Sustainability indicator systems within urban governance: Usability analysis of sustainability indicator systems as boundary objects

While sustainability indicator systems (SIs) have proven to be valuable rational tools for improving the availability of information related to the relationship of cities and communities to natural limits, the indicators movement has achieved limited instrumental uptake in policy. This paper begins from a recognition that instrumental use of sustainability indicator systems is rare. Greater potential impact exists for SIs designed to be much more attentive to their conceptual and political values within their particular social and political context. In other words, greater attention to what has been called the governance of indicator systems, or the ways in which SIs fit as policy tools within a multilevel and multiactor governance context, is key to increasing their utility. This is particularly true given the need for decisive policy change, or even the introduction of a new development path, which is asserted within the sustainability agenda.Understanding the real and potential utility of indicator systems within multiactor governance processes, in which their roles are primarily rhetorical, conceptual and political, is facilitated by thinking about indicator systems as boundary objects, tools which open up dialogue, information sharing, learning and consensus-building across different policy boundaries: between experts and nonexperts, formal government and different nongovernment actors, higher-order governments and lower-order governments. This paper offers a comparative analysis of three sustainability indicator systems in the North American context – Vancouver's Vital Signs (Vancouver Foundation), Seattle's Happiness Initiative, and LEED-ND (US Green Building Council) – all of which have shown some success in operationalizing a new policy boundary as a means of making conceptual and political contributions to governance practices. The specific boundaries operationalized, the different approach taken by each project, and the usability demonstrated by each project at that boundary in terms of salience, legitimacy and credibility, are assessed comparatively. In general, the trajectory in design and use of ecological and sustainability indicators demonstrates an increase in appetite, aptitude and numbers of channels for use in processes of governance; however, these factors vary with the local social–political opportunity structure. This analysis presents the advances made as well as the tradeoffs evident in these cases across the gamut of different forms of usability of nongovernmental indicator systems designed for use as boundary objects, and suggests a path forward for indicator work which aims to change policy, from a governance perspective.     

From sustainability to well-being: Lessons learned from the use of sustainable development indicators at national and EU level

Indicators describing sustainability and, more recently, well-being have raised considerable interest throughout the world. Much conceptual and empirical research exists focusing on the criteria for sustainability and development of indicators, while relatively few studies examine the actual use and influence of indicators. Employing document analysis and interviews of key actors, we explore the use of sustainable development indicators at national and EU level and draw forth lessons relevant for topical discussion of the measurement of human well-being. We apply a conceptual model of three main types of indicator use: instrumental, conceptual, and political. The results indicate that the use of sustainability indicators is mainly confined to the ‘indicator circuit’ formed by indicator-developers themselves and actors obliged to use the indicators. The results suggest that direct instrumental use of indicators shows limited potential, whereas conceptual use is the key for enhanced indicator influence in the long term. Political use of indicators cannot be controlled by the indicator-developers.     

Are public payments for organic farming cost-effective? Combining a decision-support model with LCA

Purpose  

The agricultural sector fulfils several functions such as the production of food energy and landscape conservation. An equilibrium between economic development and environmental protection should be found and research should aid political decision-making. In recent years, great efforts have been made to assess the environmental and economic implications of changes in both environmental and agricultural policies. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been extended by cost functions and social parameters. The validation of suggestions for political measures can be improved by combining existing environmental and economic models. This approach is applied in this paper in order to compare an increased support for organic farming with specific environmental policy measures, focusing on the resulting impacts and socioeconomic indicators.     

Are austerity measures really distressing? Evidence from Italy

Since 2007 financial recovery plans have been adopted by some Italian regions to contain the costs of the healthcare sector. It is legitimate to ask whether spending cuts associated with the austerity policy have had any effect on the health of the citizens. We examine the indirect impact of financial recovery plans on a broad set of health indicators, accounting for several dimensions of both physical and psychological diseases. We use an instrumental variable fixed-effects model to control for time-varying heterogeneity and to deal with the potential endogeneity of the enrolment in the austerity programme. We find that the Italian austerity policy Piano di Rientro resulted in unintended negative effects on several dimensions of health, hurting and potentially jeopardising the health of citizens.     

