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

Abstract 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.

[1]  Christian Bockstaller,et al.  Use of agro-ecological indicators for the evaluation of farming systems , 1997 .

[2]  Hartmut Bossel,et al.  Assessing Viability and Sustainability: a Systems-based Approach for Deriving Comprehensive Indicator Sets , 2002 .

[3]  A. Bandura.  Social learning theory , 1977 .

[4]  F. Colijn,et al.  A quantitative method for description & assessment of ecosystems: The AMOEBA-approach , 1991 .

[5]  A. Bodini,et al.  Environmental quality and sustainability in the province of Reggio Emilia (Italy): using multi-criteria analysis to assess and compare municipal performance. , 2001, Journal of environmental management.

[6]  Anja Nygren.  Local Knowledge in the Environment–Development Discourse , 1999 .

[7]  K. Esler,et al.  Karoo veld ecology and management , 2006 .

[8]  Adrian McDonald,et al.  PICABUE: a methodological framework for the development of indicators of sustainable development , 1995 .

[9]  Erin E. Dooley,et al.  United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 1994 , 2017 .

[10]  I. Scoones.  Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: A Framework for Analysis , 1998 .

[11]  R. Prescott-Allen.  The Wellbeing of Nations: A Country-by-Country Index of Quality of Life and the Environment , 2001 .

[12]  J. Lopreato,et al.  General system theory : foundations, development, applications , 1970 .

[13]  Lin Zhen,et al.  Operational Indicators for Measuring Agricultural Sustainability in Developing Countries , 2003, Environmental management.

[14]  Sigrid Stagl,et al.  Learning from Doing Participatory Rural Research: Lessons from the Peak District National Park , 2006, Journal of Agricultural Economics.

[15]  Christina Prell,et al.  Community Networking and Social Capital: Early Investigations , 2006, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[16]  Jeff Coutts,et al.  The sustainability indicator industry: where to from here? A focus group study to explore the potential of farmer participation in the development of indicators. , 2000 .

[17]  T. Forsyth,et al.  Environmental transformations in developing countries: hybrid research and democratic policy , 1997 .

[18]  Stephen Morse,et al.  Experiences with sustainability indicators and stakeholder participation: a case study relating to a ‘Blue Plan’ project in Malta , 2004 .

[19]  S. Milton,et al.  Rangeland health assessment: a practical guide for ranchers in arid Karoo shrublands☆ , 1998 .

[20]  S. Morse,et al.  Making ‘dirty’ nations look clean? The nation state and the problem of selecting and weighting indices as tools for measuring progress towards sustainability , 2005 .

[21]  J. Palutikof,et al.  Climate change 2007 : impacts, adaptation and vulnerability , 2001 .

[22]  Policy Division.  Our Common Journey:: A Transition Toward Sustainability , 1999 .

[23]  D. Booher,et al.  Indicators for Sustainable Communities: A Strategy Building on Complexity Theory and Distributed Intelligence , 2000 .

[24]  C. Folke,et al.  The critical natural capital of ecosystem performance as insurance for human well-being , 2003 .

[25]  Chasca Twyman,et al.  Good or bad rangeland? Hybrid knowledge, science, and local understandings of vegetation dynamics in the Kalahari , 2004 .

[26]  S. S. Andrews,et al.  DESIGNING A SOIL QUALITY ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE AGROECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT , 2001 .

[27]  Patrick McAlpine,et al.  Bottom up and top down: analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management. , 2006, Journal of environmental management.

[28]  Anthony Young,et al.  Land Quality Indicators , 1995 .

[29]  W. Kepner,et al.  A process for selecting indicators for monitoring conditions of rangeland health , 1995, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[30]  C. Pahl-Wostl,et al.  Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/casp.774 Processes of Social Learning in Integrated Resources Management , 2022 .

[31]  C. S. Holling,et al.  Panarchy Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems , 2002 .

