A systems approach to sustainability assessment

2015 ◽  
pp. 285-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Grace ◽  
Jenny Pope
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Sustainability Assessment

scholarly journals Indicator-Based Sustainability Assessment Tool to Support Coastal and Marine Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donalda Karnauskaitė ◽  
Gerald Schernewski ◽  
Josianne G. Støttrup ◽  
Marija Kataržytė
Keyword(s):  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Coastal Development ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Marine Management ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Integrated Approaches ◽  
User Friendly

The applied Indicator-based Sustainability Assessment Tool (InSAT) serves as a user-friendly computer-aided tool to support coastal and marine management. Focus is on sustainable coastal development, including environmental, social, and economic aspects. We apply the InSAT to assess the changes in sustainability before, during, and after the implementation of management measures. The assessments address three case studies in Lithuania: the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipeda, the renewal of the port of Sventoji, and the opening of a beach in Nida. The application of core and optional indicators highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the management measures. We analyze to what extent, how, and when the InSAT can be applied within a stepwise Systems Approach Framework (SAF) to support sustainable coastal and marine management. Further, we assess how the tool can be applied within other integrated approaches. The application of tailor-made indicators helps to identify potential conflicts and raise discussions about sustainable development between stakeholders and decision-makers and therefore supports the decision-making process. The tool indicates the management measures’ weaknesses, but the assessment results do not indicate what kind of solutions should be undertaken. However, it can still serve to support, guide, and supplement the participation and discussion processes.

scholarly journals A Foundation for Measuring Community Sustainability

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Mischen ◽  
George Homsy ◽  
Carl Lipo ◽  
Robert Holahan ◽  
Valerie Imbruce ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systems Approach ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Community Sustainability ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Global Sustainability ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Assessment Systems ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

In order to understand the impact of individual communities on global sustainability, we need a community sustainability assessment system (CSAS). While many sustainability assessment systems exist, they prove inadequate to the task. This article presents the results of a systematic review of the literature on existing sustainability assessment systems; offers a definition of a sustainable community; provides a multi-scale, systems approach to thinking about community; and makes recommendations from the field of performance measurement for the construction of a CSAS.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment of Product–Service Systems Using Flows between Systems Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3415
Author(s):  
Natalia Muñoz López ◽  
Jose Luis Santolaya Sáenz ◽  
Anna Biedermann ◽  
Ana Serrano Tierz
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Service Systems ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Product Service ◽  
Retail Service ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Product Service Systems

The development of product–service systems (PSS) is currently considered a promising solution to the challenge of sustainability. Nevertheless, the sustainability of these systems has not been systematically assessed and there is a need to develop more guiding principles. In this work, an approach based on the flows between product and service systems is used to facilitate both the definition of PSS boundaries and the identification of links between the systems involved. In addition, the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) method is applied to simultaneously quantify environmental, economic and social impacts. Two cases are analysed. First, the production process of cow´s milk, in which a veterinary service is required, is studied using data measured from a dairy farm. Next, the sustainability of a clothing retail service taking, into account that a construction product is involved in its creation stage, is evaluated. In each PSS specific life cycle, stages are analysed, a functional unit referred to both products and services is defined, and quantitative indicators are selected to assess each sustainability dimension. The category of workers is selected to evaluate social aspects. The relative incidence of each system is evaluated and the impacts of different factors on the PSS sustainability are analysed.

scholarly journals Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Environment, Economy, Society, and Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6260
Author(s):  
Hamid El Bilali ◽  
Carola Strassner ◽  
Tarek Ben Hassen
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture Systems

Agri-food systems (AFS) have been central in the debate on sustainable development. Despite this growing interest in AFS, comprehensive analyses of the scholarly literature are hard to find. Therefore, the present systematic review delineated the contours of this growing research strand and analyzed how it relates to sustainability. A search performed on the Web of Science in January 2020 yielded 1389 documents, and 1289 were selected and underwent bibliometric and topical analyses. The topical analysis was informed by the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) approach of FAO and structured along four dimensions viz. environment, economy, society and culture, and policy and governance. The review shows an increasing interest in AFS with an exponential increase in publications number. However, the study field is north-biased and dominated by researchers and organizations from developed countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that while environmental aspects are sufficiently addressed, social, economic, and political ones are generally overlooked. The paper ends by providing directions for future research and listing some topics to be integrated into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary agenda addressing the multifaceted (un)sustainability of AFS. It makes the case for adopting a holistic, 4-P (planet, people, profit, policy) approach in agri-food system studies.

A Dynamic Systems Approach to Personality

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence A. Pervin
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Systems ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Recent Advances ◽  
Dynamic View ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of

David Magnusson has been the most articulate spokesperson for a holistic, systems approach to personality. This paper considers three concepts relevant to a dynamic systems approach to personality: dynamics, systems, and levels. Some of the history of a dynamic view is traced, leading to an emphasis on the need for stressing the interplay among goals. Concepts such as multidetermination, equipotentiality, and equifinality are shown to be important aspects of a systems approach. Finally, attention is drawn to the question of levels of description, analysis, and explanation in a theory of personality. The importance of the issue is emphasized in relation to recent advances in our understanding of biological processes. Integrating such advances into a theory of personality while avoiding the danger of reductionism is a challenge for the future.

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