Are radical right-wing parties the black holes in party space? Implications and limitations in impact assessment of radical right-wing parties

Radical right-wing parties have been a constant force in party systems of Western Europe since the late 1980s, despite cycles of development and support. Still, measurement of their impact has proven difficult. Scholars assessing the impact of radical right-wing parties in recent years have produced mixed findings in terms of whether effects tend to be direct or indirect and more or less salient. The recent book by Carvalho engages existing literature on impact assessment examining the cases of the UK, France and Italy. His findings caution against overstatement of impacts on immigration policy, suggesting that effects are contingent on party system competition and mainstream party agency. This article considers the mixed results pointing to a lack of existing tools for measuring indirect party impacts. It contends that existing theory on party impact struggles to conceptualize empty spaces in political ideology, attributing agency to moving parties and not to others that may be pushing them.     

The biodiversity impacts of non-native species should not be extrapolated from biased single-species studies

The presence, diversity and abundance of non-native plant species in natural vegetation are common condition indicators used to determine conservation status, with consequences for management strategies and investment. The rationale behind non-native species metrics as condition indicators is the assumption that non-natives have negative consequences on native biodiversity and habitat condition. The case against non-native species is not so clear-cut, with some studies reporting neutral or even facilitative interactions, often depending on spatial scale. Observational and experimental evaluations of the impact of particular non-native species on biodiversity provide a vital evidence-base for general conservation management strategies. Unintentionally though, many studies that quantify the impacts of non-native species have resulted in a publication bias in which species with known impacts are selected for investigation far more often than benign species. Here we argue that meta-analyses of the impacts of individual non-native species on natives, no matter how meticulous or objective, should not be generalized beyond the set of ‘training’ species. The likelihood of such extrapolation is increased when meta-analyses are reported with little qualification as to the skewed sampling towards problematic species, and because alternative findings such as non-native assemblages having positive interactions with native biodiversity, are under-reported. To illustrate, we discuss two meta-analyses that make general conclusions from impact studies skewed towards ‘transformers’, the most extreme invaders. We warn that if generic non-native species management strategies were to be based on these conclusions, they could not only fail to meet objectives but in some instances harm native biodiversity.     

Development of environmental performance indicators supported by an environmental information system: Application to the Norwegian defence sector

Environmental performance indicators (EPIs) can be an important tool for evaluating and reporting the integration of environmental practices and tools in the defence sector, ensuring that environmental issues are being consistently and clearly followed into sector activities on a local and national scale. However, proper use of indicators is dependent on a suitable conceptual framework to manage and assess the environmental performance. Furthermore, monitoring is fundamental to environmental efficiency evaluations both to assess adherence to standards and to support management options. The use of EPI assures that a monitoring system for a public sector addresses only the key variables associated with significant environmental impacts and also improves communication with stakeholders. The main objective of this paper is to develop EPIs supported by an environmental information system (EIS), as a tool for environmental efficiency evaluations in the defence sector. To put the proposed approach into practice, the Norwegian defence EIS is used as a data source – a system developed to increase environmental awareness and to promote environmental efficiency, in the reporting of environmental aspects like use of ammunition, generation of waste, energy consumption, fuel consumption, use of chemicals, and water consumption. Use of real data acquired from the EIS is used to test and evaluate the robustness of the public sector's environmental performance indicator conceptual framework (SEPIIS), used to support the developed indicators. The main findings show how an indicator framework can be effectively combined with the use of an EIS designed to process data from a sector's activities, stressing how environmental issues could be integrated into overall public services performance management. The EPI developed for the Norwegian defence allowed to trace the sector's environmental performance, by comparisons with commissions from the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and national goals for GHG emissions, identifying areas for priority response measures. This joined approach of indicators and information systems could be useful to increase and improve environmental ex post and ex ante assessments, reporting and communication of defence activities.     

