A framework for regional sustainability assessment: developing indicators for a Portuguese region

Abstract

Regional sustainability indicators are increasingly being developed. Their significance becomes obvious when important public policy-making strategies are decentralized to regions or local governments. This research designed a framework for the development of regional sustainability indicators. Its main goal is to assess and report regional sustainability performance, incorporating a significant public participation component. When the proposed approach was tested in the Algarve region, it was found useful to engage a broad range of stakeholders in regional sustainability assessment. This case study is a practical example of how regional sustainability can be assessed as a dynamic participative process, involving multi-stakeholders, to obtain a regional profile. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Regional sustainable development: Making development work in politically contingent space

“…A similar lesson can be learned from Coelho et al (2010), although they approach the construction of the indicators quite differently. Coelho et al propose that the selection of appropriate indicators should begin with what is important to individual localities fi rst and then scale up to the regional level.…”

“…The politicization of the regional scale has been particularly prominent in the European Union, where it has been used for the distribution of funds to combat the legacy of uneven development (Crescenzi, 2009). Both Sansoni et al (2010) and Coelho et al (2010) focus upon the development of sustainability indicators suitable for inter-regional comparisons within and between countries. Sansoni et al present the application of a Regional Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (RAMEA) in three European regions: EmiliaRomagna (Italy), Noord Brabant (The Netherlands) and Malopolska (Poland).…”

Incorporating Culture Into Sustainable Development: A Cultural Sustainability Index Framework for Green Buildings

“…The conventional three pillars model of sustainability has been extensively discussed in sustainable urban planning and in sustainable regions, cities and neighborhoods (Berardi, ; Coelho et al ., ; Cuthill, ; Dempsey et al ., ; Keirstead and Leach, ; Martin and Rice, ; Martin et al ., ; Mieg, ; Williams and Dair, ; Winston, ; Zavadskas and Antucheviciene, ), with some discussion adding other dimensions such as institutional and governance (Coelho et al ., ; Cuthill, ; Martin and Rice, ). Cultural sustainability, however, was not specifically stated but only occasionally discussed under the broader context of social sustainability, such as cultural symbolism as a sub‐branch of social sustainability (Martin and Rice, ; Yung et al ., ) conservation of local culture and heritage as a sustainability objective (Hartmuth et al ., ; Mieg, ; Ryan and Wayuparb, ; Williams and Dair, ) promotion of cultural identity (Ryan and Wayuparb, ; Weingaertner and Moberg, ; Yung et al ., ) perseveration of cultural diversity (Hartmuth et al ., ; Yung et al ., ) attachment to place, sense of place and belongingness (Ryan and Wayuparb, ; Weingaertner and Moberg, ; Yung et al ., ) collective memory, feeling of rootedness (Yung et al ., ) neighborhood attractiveness (Dave, ; Yung et al ., ) aesthetic, recreational value, and inspiring creativity (Ryan and Wayuparb, ). …”

Toward a Remote Sensing Solution for Regional Sustainability Assessment and Monitoring

“…When assessing sustainable development, it becomes necessary to determine where: (1) ecological functioning and human activities intersect with pronounced intensity [21] and (2) maintaining balance between ecological functioning and human actions is critical to resolving conflict when development trends induce adverse environmental patterns [22]. Recently, the regional focus that been advocated as the most appropriate scale for sustainability analysis and assessment [12,23].…”