SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS - INTEGRATING QUALITY-OF-LIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL-PROTECTION

The struggle to find and use indicators of sustainable development is intimately bound up with the process of deciding what we mean by susta inable development and what we shall do about it. In this field at lea st, indicators are intrinsically and unavoidably normative and politic al. The paper proposes an approach to indicators which reflects, and c an further clarify and help to achieve, an important aspect of sustain able development. The paper is written from a practical, instrumental interest in indicators as a tool to put sustainable development princi ples into practice in public policy. The author is not a statistician and makes no claim to technical expertise but hopes that this 'barefoo t' practitioner perspective may be of some interest to the professiona ls. The main argument is introduced by a discussion of some of the pit falls and limitations of sustainability indicators to date.