是孕育社会创业意愿的重要土壤；创业者在多重制度逻辑中灵活运用合法性构建和资源拼凑等理性工具，并持续积累与更新创业知识和技巧，发挥社会创业意愿转化为创业行为的工具理性作用；当激励效应反馈到社会创业意愿时，新一轮创业行为将始于新的创业意愿；在整个社会创业意愿实现过程中，情绪特质和突发情节发挥重要调节效应。     

Minutes of Spring Council Meeting, 1965, of the Catholic Economic Association

This research compares perceived organizational support to work–family balance measures and policies in various work environments to determine whether the organizational context can be a mediating variable or whether the social economy sector, with its mission and management approach (participatory decision-making) might have an influence on organizational support to work–family balance. We studied the social economy sector and compared findings with three other sectors in the public service that have a public service mission but not the same democratic or participatory management mode: a metropolitan police service, social work, and nursing, all in the same city. Our research identifies many significant differences between the four sectors, essentially owing to the characteristics of the social economy sector. In addition to our quantitative research, we conducted interviews (36) in the sector and results indicate that the specificity of the social economy sector, i.e. mission and management mode, explain the overriding concern for work–life balance in the social economy sector.     

生态智慧研究：历史、发展与方向

为应对人类世背景下日益严峻的环境问题，生态智慧概念得到了人居环境研究者的广泛关注。但生态智慧研究仍处于起步阶段，其科学支撑、研究范畴和发展方向仍不清晰。回顾“生态智慧”概念的发展，发现其与环境运动和可持续性科学联系紧密。通过文献计量与分析，验证了以人居环境学科为主体的生态智慧研究领域已初步形成，但存在与现代实践联系不紧密的问题。提出生态智慧迭代演进的概念框架和挖掘传统生态智慧、完善地域性生态技术合集、开展设计实践、建立生态智慧导向的评估指标体系，以及参与生态美学教育5个风景园林师可以促进生态智慧研究的重要方向。     

A framework for implementing information and communication technologies in agricultural development in India

Knowledge is an increasingly significant factor of production in modern agriculture. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can accelerate agricultural development by facilitating knowledge management. Based on an evaluation of several ICT initiatives in rural India, a framework to guide policy and implementation of ICTs in Indian agriculture is proposed. In this framework, agricultural development is visualized from two perspectives, a rural incomes and livelihoods perspective at the farm level, and a sustainability perspective at the regional level. The implementation of ICTs is proposed in three unique institutional environments: (i) closed vertical supply chain network for agribusiness enterprises, (ii) an open chain network with dynamically evolving partners and supply chain situations for the public, non-governmental and multilateral organizations, and (iii) a spatial data services network to address natural resources management and sustainability concerns. Each environment is assessed to identify its appropriate business models centered around ICTs, required technologies, scope for up-scaling the models, and required institutional and policy initiatives. In the future, as ICT infrastructure grows and connectivity and hardware costs decline, the critical constraints are likely to be the development of appropriate policy and institutional environments for the creation and delivery of information and knowledge to the end users. Significant policy, institutional networking and capacity building initiatives will be required at various levels to overcome the constraints and effectively integrate ICTs into the agricultural development process in India.     

