Island Press Sustainability Indicators: A Scientific Assessment (Scope)

Sustainability Indicators defines the present state of the art in indicator development. It presents a comprehensive assessment of the science behind various indicators, while placing special emphasis on their use as communications tools. The contributors draw on their experience as academics and practitioners to describe the conceptual challenges to measuring something as complex as sustainability at local, regional, national, and global scales. Review "... Sustainability Indicators brings us one step further in turning diverse scientific data into understandable and useful information that can be put to work in policy making processes and everyday life. As such, it is an authoritative reference volume for everyone involved with environmental information, sustainability issues, and the health of our planet."--Dr. Achim Steiner, United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director "Most useful for graduate students and researchers wanting to explore, develop, or use indicators of sustainability."--Journal of Environmental Quality " Sustainability Indicators is necessary reading for scholars, policymakers, and activists engaged in the critical task of taking the measure of our world along the equally vital dimensions of our economy, social justice, and the environment. It provides an invaluable guide to re-setting our direction towards an uncompromised future."--Michael Gelobter, President, Redefining Progress "This comprehensive volume is essential reading for anyone working professionally in the field of sustainability ... a masterful job of surveying the current state of the field from a global scientific perspective. In addition to framing future research, the lessons here can (and should) be applied to business, local government, or any system where the measurement of sustainability is a condition of successful management."--Alan Atkisson, Executive Director, Earth Charter International About the Author Tomás Hák is Deputy Director and Head of the Indicator Unit at the Charles University Environment Center in Prague. He is a member of the Board of Society for Sustainable Living and the Czech Society for the Environment. Bedrich Moldan held the historic position of the first Minister of the Environment of the Czech Republic and is now Director of the Charles University Environment Center in Prague. Arthur Lyon Dahl served as Deputy Assistant Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and is now a consultant to UNEP and other international organizations. He lectures widely, and has published many scientific papers and books including Island Directory and The Eco Principle: Ecology and Economics in Symbiosis.