Sustainable development indicators: a scientific challenge, a democratic issue

Abstract

Social indicators, and therefore sustainable development indicators also, are scientific constructs whose principal objective is to inform public policy-making. Their usefulness is dependant on trade-offs between scientific soundness and rigor, political effectiveness and democratic legitimacy. The paper considers in this perspective three important stages in the building of sustainable development indicators: the identification of the various dimensions underlying the concept of sustainable development, the process of aggregating lower dimension indicators in higher level composite indices and the attribution of weights at various levels of the indicators hierarchy. More specifically, it assesses the relative fruitfulness for indicators construction of the four most widespread conceptions of sustainable development, in terms of domains or pillars (economy, society, and environment), in terms of resources and productive assets (manufactured, natural, human and social capitals), in terms of human well-being (needs, capabilities) or in terms of norms (efficiency, fairness, prudence. . . ). It concludes with a plea for the construction of synthetic indices able to compete with and complement the GNP as an indicator of development.

Energy-related conditions and envelope properties for sustainable buildings

“…The different approaches could be described as follows: -focused on equilibrium between economic, social and environmental sectors; -focused on sustainability in the use of natural resources taking into account the needs of future generations; -oriented on sustainable development as the increase now and in the future for the well-being for the greatest possible number of people [23]. The evolution of this topic with the emphasis on energy use can be traced to a paper [24].…”

Windows of opportunity: addressing climate uncertainty through adaptation plan implementation

“…These indicators may be categorized into three types: climate related, political and /or social, and local urban environmental indicators. A portfolio of indicators can include those that are scientifically robust, and those that are more locally meaningful even if less scientifically robust (Boulanger, 2008;Feiden and Hamin, 2011). wall is overtopped per year, for instance, may be a locally-meaningful indicator that encourages policymakers to take climate change, or at least climate variability, seriously-but for that to happen, the record of occurrences must be made and annually reviewed.…”

Wedging Equity and Environmental Justice into the Discourse on Sustainability

“…A good part of the disagreement surrounds the interests and uses to which these indicators are likely to be applied (Mayer 2008). Some of the greatest concern arises in relation to the disputes about the appropriateness of particular statistical indexes as tools for policy and planning (Barnett, Lambert and Fry, 2008;Boulanger 2008). Political as well as scientific conflict also arises with regard to the assignment of appropriate weights to the individual measures included within an index.…”