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Series / Report no.
Open Access
Type
Report
Language
en
Date
2004-03-02
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Title
Towards human and social sustainability
indicators
Translated Title
Indicatoren voor het sociale
duurzaamheidsdomein
Published in
Abstract
Sinds de Brundtland commissie het rapport ten aanzien
van duurzame ontwikkeling heeft gepresenteerd, heeft een groot aantal
instellingen getracht deze te operationaliseren en/of the verfijnen met
andere, gerelateerde concepten. In deze nieuwe concepten komen aspecten als
armoede en ontwikkeling, bestaanzekerheid en kwaliteit van leven vaak terug.
Operationaliseren van deze concepten heeft geleid tot een grote verzameling
van indicatoren en samengestelde indicatoren (zogenoemde indices).
Belangrijke voorbeelden zijn hiervan de Human Development Index en de
Millennium Development Goals. De meeste van deze indicatoren zijn echter
niet of niet goed theoretisch onderbouwd. De precieze omschrijving van wat
deze indicatoren beogen te beschrijven ontbreekt vaak en de selectie van
indicatoren lijkt soms meer gebaseerd te zijn op beschikbaarheid van data in
plaats van een ex-ante set van criteria. Selectie van indicatoren kan
worden gedaan op basis van criteria als gevoeligheid voor de te meten
veranderingen, transparantie en redundantie. Met het toepassen van het
Pressure-State-Impact-Response raamwerk komen indicatoren beter tot hun
recht doordat er causaliteit onderscheiden wordt, en er een duidelijke
relatie wordt gelegd met het onderliggende proces. Daarnaast levert het
gebruik van een hierarchische representatie een transparant en traceerbaar
indicatorenraamwerk op. De theorie van Maslow, waarin de sequentie van
levensbehoeften wordt uiteengerafeld, sluit hierbij goed aan en is dan ook
gebruikt om een beter gefundeerde, maar nog steeds praktische collectie van
indicatoren te krijgen voor het sociale domein van duurzame
ontwikkeling.
Ever since the Brundtland Commission presented its report on sustainable development in 1987, various institutions have either adopted or tried to refine the approach used in the report. Currently, there is a broad collection of concepts that are often highly related to sustainable development. These concepts do not seldom include aspects like poverty and development, security issues and quality of life. The operationalization of these concepts has resulted in a broad collection of indicators and composites of indicators, the so-called indexes. Important examples of successful operationalization are the Human Development Index and the Millennium Development Goals. Most of these collections of indicators have no, or hardly any, theoretical foundation. Furthermore, the precise description of the underlying process that these indicators try to indicate is lacking and the availability of data seems to be the guideline for selection. Selection of indicators should be based on a list of criteria such as sensitivity to changes, transparency and redundancy. Applying the Pressure-State-Impact-Response mechanism can improve the selection and use of indicators since causal relationships are distinguished and underlying processes interlinked. Further refinement can be obtained by the use of a hierarchical representation, resulting in a transparent and traceable indicator framework. Maslow's theory of needs connects these aspects with the human/social sustainability domain. Applying this theory to the selection of indicators results in a well-founded, but still practical, collection of indicators for possible use in further depiction of social and human aspects of sustainable development.
Ever since the Brundtland Commission presented its report on sustainable development in 1987, various institutions have either adopted or tried to refine the approach used in the report. Currently, there is a broad collection of concepts that are often highly related to sustainable development. These concepts do not seldom include aspects like poverty and development, security issues and quality of life. The operationalization of these concepts has resulted in a broad collection of indicators and composites of indicators, the so-called indexes. Important examples of successful operationalization are the Human Development Index and the Millennium Development Goals. Most of these collections of indicators have no, or hardly any, theoretical foundation. Furthermore, the precise description of the underlying process that these indicators try to indicate is lacking and the availability of data seems to be the guideline for selection. Selection of indicators should be based on a list of criteria such as sensitivity to changes, transparency and redundancy. Applying the Pressure-State-Impact-Response mechanism can improve the selection and use of indicators since causal relationships are distinguished and underlying processes interlinked. Further refinement can be obtained by the use of a hierarchical representation, resulting in a transparent and traceable indicator framework. Maslow's theory of needs connects these aspects with the human/social sustainability domain. Applying this theory to the selection of indicators results in a well-founded, but still practical, collection of indicators for possible use in further depiction of social and human aspects of sustainable development.
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