Sustainability Assessment: Pluralism, practice and progress

Description

Sustainability Assessment is an increasingly important tool for informing planning and development decisions across the globe. Required by law in some countries, strongly recommended in others, a comprehensive analysis of why Sustainability Assessment is needed and clarification of the value-laden and political nature of assessments is long overdue. Currently... Read more

Sustainability Assessment is an increasingly important tool for informing planning and development decisions across the globe. Required by law in some countries, strongly recommended in others, a comprehensive analysis of why Sustainability Assessment is needed and clarification of the value-laden and political nature of assessments is long overdue.

Currently the writing on the subject is limited and comprises, for the most part, guidance documents and completed assessments. This book overcomes these shortcomings by simultaneously providing the knowledge, inspiration and range of assessment tools in decision-making students require to tackle Sustainability Assessment challenges nested within wide-ranging values and sustainability-grounded evidence.

The collection details the current state-of-the art in relation to Sustainability Assessment theory and practice, and considers the pluralistic nature of the tool and the implications for achieving sustainable decision-making. The contributors set out the context for Sustainability Assessment and then outline some contested issues which can affect interpretations of whether the decision tool has been effective. Current practice worldwide is assessed against a consistent framework and then solutions to some of the inherent weaknesses and causes of conflict in relation to the perceived sustainability of outcomes are put forward.

The book is unique in setting out state-of-the-art in terms of Sustainability Assessment practice by focusing on those countries with developing experience. It also covers emerging factors influencing effectiveness of decision-making tools and evaluates how they affect the performance of Sustainability Assessment. Written by authors among the leading university academics teaching impact assessment courses in the most acclaimed universities worldwide operating in this field, it is ideally suited for the growing numbers of courses in impact assessment education and training.

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Foreword (Alan Bond, Angus Morrison-Saunders and Richie Howitt) Part 1: Introduction 1. Why Sustainability Assessment? (Bob Gibson, University of Waterloo) 2. Changing Theory of Impact Assessment (Mat Cashmore, Swedish EIA Centre & UEA; Lone Kørnøv, Aalborg University) Part 2: Sustainability Assessment Pluralism 3. Sustainability Assessment and Issues of Effectiveness (Alan Bond, UEA) 4. Contested Time Horizons (Richard Stoffle, University of Arizona; Brent Stoffle, NOAA) 5. Contested Spatial Scales (Per Sandén, Linköping University; Richie Howitt, Macquarie University) 6. Legal Pluralism – Notions of Standing and Legal Process Constraining Assessment (Donna Craig, University of Western Sydney) 7. Pluralism in Practice – Learning from a Practitioner (Jenny Pope) Part 3: Sustainability Assessment Practice 8. Framework for Comparison (Alan Bond, Angus Morrison-Saunders and Richie Howitt) 9. Sustainability Assessment in England (Riki Thérivel, Oxford Brooks University and Levett-Therivel) 10. Sustainability Assessment in Western Australia (Angus Morrison-Saunders, Murdoch University) 11. Sustainability Assessment in Canada (Bob Gibson, University of Waterloo) 12. Sustainability Assessment in South Africa (Francois Retief, North West University) Part 4: Solutions? 13. Better Engagement (Richie Howitt, Macquarie University, and Ciaran O’Faircheallagh, Griffith University) 14. Better Learning (Patricia Fitzpatrick, University of Winnipeg) 15. Better Process (Alan Bond, UEA; Angus Morrison-Saunders, Murdoch University; and Gernot Stöglehner, BOKU) 16. Putting Sustainability Assessment in its Decision-making Context (Gernot Stöglehner, BOKU) 17. Conclusions (Alan Bond, UEA; Angus Morrison-Saunders, Murdoch University; and Richie Howitt, Macquarie University)

Editor(s)

Biography

Alan Bond, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Richard Howitt

Sustainability Assessment Pluralism, practice and progress

Description

Table of Contents

Editor(s)

Biography

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