An aggregation framework to link indicators associated with multifunctional land use to the stakeholder evaluation of policy options

In the last decade efforts have been carried out by the scientific community aimed at building integrated frameworks to support the decision-making process when sustainability issues are addressed. This paper proposes a further advancement in integrated assessment procedures by setting up an operational multi-scale and transparent framework, which comprises the assessment of European regions in terms of sustainability, and the identification of the impact that policy options might have on the sustainability of these regions. The framework is designed for use in ex ante sustainability impact assessment of policy scenarios on multifunctionality of land use and integrates economic, environmental and social issues across a variety of sectors (agriculture, forestry, transport, tourism and energy). The proposed method provides a conceptual framework applicable at different scales (European, regional), and takes into account the great variability of European regions. The described methodology is based on linear additive models to weight and aggregate selected indicators to a set of land use functions identified to describe the goods and services provided by the different land uses that summarise the most relevant economic, environmental and social issues of a region. The framework is designed to allow the evaluation of impacts at an international scale (e.g. the European Union), or on selected regions.The aggregation framework can be used to evaluate the impact that policy options have on the sustainability of multifunctional land use systems with competing demands. A conceptual envelope, called the “trade-off evaluation space”, delineates all possible developments in the functions of the land. The sustainability limits identify the subset of ‘acceptable’ policy options within the trade-off evaluation space, so that the distance of each land use function from sustainability limits can be estimated and trade-offs between the different functions of the multifunctional land use system can be identified. The proposed methodology is adaptable to different contexts: if the assumption is taken that all land use functions are equally weighted the framework can be used to analyse policy cases and take decisions on policy options at the European or regional level. However, at the local-scale the framework can also be applied through a participatory approach and the distribution of weights can be rediscussed with local stakeholders. In both cases the proposed system can be used as a tool for discussion among all interested parties.     

Methodological framework to find links between life cycle sustainability assessment categories and the UN Sustainable Development Goals based on literature

Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) can be used as a tool to understand how products and operating systems can meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, existing linkages between SDGs and LCSA are limited and an analysis of coverage in literature is needed. In this paper, we propose a generic methodological framework establishing connections between LCSA categories at micro-level and SDGs at macro-level based on derivation from the literature. The qualitative heuristic research method developed builds on keyword literature search, bibliometric analysis, mapping, and narrative literature review for connection rationales. By using qualitative assessment levels, an assessment of linkages between LCSA categories and SDGs reveal that “technology development,” “public commitment to sustainability issues,” “access to material resources,” and “education provided in the local community” have the highest number of reported relationships with SDGs. Twenty-two LCSA categories were found with no direct/indirect connection with any SDG; reasons include absence of life cycle thinking perspective in SDGs and lack of sustainability-based discussion for workers, consumers, and value chain actors' stakeholder groups. Despite these gaps, the results provide new insights for industries looking to measure the contribution of their product systems along their life cycle in the context of SDGs supporting them to some extent, to select LCSA categories with either highest number of identified relationships to SDGs or that contribute to prioritized list of SDGs. The approach provides a starting point to improve transparency and consistency of reporting of sustainability performance of product systems by connecting LCSA to the global agenda for sustainable development.     

A benchmarking and assessment framework to operationalise ecological indicators based on time series analysis

The call for ecosystem considerations in marine management has instigated the use of ecosystem indicators. Many ecosystem indicators have been suggested under new policy frameworks such as the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive or the Common Fisheries Policy. But many of these indicators are still under development and cannot be considered as yet operational for environmental assessments. A common reason for this lack of operationability is the absence of valid assessment benchmarks. This study introduces a two-stage approach for the benchmarking and assessment of time series (TSBA) against a priori chosen rationale of improvement or maintenance of current conditions. TSBA uses breakpoint- and trend-analysis to obtain long-term benchmarks and assess short term progress. Depending on the outcome of both analyses the action requirements for management can be determined. The method is exemplified on a case study on the size-structure of large North Sea gadoid stocks, which are considered as being sensitive to the impacts of fishing. Three out of six stocks reached their assessment benchmarks, while the three other stocks failed. TSBA is generic and can be applied to any indicator used within any marine policy assessment framework. A strength–weaknesses–opportunity–threat analysis (SWOT) investigated the advantages and disadvantages of TSBA in the context of the currently high political demand of operational ecosystem indicators. Contrary to benchmarks derived from ecological concepts or pressure-state relationship TSBA benchmarks are not specifically linked to limits of resilience or sustainability. However, TSBA may be especially useful in situations where assessment benchmarks from other sources will not be readily available or are associated with high uncertainty.     