[32]  Anthony Charles,et al.  A regional-scale sustainable development index: the case of Baja California Sur, Mexico , 2003 .

[33]  S. Sheppard,et al.  Using multi-criteria analysis and visualisation for sustainable forest management planning with stakeholder groups , 2005 .

[34]  Stephen Morse,et al.  Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Who really cares about sustainability indicators? , 2001 .

[35]  Peter Checkland,et al.  Systems Thinking, Systems Practice , 1981 .

[36]  Carlo Giupponi,et al.  MULINO-DSS: a computer tool for sustainable use of water resources at the catchment scale , 2004, Math. Comput. Simul..

[37]  M. Reed,et al.  Integrating Methods for Developing Sustainability Indicators to Facilitate Learning and Action , 2005 .

[38]  M. Stocking,et al.  A Handbook for the Field Assessment of Land Degradation , 2001 .

[39]  Lindsay C. Stringer,et al.  Land degradation assessment in Southern Africa: integrating local and scientific knowledge bases , 2007 .

[40]  E. Bochet,et al.  Desertification indicators as diagnosis criteria for desertification risk assessment in Europe , 1998 .

[41]  Evan D.G. Fraser,et al.  Social Vulnerability and Ecological Fragility: Building Bridges between Social and Natural Sciences Using the Irish Potato Famine as a Case Study , 2003 .

[42]  Karl Mannheim,et al.  Man and Society in an Age of Reconstruction: Studies in Modern Social Structure. , 1941 .

[43]  Jules Pretty,et al.  Participatory learning for sustainable agriculture , 1995 .

[44]  Robert Chambers,et al.  Participatory Workshops: A Sourcebook of 21 Sets of Ideas and Activities , 2002 .

[45]  S. Bricker,et al.  An integrated methodology for assessment of estuarine trophic status , 2003 .

[46]  G. Carruthers,et al.  Where, and how, do monitoring and sustainability indicators fit into environmental management systems? , 2003 .

[47]  Olav Slaymaker,et al.  Mutual vulnerability, mutual dependence , 2003 .

[48]  Evan D.G. Fraser,et al.  Urban Ecology in Bangkok, Thailand: Community Participation, Urban Agriculture and Forestry , 2002 .

[49]  R. Stedman,et al.  Indicators of forest-dependent community sustainability: The evolution of research , 2002 .

[50]  K. Dreborg.  Essence of backcasting , 1996 .

[51]  M. Reed.  Participatory rangeland monitoring and management in the Kalahari, Botswana , 2005 .

[52]  Greg Stuart-Hill,et al.  The Event Book System: A Community-based Natural Resource Monitoring System from Namibia , 2005, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[53]  C. Prell,et al.  Unpacking “Participation” in the Adaptive Management of Social–ecological Systems: a Critical Review , 2006 .

[54]  A. Bryman.  Social Research Methods , 2001 .

[55]  Andrew J. Dougill,et al.  Participatory selection process for indicators of rangeland condition in the Kalahari , 2002 .

[56]  D. M. Freebairn,et al.  Reflections on collectively working toward sustainability: indicators for indicators! , 2003 .

[57]  Peter Hills,et al.  World cities or great cities? A comparative study of five Asian metropolises , 2003 .

[58]  Olivier Jolliet,et al.  Assessing sustainability: An assessment framework to evaluate Agenda 21 actions at the local level , 2003 .

[59]  A. Louise Heathwaite,et al.  Environmental Change in the Kalahari: Integrated Land Degradation Studies for Nonequilibrium Dryland Environments , 1999 .

[60]  Yannis A. Phillis,et al.  Sustainability: an ill-defined concept and its assessment using fuzzy logic , 2001 .

[61]  Janet Riley,et al.  Multidisciplinary indicators of impact and change Key issues for identification and summary , 2001 .

[62]  Hartmut Bossel,et al.  Earth at a Crossroads: Paths to a Sustainable Future , 1998 .