Publikationsdatum:
2012-09-03
Beschreibung:
Existing approaches to sustainability assessment are typically characterized as being either “top–down” or “bottom–up.” While top–down approaches are commonly adopted by businesses, bottom–up approaches are more often adopted by civil society organizations and communities. Top–down approaches clearly favor standardization and commensurability between other sustainability assessment efforts, to the potential exclusion of issues that really matter on the ground. Conversely, bottom–up approaches enable sustainability initiatives to speak directly to the concerns and issues of communities, but lack a basis for comparability. While there are clearly contexts in which one approach can be favored over another, it is equally desirable to develop mechanisms that mediate between both. In this paper, we outline a methodology for framing sustainability assessment and developing indicator sets that aim to bridge these two approaches. The methodology incorporates common components of bottom–up assessment: constituency-based engagement processes and opportunity to identify critical issues and indicators. At the same time, it uses the idea of a “knowledge base,” to help with the selection of standardized, top–down indicators. We briefly describe two projects where the aspects of the methodology have been trialed with urban governments and communities, and then present the methodology in full, with an accompanying description of a supporting software system. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-19 DOI 10.1007/s10668-012-9384-2 Authors Liam Magee, Global Cities Institute, RMIT University, 96.2.7c, RMIT University, 17 Lygon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia Andy Scerri, Global Cities Institute, RMIT University, 96.2.7c, RMIT University, 17 Lygon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia Paul James, Global Cities Institute, RMIT University, 96.2.7c, RMIT University, 17 Lygon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, VIC 3053, Australia James A. Thom, School of Computer Science and Information Technology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Lin Padgham, School of Computer Science and Information Technology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Sarah Hickmott, School of Computer Science and Information Technology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Hepu Deng, School of Business, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Felicity Cahill, School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Journal Environment, Development and Sustainability Online ISSN 1573-2975 Print ISSN 1387-585X
Print ISSN:
1387-585X
Digitale ISSN:
1573-2975
Thema:
Energietechnik
,
Sociologie
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