Capital based sustainability indicators as a possible way for measuring agricultural sustainability
Abstract
The most frequently quoted and perhaps most widely accepted definition of sustainable
development is the one articulated by the Bruntland Commission – development that ‘seeks
to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising [the] ability to meet
those of the future’ (WCED 1987, p. 43).
Various disciplines have addressed the interpretation of sustainability in very broad terms. It
is not uncommon, for example, to distinguish ‘social sustainability’, ‘cultural sustainability’,
‘environmental sustainability’, and of course ‘economic sustainability’. Social sustainability
includes key concepts such as resilient communities, sustainable livelihoods, and access to
core services of education and health. Cultural sustainability includes language, values and
cultural aspirations. Environmental and economic sustainability are key concepts in this
paper and are presented in more detail below.
Four decades into talks and negotiations over ‘sustainable development’ as a planetary aim,
and there still remain two key challenges in moving sustainable development from concept to
action. One, the broad range of interpretations of the term and two, somewhat connected to
the first, is the lack of reliable tools of measurement that can provide an indication if we are
moving in the right direction in achieving sustainability.... [Show full abstract]
Fields of Research
140201 Agricultural EconomicsDate
2010-03Type
Conference Contribution - Published (Conference Paper)Collections
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