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While environmental composite indexes are useful tools in ranking the relative performance of countries on characteristics of interest, critiques are being made about their lack of relevance and responsiveness pertaining to changes in the environment; this negatively affects their usefulness and relevance. In this paper, an alternative to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is proposed by constructing a proof-of-concept index based on component variables whose changes reflect the actual state of the environment and the environmental sustainability on the particular dimensions measured. The proposed Environmental State and Sustainability Index (ESSI) also takes into account the relationships between variables in constructing the composite index by checking the relevance of the theoretical environmental dimensions against factor components, which explains the complex relationships between environmental variables and aims at achieving a relevant weighting of the component variables. Results indicate that ESSI scores are comparable with EPI and reflect better the actual situation of some countries with high-rank differences. Thus, ESSI can be used as a basis for constructing or revising environmental indicators that are closer to the objective of achieving a truly overarching measure of the state of the environment that is relevant in informing policy and reflect actual changes in the component dimensions as relevant data becomes available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since the Rio Declaration in 1992, international institutions, governments and NGOs have promoted sustainability indicators as a tool for providing policy mechanisms that dictate development decision-making. The expert approach, also known as reductionist, has been the most used in the processes of sustainability evaluation; this approach has been criticized for its lack of holistic vision to evaluate a system. A participatory approach has been promoted in order to counteract this type of limitation. This paper presents a case study of a participatory assessment of sustainability in a local community inside a natural protected area; its objective is to attempt to answer if, from local knowledge, is it possible to generate a sustainability local assessment system. The process included the active participation of the inhabitants of Agua Blanca community, located within the Nevado de Toluca National Park (NTNP) in Mexico''s central highlands. A framework was used to identify and select sustainability indicators, which was divided into four phases: the description of the system, the identification of the sustainability objectives, the selection of indicators, and the measurement of the progress toward the sustainability objectives. As a result, 64 indicators were identified, which were classified into three pillars of sustainability and its interactions. The participatory approach aided in the evaluation of diverse elements within the system, without limiting itself to one element or dimension of sustainability in particular. Most of the indicators corresponded to the environmental dimension of sustainability, which reflects the level of interaction the community has with its environment. The indicators proposed by villagers, as a whole, were not considered technically appropriate; therefore the need for a selection indicator process was reaffirmed. The process described here is an opportunity to strengthen the self-organization of the communities, reinforce local management, and contribute to the generation of mechanisms of cooperation and processes of co-management of the natural protected areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Evidence on the role of information and knowledge for policy making shows that policy actors seldom use information as a direct input to their decisions. Similar patterns of (non)use have been identified in the case of indicators in the environmental and sustainable development policy domains. The objective of the paper is to elucidate the patterns of environmental indicator use and to argue for the introduction of a ‘politics of policy indicators’. With a limited set of characteristics (e.g. legitimacy, credibility and salience) of indicators, which help to apprehend the usability of indicators, we argue that the usability profile of indicators can be analysed as a matter of construction and deliberation by indicator creators and policy actors. The performance of indicators as policy tools – as rendered with their usability profile – is co-dependent of the institutional embeddedness of the indicators. Our conclusion makes the case that if environmental improvements towards more sustainability are partly relying on the quality and uptake of information into policy processes in order to steer decisions, then the ‘usability profile’ of indicators itself should be subject to collective and conscious steering. This call to ‘steer the steering’ is supported by the wider calls to initiate patterns of ‘reflexive governance’ within the sustainability policy domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The development of systemic environmental monitoring and indicators for sustainability requires one to tackle the complexity of human–environmental systems. To this end the ecosystem approach is proposed here as a framework and the ecological network analysis as a tool for investigation while an urban system, represented as a water flow network, is discussed as a case study. Flow distribution is used to calculate total system throughput, development capacity, average mutual information, ascendency and overhead. These indices condense the complexity of the flow structure (representing system''s metabolism) into a few measures that provide information on how systems grow and develop; because of this they are consistent with the sustainability context. Two alternative scenarios are presented to discuss the effects of management actions (policies) on sustainability as they change the flow structure and system level indices. While it is shown that increasing system activity (intensity of processes) augments potential for development but not realized development, actions that improve the organization of flows, thus increasing average mutual information, may reduce total system throughput and drive the system toward more sustainable conditions. System level indices are holistic measures that unveil the relation between internal processes and whole system performance. Understanding this relation is crucial because the former are the target of environmental policies but sustainability, the objective of such policies, is an overall system trait. Because of these features system level indices can be examples of a new quality of indicators for sustainability assessment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]