This handbook provides researchers and students with an overview of the field of sustainability indicators (SIs) as applied in the interdisciplinary field of sustainable development. The editors have sought to include views from the center ground of SI development but also divergent ideas which represent some of the diverse, challenging and even edgy observations which are prominent in the wider field of SI thinking.

The contributions in this handbook:

* clearly set out the theoretical background and history of SIs, their origins, roots and initial goals

* expand on the disciplines and modalities employed to develop SIs of various kinds

* assess the various ways in which SI data are gathered and the availability (over space and time) and quality issues that surround them

* explore the multiplex world of SIs as expressed in agencies around the world, via examples of SI practice and the lessons that have emerged from them

* critically review the progress that SIs have made over the last 30 years

* express the divergence of views which are held about the value of SIs, including differing theories on their efficacy, efficiency and ethics

* explore the frontier of contemporary SI thinking, reviewing ante/post and systemic alternatives

This multidisciplinary and international handbook will be of great interest to researchers, students and practitioners working in sustainability research and practice.

About the Author

Simon Bell is Professor of Innovation and Methodology at the Open University in the UK and CEO of the Bayswater Institute in London, UK. He has held a number of Visiting Professor roles. With over 100 published books and articles, Simon has written on subjects including information systems methodology, action research, participatory methods, coastal sustainability, systemic approaches to environmental problem structuring, sustainability indicators and fear management.

Stephen Morse is Chair in Systems Analysis for Sustainability in the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey, UK. Steve has a background in applied ecology and the environment and his research and teaching interests are broad, spanning both the natural and social sciences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Society of Biology and the Higher Education Academy and has published 18 books and over 140 academic papers, many of them on the assessment of sustainability (including indicators).

Book Information
ISBN 9780367497552
Author Simon Bell
Format Paperback
Page Count 598
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g