Sustainability assessment of sugarcane-ethanol production in Brazil: A case study of a sugarcane mill in São Paulo state

To improve decision-making, sustainability-based approaches to impact assessment demand that we move beyond narrowly defined considerations to address the full suite of requirements for sustainability, as well as the interconnections, feedbacks and uncertainties that typify complex socio-ecological systems at all scales. This paper applies a sustainability assessment framework to assess a sugarcane-ethanol mill in São Paulo state, Brazil, seeking to identify opportunities for improvements towards sustainability. The analysis highlights the importance of broader strategic planning for providing an appropriate context for more sustainable sugarcane-ethanol production at the watershed, municipal, and mill level. Five particularly important multi-scalar issues that were identified are (1) the maintenance of long-term water availability and quality; (2) the enhancement of biodiversity and reversal of ecological fragmentation; (3) the planned elimination of sugarcane straw burning and subsequence increase in mechanized harvesting; (4) the impacts of indirect and direct land-use change; and (5) the quality, availability and durability of livelihood opportunities. To address these issues requires long term integrated planning and monitoring, better understanding of cumulative impacts and thresholds, recognition of important tradeoffs, and a credible and collaborative decision-making process that involves and empowers stakeholders to set the agendas and seek common goals.     

Assessing and comparing relative farm-level sustainability of smallholder shrimp farms in two Sri Lankan provinces using indices developed from two methodological frameworks

As shrimp farming can be an important means of income generation, particularly among Sri Lanka’s rural communities, it is important that this industry grows in a sustainable manner, starting at the farm level. The objectives of this study were to; 1) create baseline farm-level sustainability indices for smallholder shrimp farms in Sri Lanka using both content-based and system-based frameworks adapted from agriculture; 2) determine whether arranging indicators within both content- and system-based sustainability frameworks would provide additional insight into relative farm sustainability (rather than using just one framework); and 3) seek differences between the North Western Province (NWP) and the Eastern Province (EP) in sustainability index, sub-index, or indicator scores that might be used to create province-specific policies and education programs designed to potentially improve sustainable practices at the farm level. Since little has been published on the development of practical indicators and evaluation of farm-level sustainability in aquaculture, this study adapted two types of frameworks used for measuring sustainability in agriculture: content- and system-based. Using both frameworks, along with expert opinion, indicators of farm level sustainability were developed into a questionnaire and measured on 225 farms in two provinces of Sri Lanka. Indicators primarily included modifiable practices that farmers could influence to improve the chances of their farms’ survival. The farm indicators were normalized using “min-max” normalization, where scores of zero and one were assigned for the least and most sustainable options, respectively. Farm indicators in each province were then aggregated into sub-indices as well an overall aggregated sustainability index score. Similar themes were gleaned from both the content-based and system-based sustainability frameworks, and there was no significant difference between mean overall sustainability scores for the two different frameworks. Farms in the NWP scored significantly higher on the overall sustainability indices of both models despite the NWP’s history of severe disease outbreaks while the EP farms had no disease. Possible reasons for this difference were explored with an in-depth analysis of sub-indices as well as individual indicators. An overall aggregated sustainability index score was a useful baseline measure for monitoring changes in sustainability over time; however, its use was limited when attempting to identify gaps in sustainable management practices and provide practical information for farmers and stakeholders to improve farm-level sustainability. It was important to evaluate individual indicators in addition to sub-indices and overall index scores when making recommendations or identifying gaps in sustainable practices at the farm level.     

