| 1. |
- Ness, Barry, et al.
(författare)
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Categorising tools for sustainability assessment
- 2007
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Ingår i: Ecological Economics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8009. ; 60:1, s. 498-508
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to provide a cohesive categorisation of the most common sustainability assessment tools within the broader objective of lifting the understanding of tools from the environmentally-focused realm to that of the wider concept of sustainability. The framework provided is based on four main categories: indicators/indices, regional material and energy flows, life cycle approach and tools for integrated assessment. Furthermore, there is the overarching category of monetary valuation tools that can be used as a part of many of the tools listed in the subcategories above. The paper also shows that many of the tools for sustainability assessment still fail to fulfil the demands of the complex environmental, social and economic systems as proposed by the promoters of sustainability science.
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| 2. |
- Samuelsson, Bo, 1942, et al.
(författare)
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From Here to Sustainability – Is the Lisbon/Göteborg agenda delivering?
- 2004
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Executive Summary The European Councils held in Lisbon (2000) and in Göteborg (2001) gave the Union a new direction by establishing a long term strategy with sustainable development as the overarching objective. Sustainable development means, in this context, goals for economic, social and environmental policy, which are both mutually consistent and capable of delivering enhanced economic growth. To assure progress towards an agreed range of targets, the open method of coordination (OMC) has been adopted as the process for the implementation of the strategy. The strategy for sustainable development is a long-term one and, although the deadline originally set for the Lisbon agenda was 2010, it is clear that sustainable development has a much longer time-horizon and also that there is a global dimension to sustainable development, not just an EU one. In the run up to the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy, this report by the European Panel for Sustainable Development, EPSD, offers an assessment of the EU approach to sustainable development. The report is based on official documents, research reports and background reports prepared by researchers from different disciplines. It concentrates on the EU-15 Member States, because the ten new members that acceded to the EU in May 2004 have not (yet!) been subject to the same commitments in relation to sustainable development. However, in future work by the EPSD, it is anticipated that the coverage will be extended to embrace all 25 Member States. The report starts with a discussion on the political process, followed by an examination of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the strategy, of the potential of new technologies, and of the results delivered by the Member States. The final chapters include discussions on impact assessment and the global dimension of sustainable development. The focus of the report is on: − The integration of the three dimensions of sustai nable development and the policies that affect them into one coherent strategy − The implementation of the strategy through the open method of co-ordination The main messages of the report are that it is vital to: • Maintain the original commitment to sustainable development as the overarching objective of the Lisbon strategy and improve the co-ordination between the three pillars of the strategy: the economic, social and environmental dimensions [...]
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| 3. |
- Urbel, Evelin, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the Sustainability of Estonian Forestry: The Socioeconomic Drivers
- 2009
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Ingår i: Ambio: a Journal of Human Environment. - : Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. - 0044-7447. ; 38:2, s. 101-108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Forestry as an important industry has both direct as well as indirect effects on the Estonian economy. It is therefore essential that it is sustainably managed so that it can continue to contribute to the economy in the future. The first aim of this article is to establish the situation regarding felling and regeneration in Estonia. As the available forestry statistics display discrepancies and lack consistency, it was as a necessary first step to gather information about and analyze the validity and reliability of the prime data to make the data sets useful for comparison over time and establish the current trends in Estonian forestry. However, with the help of interviews we are able to show that economic instability in Estonia brings with it increased logging rates and hinders investments into regeneration and maintenance. The problems are particularly pronounced in private forestry. Second, the article seeks to explain the socioeconomic reasons behind this situation. Economic problems among private owners, a liberal forestry policy, together with rapid land reform and weak enforcement of forestry legislation are some of the reasons that can explain the forestry trends in Estonia.
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| 4. |
- Urbel, Evelin
(författare)
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The Estonian forest sector in transition to sustainability? : Capturing sustainability with the help of integrated assessment
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis has two main objectives. The first is to analyse the potential of existing assessment tools and methods to incorporate the different dimensions of sustainability in an assessment. The second is to apply some of these tools in a case study in order to determine how forest sector can better contribute to sustainable development in Estonia. The first aim is addressed in a theoretical section that provides an overview and categorization of the existing tools and methods for assessing sustainability. In the case study a transition analysis of the forest sector’s development over the last 20 years is performed together with a stakeholder analysis to determine the potential for improvements. Furthermore, a scenario analysis using a computer simulation in a life cycle perspective is performed to determine the sustainability impacts of the two sustainable forestry visions defined by Estonian forest stakeholders. The results revealed that even though the majority of tools and methods are non-integrated and thus not suitable for assessing sustainability in its broad sense, they can be combined in order to gain increased coverage of a variety of scales and integration of wider range of domains. Transition analysis revealed that Estonian forest sector has undergone rapid economic development with strong pressure on environment. There has also been a considerable drop in economic profitability, but an increase in sustainability-oriented initiatives. The modelling results revealed that current definition of sustainable forestry leads to a continuous separation of environmental and socio-economic aspects. It can be concluded that the Estonian forest sector faces two main sustainability challenges a) increasing the sustainability in private forests, and b) balancing the duality embedded in the definition of sustainable forestry applied in Estonia. Increasing certification, improving the woodland key habitat contracting system, empowering the non-harvesting private forest owners, identification of the needs and preferences of forest owners, a concretisation of the sustainable forestry definition, and implementation of clear, measurable long-term goals together with periodic assessment of progress toward sustainability are some of the suggestions proposed to increase the sustainability in the forest sector.
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