Developing post-normal technologies for sustainability

The last two decades have seen the development of an array of techniques and practices aimed at promoting sustainability. For many, results have been disappointing. There are charges that supposedly new organisational approaches remain embedded in managerialist, functionalist and anti-dialogic frameworks that are a significant part of the problem. Similarly the technocratic scientization of public policy is viewed as ill-equipped to deal with the social, economic and ecological issues currently facing neo-liberal societies. In this paper we seek to interpret these frustrations and identify pathways that move beyond this. Specifically, we argue that the gap between sustainability rhetoric and sustainability practices can be reconceptualised through the practice of science as post-normal and through developing the notion of post-normal sustainability technologies (PNSTs). The exponents of post-normal science show why stakeholder engagement in sustainability (and other scientific) issues is critical for the legitimacy and quality of decisions and the admission of complexity in decision-making and accountability processes. Building on this now well-established foundation we seek to characterise, and give examples of, PNSTs as tools for achieving this participation; wherein stakeholders assume expertise and interact with those possessing more traditional forms of expertise in order to co-produce knowledge about sustainability. Recognition of ideological and value diversity is also central to the post-normal sustainability agenda and with PNSTs, the values-based nature of the issues involved is articulated in a way that seeks to bring politics openly into the picture. To this end we identify processes that are emerging in the literature and in practice that will enable PNSTs. These include extended peer communities and multi-actor heuristics, agonistic processes and new characterisations of citizenship that support moves to sustainability. In so doing, we believe that PNSTs offer “clumsy solutions” for “wicked problems” that can be engaged with in both the research and practice arenas as significant contributions to addressing urgent needs.     

Beyond the veil — The real value of Foresight

The wide application of foresight would benefit from a common assessment framework that hardly exists. This would require a higher level of reference, i.e. pursuing more generic goals. This is offered by the two concepts of “knowledge society” and “participatory governance”. The aim of the research is to develop an impact assessment framework of foresight programmes in developing more participatory “knowledge societies” beyond their specific aims.Research shows that the major impacts of foresight belong to three groups, i.e. in relation to knowledge, network creation, and promoting public engagement in policy-making. At the same time, the major features of modern societies are of three types, i.e. related to knowledge value, to innovation-driven growth and to consequences of a “risk society”. Thus, the relevant areas where foresight might contribute are: knowledge, networking, and coping with a ‘risk society’.The new framework is built on the features and pre-conditions of more participatory societies and draws upon existing evaluation approaches and concepts (“theory-based evaluation”, “knowledge value framework”, “behavioural” and “cognitive capacity additionality”) to tackle short-comings of earlier evaluation efforts. It is then tested in a case study that demonstrates its feasibility and comprehensiveness and further refines the assessment criteria it is based on.     

Institutions Meet Mind: The Way out of a Deadlock

The crucial importance of institutional analysis in economics and the social sciences in general is well understood. Yet, institutional economists have only a limited understanding of individual behavior in institutional settings, the emergence and spread of innovative behavior, and of how individual behavior influences the creation of norms, and vice versa. This paper elaborates on the work of Douglas North, who emphasized the importance of the connection between the evolution of the mind and the evolution of institutions, and highlights the need to investigate the cognitive mechanisms of individuals. We focus, therefore, on the field of modern cognitive science and discuss some of its findings. This approach should be given priority in the development of institutional analysis. Research results in the cognitive sciences, and in particular cognitivism and connectionism, are of vital interest here. In this context, the work of the Austrian school, especially Hayek's The Sensory Order, is extremely relevant and seems to foreshadow future developments. It thus deserves reappraisal.     

Modeling a policy making framework for urban sustainability: Incorporating system dynamics into the Ecological Footprint

The Ecological Footprint (EF) is a powerful tool to advance the science of sustainability. However, the static snapshot of EF accounting is not designed to make projections of future sustainability consequences, which fails to elicit policy implications from a dynamic, temporally explicit perspective. This work attempts to incorporate system dynamics (SD) into EF to develop a dynamic EF forecasting framework, and provide a platform to support policy making for urban sustainability improvement. SD is firstly adopted to model the dynamics and interactions of EF driving forces, and then incorporated into the EF framework by correlating system drivers to EF-related consumption categories, embodied EF is finally calculated using the compound-based method. Based on different policy feasibility and sustainability targets, four policy scenarios are designed to explore future sustainability prospects and formulate integrated policies which would attain that sustainability scenario. The modeling procedure is applied to a case study area to illustrate how it works, and policy making for urban sustainability can hopefully be supported using this developed framework in the near future.