Toward an Overall Analytical Framework for the Integrated Sustainability Assessment of the Production and Supply of Raw Materials and Primary Energy Carriers

The sustainable production and supply of raw materials (“nonenergy raw materials”) and primary energy carriers (“energy raw materials”) is a core element of many policies. The natural resource base for their production and supply, and the access thereto, are limited. Moreover, raw material supply is high on environmental and social impact agendas as well. A broad, quantitative framework that supports decision makers is recommended so as to make use of raw materials and primary energy carriers more sustainably. First, this article proposes a holistic classification of raw materials and primary energy carriers. This is an essential prerequisite for developing an integrated sustainability assessment framework (ISAF). Indeed, frequently, only a subset of raw materials and primary energy carriers are considered in terms of their source, sector, or final application. Here, 85 raw materials and 30 primary energy carriers overall are identified and grouped into seven and five subgroups, respectively. Next, this article proposes a quantitative ISAF for the production and supply of raw materials and primary energy carriers, covering all the sustainability pillars. With the goal of comprehensiveness, the proposed ISAF integrates sustainability issues that have been covered and modeled in quite different quantitative frameworks: ecosystem services; classical life cycle assessment (LCA); social LCA; resource criticality assessment; and particular international concerns (e.g., conflict minerals assessment). The resulting four areas of concerns (i.e., environmental, technical, economic, and social/societal) are grouped into ten specific sustainability concerns. Finally, these concerns are quantified through 15 indicators, enabling the quantitative sustainability assessment of the production and supply of raw materials and primary energy carriers.     

A Framework for Accurately Informing Facilitated Regional Industrial Symbioses on Environmental Consequences

Facilitated regional industrial symbiosis (FRIS) initiatives mainly aim at increasing regional resource‐use efficiency, but should also assess and anticipate other environmental consequences of the intended structural system changes. To successfully embed environmental criteria in an FRIS process, the environmental impacts resulting from induced system changes should comprehensively address all environmental aspects relevant to stakeholders. Normative environmental assessment frameworks used in FRIS, such as life cycle assessment, fail to address the ambiguity surrounding the concept of environment itself and its social foundations. The “environment” is a polysemous (i.e., has multiple meanings), relative and subjective construction and environmental consequences of FRIS initiative should be selected by means of environmental assessment frameworks that enable subjective identification of environmental phenomena of interest. We propose such an environmental assessment framework providing both (1) a logical basis accommodating all FRIS stakeholders’ perceptions of the environment and environmental consequences and (2) a method, embedding that logical basis, for the consideration of environmental consequences in FRIS. The logical basis is built by conceptually structuring independent key elements of the perception of “environment,” that is, the relation between environmental consequences and FRIS stakeholders (object‐subject relation). This generic environmental assessment framework contrasts with the direct use of normative frameworks under which both the phenomena of interest and their indicators are conflated and predefined. The proposed framework is partially illustrated by describing its application to a specific case: the identification of phenomena of interest within an FRIS process aiming to recycle organic residues in Réunion.     

A proposal to measure absolute environmental sustainability in life cycle assessment

Environmental monitoring indicates that progress towards the goal of environmental sustainability in many cases is slow, non-existing or negative. Indicators that use environmental carrying capacity references to evaluate whether anthropogenic systems are, or will potentially be, environmentally sustainable are therefore increasingly important. Such absolute indicators exist, but suffer from shortcomings such as incomplete coverage of environmental issues, varying data quality and varying or insufficient spatial resolution. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that life cycle assessment (LCA) can potentially reduce or eliminate these shortcomings.We developed a generic mathematical framework for the use of carrying capacity as environmental sustainability reference in spatially resolved life cycle impact assessment models and applied this framework to the LCA impact category terrestrial acidification. In this application carrying capacity was expressed as acid deposition (eq. mol H⁺ ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) and derived from two complementary pH related thresholds. A geochemical steady-state model was used to calculate a carrying capacity corresponding to these thresholds for 99,515 spatial units worldwide. Carrying capacities were coupled with deposition factors from a global deposition model to calculate characterisation factors (CF), which expresses space integrated occupation of carrying capacity (ha year) per kg emission. Principles for calculating the entitlement to carrying capacity of anthropogenic systems were then outlined, and the logic of considering a studied system environmentally sustainable if its indicator score (carrying capacity occupation) does not exceed its carrying capacity entitlement was demonstrated. The developed CFs and entitlement calculation principles were applied to a case study evaluating emission scenarios for personal residential electricity consumption supplied by production from 45 US coal fired electricity plant.Median values of derived CFs are 0.16–0.19 ha year kg⁻¹ for common acidifying compounds. CFs are generally highest in Northern Europe, Canada and Alaska due to the low carrying capacity of soils in these regions. Differences in indicator scores of the case study emission scenarios are to a larger extent driven by variations in pollution intensities of electricity plants than by spatial variations in CFs. None of the 45 emission scenarios could be considered environmentally sustainable when using the relative contribution to GDP or the grandfathering (proportionality to past emissions) valuation principles to calculating carrying capacity entitlements. It is argued that CFs containing carrying capacity references are complementary to existing CFs in supporting decisions aimed at simultaneously reducing environmental impacts efficiently and maintaining or achieving environmental sustainability.We have demonstrated that LCA indicators can be modified from being relative to being absolute indicators of environmental sustainability. Further research should focus on quantifying uncertainties related to choices in indicator design and on reducing uncertainties effectively.     

