Measuring Sustainability: Learning by Doing

Measuring the sustainability of development is crucial to achieving it and is one of the most actively studied subjects in the field. To date, most studies of measurements or indicators have been largely theoretical.This book presents valuable practical advice on how to develop measurements that will work in real-life development contexts. It describes and analyzes how to derive, validate and apply indicators in the course of an actual development project in this case the Mediterranean Action Plan. The authors explain the trade-offs and constraints involved and how to combine the more open-ended and flexible perspectives of sustainability with the linear process and fixed targets of specific projects, demonstrating the pragmatic and reflexive methodology involved

Simon Bell is Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the Open University, UK.

Stephen Morse is Reader in Development Studies at the University of Reading, UK.