Limits and targets for a regional sustainability assessment: an interdisciplinary exploration of the threshold concept

Some encompassing terminology is required in order to accommodate different conceptual approaches in the three pillars of sustainability. So, this chapter provides a literature review exploring the threshold concept. In environmental research — especially in ecology — thresholds are often associated with limits which have certain system-inherent processes. In social and economic disciplines, if the notion of limit or critical limit is present, the concept of targets is often more appropriate which are linked to political objectives and social acceptability. The concept of threshold is accommodated within the general framework of limits and targets. What is important is the understanding developed here that almost any environmental, social or economic system has the potential to reach a point or an area that is unsustainable, or outside acceptable limits, relevant at a regional level.

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