Towards life cycle sustainability assessment: drawing on the NEEDS project’s total cost and multi-criteria decision analysis ranking methods

Purpose

In the European Union project New Energy Externalities Development for Sustainability (NEEDS), power generation technologies were ranked by means of two sustainability assessment approaches. The total costs approach, adding private and external costs, and a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) were used, integrating social, economic and environmental criteria. Both approaches relied on environmental indicators based on life cycle assessment. This study aims to analyse the extent to which the development of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) can draw on these ranking methods.

Methods

The approaches to rank technologies in the NEEDS project are reviewed in terms of similarities and differences in concept, quantification and scope. Identified issues are discussed and set into perspective for the development of a potential future LCSA framework.

Results and discussion

The NEEDS MCDA and total costs considerably overlap regarding issues covered, except for several social aspects. Beyond total costs being limited to private and external costs, most notable conceptual differences concern the coverage of pecuniary (i.e. price change-induced) external effects, and potential double-counting for instance of resource depletion or specific cost components. External costs take account of the specific utility changes of those affected, requiring a rather high level of spatial and temporal detail. This allows addressing intra- and inter-generational aspects. Differences between both ranking methods and current LCSA methods concern the way weighting is performed, the social aspects covered and the classification of indicators according to the three sustainability dimensions. The methods differ in the way waste, accidents or intended impacts are taken into account. An issue regarding the definition of truly comparable products has also been identified (e.g. power plants).

Conclusions

For the development of LCSA, the study suggests that taking a consequential approach allows assessing pecuniary effects and repercussions of adaptation measures, relevant for a sustainability context, and that developing a life cycle impact assessment for life cycle costing would provide valuable information. The study concludes with raising a few questions and providing some suggestions regarding the development of a consistent framework for LCSA: whether the analyses in LCSA shall be distinguished into the three dimensions of sustainable development at the inventory or the impact level also with the aim to avoid double-counting, whether or not LCSA will address exceptional events, whether or not benefits shall be accounted for and how to deal with methodological and value choices (e.g. through sensitivity analyses).     

Defining criteria and indicators for a sustainability label of local public services

The assessment of sustainability of public services is an important issue, especially at local level, taken into account the central role of local governments as a major public employer and provider of a diversity of services. Local governments are close to citizens and are moving faster than other public sector levels with regard to the integration of sustainability principles in their operations and strategies. A sustainability label to communicate public service performance enables to disclose information directly to service users. However, there is a dearth of research about labels addressing specific sustainability criteria for local services. The main aim of this research was the development of a conceptual framework to define a sustainability label, as a tool to assess and communicate sustainability of local public services. The approach was developed taking into account criteria of the European Union Ecolabel and indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. The ecolabel is a relatively well-known voluntary instrument in Europe and has the potential for application in public service activities and operations, but only assess the environmental component of sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative, in particular the Sector Supplement for Public Agencies, was then used to integrate the other sustainability components. Thirty-six (36) criteria and respective indicators were adapted for the proposed sustainability label conceptual framework. A Portuguese local public service was used as an exploratory case study to test the proposed conceptual model into practice. The overall results demonstrate that few criteria were accomplished in this local public service, stressing that new practices and public policies need to be adopted to invert the current trend, especially through the application of assessment systems. This exploratory case study research has shown how useful can be a sustainability label to support local governments in evaluating and communicating the sustainability performance of their public services. This case could drive and support other government levels, including central and regional public administration, in adopting and exploring public service labels and their associated performance approaches.     

Do green neighbourhood ratings cover sustainability?