Management framework for sustainable development indicators in the State of Selangor, Malaysia

The perception that better information on environment and development is the determinant of effective rational decision- and policy-making processes provide the impetus for global interest in the use of sustainable development indicators (SDIs). Accordingly, proposals for SDIs are framed either on organisational goals or on disciplinary and multidisciplinary theories—aiming to reduce uncertainties in choosing the best alternative among a set of options concerning sustainability. Despite the fact that many SDI initiatives are explicitly aimed at improving policy-making, it is not apparent that political settings and organisational realities are taken into consideration in designing the framework for sustainability assessment. Ignoring the realities of policy-making dynamics can result in poor institutionalisation of the SDI development process, and therefore reduced impact of indicators. Linkage of SDIs to policy processes must also take into account the complex role of information in policy processes. The importance of societal values, cultural contexts and behaviour of bureaucracies must be understood and used to assist the assessment of progress towards sustainability using SDIs. Essentially, objective knowledge must be tampered with pragmatism in governance. This paper highlights the case of SDI development in the state of Selangor where the notion of instrumental rationality is balanced with the ‘incrementalism’ of the policy process that provided the foundation for institutionalising the reporting and use of SDIs. The ideals and paradoxes of participatory decision-making, the principles of the rational model and decision-making processes within a state government are critically examined.     

足迹家族:概念、类型、理论框架与整合模式

足迹研究是当前生态经济学和可持续发展领域的热点与前沿课题。探讨了足迹类指标的内涵,将其定义为一类评估人类资源消费和废弃物排放等活动环境影响的指标;介绍了生态足迹、碳足迹、水足迹、能源足迹、化学足迹、氮足迹和生物多样性足迹7类典型足迹指标的概念与研究进展;在此基础上提出了普适性的足迹家族概念,总结了足迹家族的选择性、开放性、系统性和不确定性特征,并根据足迹类指标的一般运算流程构建了足迹家族的理论框架;基于大量文献成果系统比较了生态足迹、碳足迹和水足迹3类关键足迹的特征差异,提出了在足迹家族层面增强指标兼容性的措施;通过逐一测试各关键足迹与27项环境问题的相关程度,从决策相关性的角度初步探索了该足迹家族的整合模式;展望了未来足迹(家族)研究的重点方向。     

The development of butterfly indicators in the United Kingdom and assessments in 2010

The United Kingdom (UK) Government has national and international commitments to tackle the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Biodiversity indicators are used to measure and communicate progress in meeting these commitments. From 2005 onwards, butterflies have been adopted as Governmental biodiversity indicators in England, Scotland and for the UK as a whole. The indicators are compiled using butterfly abundance data collected through the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, at a network of site established from 1976 onwards. The indicators show that butterfly numbers have fluctuated considerably from year-to-year, though analysis of the underlying smoothed multi-species trends for (habitat) ??specialist?? species show significant long-term declines in each country since the 1970s. Trends in wider countryside ??generalist?? species vary at the country-level from little or no overall change in Scotland and across the UK, to declines over selected years in England. Comparisons of changes in butterfly abundance before and after the 2010 target was set in 2002 suggest that the rate of decline at the UK-level is increasing for specialist species. In spite of large amounts of investment since 2000 to improve the habitat condition of protected areas, the trend for butterfly populations is no different in protected areas compared to elsewhere. Analysis by policy sector in England, shows that butterflies are declining rapidly in both forestry land and farmland, although in the latter habitat type, improvements are being seen on land entered into agri-environment schemes. We conclude by assessing the extent to which butterflies may represent broader biodiversity and help inform and evaluate conservation policy.     

