Sustainability Indicators: Measuring the Immeasurable?

The groundbreaking first edition of Sustainability Indicators reviewed the development and value of sustainability indicators and discussed the advantage of taking a holistic and qualitative approach rather than focusing on strictly quantitative measures. In the new edition the authors bring the literature up to date and show that the basic requirement for a systemic approach is now well grounded in the evidence.

They examine the origins and development of Systemic Sustainability Analysis (SSA) as a theoretical approach to sustainability which has been developed in practice in a number of countries on an array of projects since the first edition. They look at how SSA has evolved into the practical approaches of Systemic Prospective Sustainability Analysis (SPSA) and IMAGINE, and, in particular how a wide range of participatory methodologies have been adopted over the years. They also provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of projects that undertake work in the general field of sustainable development.

Simon Bell is Director of the Bayswater Institute in London, a Senior Lecturer at the Open University and co-author with Stephen Morse of Measuring Sustainability (2003) and also co-author of How to Set Up Information Systems (2003). Stephen Morse is Reader in development studies, Department of Geography, University of Reading, UK, and author of Indices and Indicators in Development (2004).