Sustainability indicators: The problem of integration

Sustainability indicators (SIs) are increasingly seen as important tools in the implementation of sustainable development. Numerous suggested SI lists and matrices exist, but a remaining problem is how these diverse SIs are t o be integrated into an answer as to whether something is sustainable or no t. In some studies of sustainability workers have adopted a quantitative in tegration approach whereby SIs are given numerical values and integrated ma thematically to produce a value for sustainability. In this paper the autho rs discuss SI integration by drawing upon the results of a six-year researc h project based in a village in Nigeria. They conclude that an element of ' qualitative integration' incorporating value judgements and subjectivity is inevitable with a concept such as sustainability, even if one begins with what may seem like sharp and quantitative SIs. It is argued that SIs are pr imarily a product of development intervention rather than a desire to under stand, and as a result carry with them the desired characteristics, from th e donor perspective, of efficiency and accountability. Copyright (C) 2001 J ohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.