A value chain approach to improve biomass policy formation

Biomass value chains for energy, fuels and bio‐based products involve complex, cross sector interactions between their upstream and downstream stages. Overarching policymaking to date has included the use of biomass to deliver sector specific aims (e.g. climate change, energy, etc.) however, this is mostly planned without adjusting support across the most challenging stages of biomass value chains and exploiting specific advantages related to their geographic settings (e.g. domestic feedstocks, local markets, etc.). Policies to date have, therefore, resulted in fragmented, suboptimal biomass use and debates for sustainability and resource efficiency. This opinion paper arose from the project Strategic Initiative for Resource Efficient Biomass Policies Funded by the EU Commission. It discusses the development of a dedicated Biomass Policy Framework which applies the principles of value chain analysis in policy design to enable the market uptake of sustainable, domestic, resource efficient biomass solutions. Firstly, it explains how to provide context by identifying value chains which can offer competitive advantages for biomass mobilization, market infrastructures, rural and economic development within their geographic setting. Then the work builds on the context and prioritized value chains and further rationalizes policy needs and aims within individual value chain stages. This is done by identifying policy‐related challenges and gaps that constrain sustainable and resource efficient deployment of the selected value chains. Also, it suggests policy interventions that will overcome challenges, resolve gaps and as a result mobilize local biomass and improve market uptake. Finally, it discusses the contrasting paradigms for biomass policy formation within single sector target setting and the value chain approach of the Biomass Policy Framework and uses the case of low carbon biomass heat to illustrate the strengths of the suggested approach. The paper concludes with remarks for the concept of biomass value chain analysis in policy.     

城市生态系统能-水-食物-土地-气候的“物理量与政策效果”双维耦合研究综述

城市生态系统内部各组分之间存在着错综复杂的关系,任一组分的变化会对其他组分产生不同程度的影响.快速的城市化进程带来了一系列影响城市可持续发展的问题.若想从根本上消除这些可持续发展隐患,需要采用“耦合”方法.本文明晰了“耦合”的3种应用情景及相应定义表述,同时对城市耦合理论发展脉络进行梳理,分别从物理耦合视角及政策效果耦合视角进行能-水-食物-土地-气候变化(EWFLC)五系统两两分析总结.从物理耦合视角解读发现,目前的耦合研究大多集中在城市尺度,并且主要针对两个系统之间的直接耦合关系,间接耦合关系研究相对缺乏,两系统的关联多会对社会和经济产生积极影响.从政策效果耦合视角来看,目前针对五系统的政策多面向直接解决目标系统问题,政策实施的中间目标大多可量化,且政策效果评估大多含有多个指标.在此基础上,本文提出了可同时结合物理耦合及政策效益耦合的城市EWFLC五系统分析框架,旨在帮助城市开展政策遴选,实现城市可持续发展.     

British and French policies towards high-skilled immigration during the 2000s: policy outplays politics or politics trumps policy?

Within the context of global competition for human talent, two policy shifts in favour of the promotion of high-skilled immigration (HSI) were observed in the UK and France during the 2000s. In light of similar policy inputs, this article compares the development and implementation of the British Highly Skilled Immigration Programme between 2002 and 2008 and the French Carte de Competences et Talents (Card of Competences and Talents) from 2006 to 2009. This research explores whether there was an overall convergence across these two European countries' policies towards HSI and if they have conformed to a similar client politics model. Whereas this politics model was identified in the UK, a policy gap was observed in France. This article relates the identified divergences with the political agency of the British and French policymakers, while the conclusions argue that politics trumped policy in the two selected cases.     

IPBES土地退化和恢复专题评估报告及其潜在影响

随着国际社会对生物多样性保护和人类福祉关注度的提升, 土地退化作为全球面临的重要问题逐渐成为国际公约和进程关注的热点问题。生物多样性和生态系统服务政府间科学政策平台(Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, IPBES)将“土地退化和恢复”列入2014-2018年工作方案, 开展评估。2018年3月, 该评估报告在IPBES第六次全体会议上获得通过。本文概述了评估报告的主要内容和结论, 探讨了对其他国际进程的可能影响。评估报告在IPBES概念框架的基础上, 厘清了土地退化的概念与内涵, 全面梳理了土地退化对人类生活质量的影响, 阐明了土地退化的现状和进程, 分析了直接和间接驱动因素与土地退化的作用, 揭示了土地退化与人类福祉的关系, 提出了土地退化和恢复的对策建议。该项评估将为各国决策者制定政策工具提供最有效的技术支撑, 为相关国际进程谈判提供重要的科学参考。中国作为生物多样性大国, 应重视IPBES的评估机制并积极参与, 加强促进生物多样性和生态系统服务领域的科学成果转化, 适时针对国内关键问题启动相关评估, 促进我国生态文明建设和山水林田湖草系统治理, 实现美丽中国的建设目标。     