Neighbourhoods are the building blocks of cities, which have their own architectural, cultural and economic systems. To improve neighbourhood sustainability, a consideration of their buildings, public spaces, infrastructure, and cooperation between their parts is necessary. Neighbourhoods are an integral part of urban planning activity, yet the development of neighbourhood assessment tools has just begun to spread.In the scope of this study, five assessment systems, CASBEE-UD, the 2009 and 2012 versions of the BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND, and DGNB-UD were compared. This paper presents the methodology and results of their comparative investigation. These systems categorise, measure, and rate their indexes and indicators differently, therefore it was necessary to integrate their processes to make them comparable. By means of a 3-level comparison and the indicator evaluation, the different neighbourhood sustainability assessment systems were compared in general as well as in detail.An evaluation based on the method provides information about the similarities, differences, and working methods of the systems, and this study can provide guidance in choosing a proper assessment system for a specific development, based on its detailedness, adaptability, and efficiency. It was also important to determine ways to improve the assessment systems.The study states that the DGNB neighbourhood sustainability system provided the best results in a comparison of their sustainability integration issues, the detailedness of their indicators, and their coverage of the pillars of sustainability. The newest systems synthesise the best qualities of each sustainability assessment tool. Meanwhile, the CASBEE tool differs from the others in the most aspects due to its different background. Finally, the LEED and BREEAM systems showed average results in main aspects.     

Sustainable Sourcing of Global Agricultural Raw Materials: Assessing Gaps in Key Impact and Vulnerability Issues and Indicators

Understanding how to source agricultural raw materials sustainably is challenging in today’s globalized food system given the variety of issues to be considered and the multitude of suggested indicators for representing these issues. Furthermore, stakeholders in the global food system both impact these issues and are themselves vulnerable to these issues, an important duality that is often implied but not explicitly described. The attention given to these issues and conceptual frameworks varies greatly—depending largely on the stakeholder perspective—as does the set of indicators developed to measure them. To better structure these complex relationships and assess any gaps, we collate a comprehensive list of sustainability issues and a database of sustainability indicators to represent them. To assure a breadth of inclusion, the issues are pulled from the following three perspectives: major global sustainability assessments, sustainability communications from global food companies, and conceptual frameworks of sustainable livelihoods from academic publications. These terms are integrated across perspectives using a common vocabulary, classified by their relevance to impacts and vulnerabilities, and categorized into groups by economic, environmental, physical, human, social, and political characteristics. These issues are then associated with over 2,000 sustainability indicators gathered from existing sources. A gap analysis is then performed to determine if particular issues and issue groups are over or underrepresented. This process results in 44 “integrated” issues—24 impact issues and 36 vulnerability issues —that are composed of 318 “component” issues. The gap analysis shows that although every integrated issue is mentioned at least 40% of the time across perspectives, no issue is mentioned more than 70% of the time. A few issues infrequently mentioned across perspectives also have relatively few indicators available to fully represent them. Issues in the impact framework generally have fewer gaps than those in the vulnerability framework.     

Evaluating sustainability impacts of critical mineral extractions: Integration of life cycle sustainability assessment and SDGs frameworks

The extraction of critical minerals used in clean technologies has profound impacts on sustainable development goals (SDGs). Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is used to evaluate the sustainability impacts of products and services, but few frameworks exist to support SDGs assessment for the “green minerals” extraction. Here, we propose a mining-specific framework identifying linkages between LCSA and SDGs, along with a process to integrate methods and data. As a proof of concept, we assess the LCSA performance and local-community level SDG impacts of a nickel mining project in Indonesia. Integrating remote sensing, media sources, stakeholder's data, and expert opinion, we find that LCSA encompasses all 17 goals but only a subset of targets and indicators. The study highlights the need to incorporate indigenous people's perspectives in both LCSA and SDG assessments, and points to priority areas for improving life cycle sustainability and SDG outcomes: fighting corruption, protecting cultural heritage, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We suggest that this framework can inform corporate social responsibility activities, as well as consumer choices for low-carbon technologies.     

