Reflections on Social and Economic Indicators for Land Use Change
The context of sustainability as embodied in SENSOR, using the ‘triple bottom line’ concept, is briefly identified, and consequent frameworks and criteria for identifying indicators are discussed. These theoretical and practical criteria set significant c
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John H. Farrington1, Tom Kuhlman2, Dale S. Rothman3, Zuzana Imrichova1, Louise Reid1, Éva Konkoly Gyuró4 (1)University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom (2)LEI, Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Wageningen UR, The Hague, The Netherlands (3)International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, Canada (4)University of Western Hungary, Sopron, Hungary
Abstract The context of sustainability as embodied in SENSOR, using the ‘triple bottom line’ concept, is briefly identified, and consequent frameworks and criteria for identifying indicators are discussed. These theoretical and practical criteria set significant constraints on the possible indicators to be used. The indicators are discussed in a summary form, and lessons are drawn. Reflections on the indicators and their use conclude the chapter. Keywords Social indicators, economic indicators, sustainability, land-use changes, modelling, indicator selection
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Introduction
Several chapters in this book allude to the role of indicators in sustainability impact assessment: Tabbush et al. (2008) discuss the concept of sus-
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tainability and the Triple Bottom Line; Tscherning et al. (2008) examine how these concepts are used in the EU and elsewhere; Helming et al. (2008) discuss the application of these concepts in SENSOR, including the role of indicators in impact assessment; Sieber et al. (2008) show how to operationalise indicators; and Frederiksen and Kristensen (2008) propose a framework for the identification of indicators. The present chapter and the following one (Petit et al., 2008) describe the indicators actually used in SENSOR, i.e. how the thoughts developed in preceding chapters have been implemented into the indicators that form the basis of impact assessment. The chapter is structured into five sections. Firstly, we reflect briefly on ideas of sustainability as they are incorporated in SENSOR. Secondly, we discuss indicator frameworks in the context of the project’s requirements for social and economic indicators, and thirdly we review criteria for indicator selection. Fourthly, we describe the social and economic indicators selected for this project. Finally, we reflect briefly on the usefulness and limitations of the selected indicators. Our aim is to explain the development of social and economic indicators in SENSOR, and to reflect on some of the issues involved. 1.1 SENSOR and the concept of sustainability The concept of the triple bottom line, borrowed from the language of corporate social responsibility (Elkington, 1994), has become popular in the policy discourse around sustainability. As such, it has found its way into the methodology of impact assessment practised by the European Commission, exemplified in the Impact Assessment Guidelines (CEC, 2005). In this concept, sustainability is split into environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The latter generally refers to monetary income and expenditure. Alternatively, social sustainability contains those aspects of welfare that cannot be expressed d
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