Comparison of Tools for Quantifying the Environmental Performance of an Urban Territory

To support effective urban policies aimed at decreasing the environmental impacts of cities, it is important to develop robust tools for accounting those impacts. Environmentally extended input‐output analysis (EEIOA) is among the most used tools for this purpose, allowing the quantification of both direct and indirect impacts. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is also a holistic and comprehensive tool that accounts for direct and indirect impacts—but its application to cities is still very recent. This study aims at applying EEIOA and LCA to the municipality of Aveiro (Portugal) in order to compare the outcomes of the two tools in terms of total impacts (climate change and fossil fuel depletion) and hotspots (sectors/products contributing most to the impacts), to identify limitations and advantages of the tools when applied to Aveiro, and to illustrate how LCA can be applied to cities. The total impacts estimated with LCA and EEIOA were similar and the hotspots were also the same: transports, food, construction, and electricity. However, the relative contribution of some sectors was very different in the two tools due to methodological differences mainly in system boundaries, type of activities or products considered in each sector, and geographical coverage of impact data. This study concludes that the analyzed tools can provide complementary results to support decision making concerning urban planning and management.     

Energy Use and Environmental Impacts of the Swedish Building and Real Estate Management Sector

One of the key features of environmental policy integration in Sweden is sector responsibility. The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning is responsible for the building and real estate management sector and should, as a part of this responsibility, assess the environmental impacts of this sector. The aim of this study is to suggest and demonstrate a method for such an assessment. The suggested method is a life cycle assessment, based on an input‐output analysis. The method can be used for regular monitoring and for prioritization between different improving measures. For the assessment to sufficiently cover the Swedish Environmental Quality Objectives, complementary information is needed, in particular with respect to the indoor environment. According to the results, the real estate management sector contributes between 10% and 40% of Swedish energy use; use of hazardous chemical products; generation of solid waste; emissions of gases contributing to climate change; and human toxicological impacts, including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates. Transport and production of nonrenewable building materials contribute significantly to several of the emissions. Heating of buildings contributes more to energy use than to climate change, due to the use of renewable energy sources. To reduce climate change, measures should therefore prioritize not only heating of buildings but also the important upstream processes.     

Evidence-informed policy formulation and implementation: a comparative case study of two national policies for improving health and social care in Sweden

Background

Evidence has come to play a central role in health policymaking. However, policymakers tend to use other types of information besides research evidence. Most prior studies on evidence-informed policy have focused on the policy formulation phase without a systematic analysis of its implementation. It has been suggested that in order to fully understand the policy process, the analysis should include both policy formulation and implementation. The purpose of the study was to explore and compare two policies aiming to improve health and social care in Sweden and to empirically test a new conceptual model for evidence-informed policy formulation and implementation.

Methods

Two concurrent national policies were studied during the entire policy process using a longitudinal, comparative case study approach. Data was collected through interviews, observations, and documents. A Conceptual Model for Evidence-Informed Policy Formulation and Implementation was developed based on prior frameworks for evidence-informed policymaking and policy dissemination and implementation. The conceptual model was used to organize and analyze the data.

Results

The policies differed regarding the use of evidence in the policy formulation and the extent to which the policy formulation and implementation phases overlapped. Similarities between the cases were an emphasis on capacity assessment, modified activities based on the assessment, and a highly active implementation approach relying on networks of stakeholders. The Conceptual Model for Evidence-Informed Policy Formulation and Implementation was empirically useful to organize the data.

Conclusions

The policy actors’ roles and functions were found to have a great influence on the choices of strategies and collaborators in all policy phases. The Conceptual Model for Evidence-Informed Policy Formulation and Implementation was found to be useful. However, it provided insufficient guidance for analyzing actors involved in the policy process, capacity-building strategies, and overlapping policy phases. A revised version of the model that includes these aspects is suggested.

