A meta-framework for sustainability assessment Research Memorandum 2013-16

Assessing sustainability is increasingly becoming a common practice in the appraisal of products and policy plans. Nonetheless, there are many concerns about the operationalisation of sustainability assessment. In the present paper we discuss the distinction between integrated assessment and sustainability assessment (SA), and using a systemic approach, we propose how to move from integrated assessment to SA. The fundamental differences may be identified at three levels: ontological, methodological and epistemological. These differences arise from the need to capture complexity while ensuring transparency, comprehensiveness, completeness and legitimacy. A review of the state of the art suggests that there is a lack of both science‐based and policy‐based boundaries which are able to define a threshold between sustainability and non‐sustainability. To address these concerns, we present a systematic methodological framework for SA, based on a literature meta‐review of multi‐scale and multi‐purpose appraisal methodologies and related methods, models, and indicators. To overcome ambiguity, a clear transparency and clarity in value setting is needed. In this framework, SA is considered as a structured procedure encompassing different field‐specific analytical methods and models, depending on the specific application (e.g. assessment of policy, plans, or products) and decision context (e.g. time, scale, actors). External inputs to the methodology are the “values” to be considered in the analysis and the (political) boundaries defined for them, including also the sustainability framework in which the analysis is carried out (e.g. “weak” vs. “strong”). Internal elements of the methodology comprise the choice of the approach (e.g. “what‐if” vs. “what‐to”), the scenario settings and the possible analytical tools and indicators for the numerical analysis. Uncertainty quantification tools are then key elements of the assessment framework. We discuss the relevance of and challenges for the development of SA, with a specific focus on applicability in specific decision contexts such as policy option assessment.