Meta-performance evaluation of sustainability indicators

There are many different kinds of frameworks for evaluating environmental and sustainability performance at the organizational level (profit or not-for-profit, private or public), sectoral level (e.g. industry, transport, agriculture and tourism), and local, regional or country levels. Despite the diversity of methods and tools to measure sustainable development, indicators are one of the approaches most used. However, these tools do not usually include evaluation of the performance measurement instrument itself. The main objective of this research is to develop a conceptual framework to design and assess the effectiveness of the sustainability indicators themselves. To put the proposed tool into practice, a set of key good-practice factors and meta-performance evaluation indicators is proposed for adoption in a national case study—the national sustainable development indicators system, SIDS Portugal, and the usefulness of this methodology is demonstrated. This approach aims to evaluate how appropriate a set of sustainability indicators is and allow an evaluation of overall performance-monitoring activities and results. Stakeholder involvement is an essential component of the proposed framework. The tool developed could support continuous improvement in the performance of ongoing sustainability indicator initiatives, allowing greater guidance, objectivity and transparency in sustainability assessment processes.     

The Design of a Sustainability Assessment Standard Using Life Cycle Information

Sustainability assessment standards are currently being developed for a range of building products. This activity has been stimulated through the considerable success of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED? standard. Transparent life cycle–based standards can guide manufacturers to design products that have reduced environmental impact. The use of a sustainability standard can certify performance and avoid green washing. In this article we present a logical framework for designing a sustainability assessment standard through the creation of tables that award points in the standard to be consistent with life cycle information. Certain minimum principles of consistency are articulated. In the case that the life cycle impact assessment method maps the life cycle inventory to impact through a linear weighting, two design approaches—impact category and activity substitution—are constructed to be consistent with these principles. The approach is illustrated in a case study of a partial redesign of a carpet sustainability assessment standard (NSF/ANSI‐140).     

An integrated risk assessment for climate change: analysing the vulnerability of sharks and rays on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

An Integrated Risk Assessment for Climate Change (IRACC) is developed and applied to assess the vulnerability of sharks and rays on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to climate change. The IRACC merges a traditional climate change vulnerability framework with approaches from fisheries ecological risk assessments. This semi‐quantitative assessment accommodates uncertainty and can be applied at different spatial and temporal scales to identify exposure factors, at‐risk species and their key biological and ecological attributes, critical habitats a`nd ecological processes, and major knowledge gaps. Consequently, the IRACC can provide a foundation upon which to develop climate change response strategies. Here, we describe the assessment process, demonstrate its application to GBR shark and ray species, and explore the issues affecting their vulnerability to climate change. The assessment indicates that for the GBR, freshwater/estuarine and reef associated sharks and rays are most vulnerable to climate change, and that vulnerability is driven by case‐specific interactions of multiple factors and species attributes. Changes in temperature, freshwater input and ocean circulation will have the most widespread effects on these species. Although relatively few GBR sharks and rays were assessed as highly vulnerable, their vulnerability increases when synergies with other factors are considered. This is especially true for freshwater/estuarine and coastal/inshore sharks and rays. Reducing the impacts of climate change on the GBR's sharks and rays requires a range of approaches including mitigating climate change and addressing habitat degradation and sustainability issues. Species‐specific conservation actions may be required for higher risk species (e.g. the freshwater whipray, porcupine ray, speartooth shark and sawfishes) including reducing mortality, preserving coastal catchments and estuarine habitats, and addressing fisheries sustainability. The assessment identified many knowledge gaps concerning GBR habitats and processes, and highlights the need for improved understanding of the biology and ecology of the sharks and rays of the GBR.     

A parcel-scale assessment tool to measure sustainability through urban ecosystem components: The MUSIX model

In recent years a number of urban sustainability assessment frameworks are developed to better inform policy formulation and decision-making processes. This paper introduces one of these attempts in developing a comprehensive assessment tool—i.e., Micro-level Urban-ecosystem Sustainability IndeX (MUSIX). Being an indicator-based indexing model, MUSIX investigates the environmental impacts of land-uses on urban sustainability by measuring urban ecosystem components in local scale. The paper presents the methodology of MUSIX and demonstrates the performance of the model in a pilot test-bed—i.e., in Gold Coast, Australia. The model provides useful insights on the sustainability performance of the test-bed area. The parcel-scale findings of the indicators are used to identify local problems considering six main issues of urban development—i.e., hydrology; ecology; pollution; location; design, and; efficiency. The composite index score is used to propose betterment strategies to guide the development of local area plans in conjunction with the City's Planning Scheme. In overall, this study has shown that parcel-scale environmental data provides an overview of the local sustainability in urban areas as in the example of Gold Coast, which can also be used for setting environmental policy, objectives and targets.     