     

Opportunities and limitations in assessing the multifunctionality of agriculture within the CAPRI model

In recent years the objectives of agricultural policy have shifted from a principal focus on production and income towards agriculture's provision of public goods summarized by the term ‘multifunctionality’. Agricultural sector models, which are important tools for policy advice, need to be adjusted in order to maintain their relevance and reliability in accordance with policy changes. This paper investigates the strengths and limitations of incorporating multifunctionality indicators in the agricultural sector model Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact Analysis (CAPRI) by reviewing the existing literature and incorporating such indicators in the model. Multifunctionality indicators are developed and implemented for four selected aspects of multifunctionality: food security, landscape, environmental concerns and rural viability. By running different policy reform scenarios, it is shown that indicators closely related to the underlying economic variables of the sector model may provide useful to describe the effects of policy reforms on agriculture's multifunctionality. However, these indicators do not completely cover the selected aspects of multifunctionality. In order to yield a broader coverage, this paper proposes to strengthen interdisciplinary research by linking agricultural sector models with other model systems like farm-based economical–ecological models, regional economic models or landscape information systems.     

Use and influence of composite indicators for sustainable development at the EU-level

Considering the on-going strive towards new, alternative indicators to measure our societal development pathways, and the fact that policy indicators remain largely enigmatic with regard to their patterns of embeddedness in institutional decision-making processes, it appears necessary to work towards reducing our lack of understanding of their interactions with policy-making. In the present paper, we focus on exploring the significance of composite indicators for policy making in the particular policy environment of the EU-institutions. Our research is underpinned by the conviction that such indicators are not systematically used directly, but have an indirect influence on policy making that needs to be better understood. Our analytical framework – in order to analyse the ways in which composite indicators enter policy processes – is characterised by the distinction between the ‘use’ and the ‘influence’ of indicators on the one hand, and on the other hand between 3 types of factors: indicator factors, policy factors and user factors. Our empirical results show that while most of the academic attention and political debate around indicators has tended to focus on ‘indicator factors’, such quality attributes actually mattered relatively little in our setting as determinants of indicator influence. This rejects the idea that the robustness of evidence would lie exclusively in its technical quality and in the independence of its producer, and instead calls attention to the processes of evidence-construction. Simultaneously, ‘user factors’ (beliefs and representations of policy actors) and ‘policy factors’ (institutional context) were crucial as explanatory factors of the policy mechanics we identified.     

Life cycle environmental impacts of carbonated soft drinks

Purpose

The UK carbonated drinks sector was worth £8 billion in 2010 and is growing at an annual rate of 4.9 %. In an attempt to provide a better understanding of the environmental impacts of this sector, this paper presents, for the first time, the full life cycle impacts of carbonated soft drinks manufactured and consumed in the UK. Two functional units are considered: 1 l of packaged drink and total annual production of carbonated drinks in the UK. The latter has been used to estimate the impacts at the sectoral level. The system boundary is from ‘cradle to grave’. Different packaging used for carbonated drinks is considered: glass bottles (0.75 l), aluminium cans (0.33 l) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles (0.5 and 2 l).

Materials and methods

The study has been carried out following the ISO 14040/44 life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Data have been sourced from a drink manufacturer as well as the CCaLC, Ecoinvent and Gabi databases. The LCA software tools CCaLC v2.0 and GaBi 4.3 have been used for LCA modelling. The environmental impacts have been estimated according to the CML 2001 method.

Results and discussion

Packaging is the main hotspot for most environmental impacts, contributing between 59 and 77 %. The ingredients account between 7 and 14 % mainly due to sugar; the manufacturing stage contributes 5–10 %, largely due to the energy for filling and packaging. Refrigeration of the drink at retailer increases global warming potential by up to 33 %. Transport contributes up to 7 % to the total impacts.

Conclusions

The drink packaged in 2 l PET bottles is the most sustainable option for most impacts, including the carbon footprint, while the drink in glass bottles is the worst option. However, reusing glass bottles three times would make the carbon footprint of the drink in glass bottles comparable to that in aluminium cans and 0.5 l PET bottles. If recycling of PET bottles is increased to 60 %, the glass bottle would need to be reused 20 times to make their carbon footprints comparable. The estimates at the sectoral level indicate that the carbonated drinks in the UK are responsible for over 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ eq. emissions per year. This represented 13 % of the GHG emissions from the whole food and drink sector or 0.26 % of the UK total emissions in 2010.