The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Johanna Alkan Olsson outdoors. Photo.

Johanna Alkan Olsson

Social environmental scientist

Johanna Alkan Olsson outdoors. Photo.

A goal oriented indicator framework to support integrated assessment of new policies for agri-environmental systems

Author

  • Johanna Alkan Olsson
  • Christian Bockstaller
  • Lee M. Stapleton
  • Frank Ewert
  • Rob Knapen
  • Olivier Therond
  • Ghislain Geniaux
  • Stephane Bellon
  • Teresa Pinto Correira
  • Nadine Turpin
  • Irina Bezlepkina
Show all

Summary, in English

The goal oriented framework (GOF) for indicators has been developed as part of a comprehensive research project developing computerised tools for integrated assessment of the effects of new policies or technologies on agricultural systems (SEAMLESS-IF). The ambition has therefore been to create an indicator framework where the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development can be related to each other in a consistent way. Integrated assessment tools rely on such frameworks to capture and visualise trade-offs (antagonisms or synergies) among indicators between and within the three dimensions of sustainable development. The specific aims of this paper are to (i) present the GOF (ii) present how the GOF can be used to select indicators within the integrated assessment framework SEAMLESS-IF and (iii) discuss the advantages and limitations with the proposed approach. We show that the GOF has several advantages. Its major rewards are its relative simplicity and the possibility to link indicators to policy goals of each dimension of sustainability and thereby facilitate the comparison of the impacts of the new policy on the different dimensions. Another important feature of the GOF is its multi-scale perspective, which will enable the comparison of effects of a new policy between scales. Yet, as typical for all indicator frameworks, the GOF has also biases either instigated by the issues the included models cover or by the stakeholders' selection of indicators. However, due to the way the GOF and its indicators are technically implemented in SEAMLESS-IF, it can easily be extended and include new indicators to increase and update its policy relevance. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Department/s

  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)

Publishing year

2009

Language

English

Pages

562-572

Publication/Series

Environmental Science and Policy

Volume

12

Issue

5

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • Impact
  • Sustainability
  • Agriculture
  • Indicators
  • Indicator frameworks
  • assessment
  • Integrated assessment

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1462-9011