Progress in sustainability science: lessons learnt from current methodologies for sustainability assessment: Part 1

Purpose

Sustainability Science (SS) is considered an emerging discipline, applicative and solution-oriented whose aim is to handle environmental, social and economic issues in light of cultural, historic and institutional perspectives. The challenges of the discipline are not only related to better identifying the problems affecting sustainability but to the actual transition towards solutions adopting an integrated, comprehensive and participatory approach. This requires the definition of a common scientific paradigm in which integration and interaction amongst sectorial disciplines is of paramount relevance. In this context, life cycle thinking (LCT) and, in particular, life cycle-based methodologies and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) may play a crucial role. The paper illustrates the main challenges posed to sustainability assessment methodologies and related methods in terms of ontology, epistemology and methodology of SS. The aims of the analysis are twofold: (1) to identify the main features of methodologies for sustainability assessment and (2) to present key aspects for the development of robust and comprehensive sustainability assessment.

Methods

The current debate on SS addressing ontological, epistemological and methodological aspects has been reviewed, leading to the proposal of a conceptual framework for SS. In addition, a meta-review of recent studies on sustainability assessment methodologies and methods, focusing those life cycle based, supports the discussion on the main challenges for a comprehensive and robust approach to sustainability assessment. Starting from the results of the meta-review, we identified specific features of sustainable development-oriented methods: firstly, highlighting key issues towards robust methods for SS and, secondly, capitalising on the findings of each review’s paper. For each issue, a recommendation towards a robust sustainability assessment method is given. Existing limitations of sectorial academic inquiries and proposal for better integration and mainstreaming of SS are the key points under discussion.

Discussion

In the reviewed papers, LCT and its basic principles are acknowledged as relevant for sustainability assessment. Nevertheless, LCT is not considered as a reference approach in which other methods could also find a place. This aspect has to be further explored, addressing the lack of multi-disciplinary exchange and putting the mainstreaming of LCT as a priority on the agenda of both life cycle assessment and sustainability assessment experts. Crucial issues for further developing sustainability assessment methodologies and methods have been identified and can be summarised as follows: holistic and system wide approaches, shift from multi- towards trans-disciplinarity; multi-scale (temporal and geographical) perspectives; and better involvement and participation of stakeholders.

Conclusions

Those are also the main challenges posed to LCSA in terms of progress of ontology, epistemology and methodology in line with the progress of SS. The life cycle-based methodologies should be broadened from comparing alternatives and avoiding negative impacts, to also proactively enhancing positive impacts, and towards the achievement of sustainability goals.     

Selecting the sharpest tools to explore the food-feed-fuel debate: Sustainability assessment of family farmers producing food,feed and fuel in Brazil

Continuing interest in sustainable biofuel production is linked with sustainable farming and begs for insights from farming systems research on sustainability assessment and the role of family farms. The aims of this work were two-fold. First, to present a tools and methods selection framework supporting indicator-based sustainability assessment. Second, to apply the framework to the case of castor beans (Ricinus communis L.), family farmers and the biodiesel industry in the southeast of Brazil. The framework synthesizes existing work on sustainability assessment within the agricultural domain. Transparent selection of tools and methods is supported by sequentially accounting for the context of sustainability, dealing with space, classifying the ‘nature of research’ and the degree of integration of different facets of sustainability. The framework is demonstrated with an exploratory assessment of the potential for castor bean cultivation within the current farm type of extensive pasture and fodder crops for dairy cattle. The study accounted for the range of productivity levels within the current farm type and for different management decisions when including castor beans. Assessment was made against economic development, livelihood stability and soil fertility criteria. Selected tools and methods included farm surveys, alternative farming system design and input–output calculations. The results demonstrate the greatest opportunity for castor bean cultivation by currently low productive farms. There is a trade-off of income derived from milk production that is supported by fodder production, and income from castor beans. Decisions regarding areal extent of castor beans and supplementing animal feed, are shown to be farm-specific, and depend upon the interactions between current farm productivity and prioritisation of sustainability criteria. However, generally it is shown that castor bean cultivation should be linked to animal production so that current risk management and income levels can be supported and improved. Further, to maintain soil fertility, castor bean cultivation with nitrogen inputs is necessary. The cyclic nature of the framework supports the next contextualisation of the sustainability question. For our application, constructive future work in a next cycle could include extending to regional level and accounting for temporal variability.