Sustainability Assessment: Pluralism, Practice and Progress

by Alan Bond (Editor), Angus Morrison-Saunders (Editor), Richard Howitt (Editor)

SustainabilityAssessmentis an increasingly important tool for informing planningand development decisions across theglobe. Required by law in some countries, strongly recommended in others, a comprehensive analysis of why SustainabilityAssessment is needed andclarification ofthe 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 SustainabilityAssessmentchallenges nested within wide-ranging values and sustainability-grounded evidence.The collectiondetails the current state-of-the art in relation to SustainabilityAssessment theory and practice, andconsiders the pluralistic nature of the tool and the implications for achieving sustainable decision-making.The contributorsset outthe context for SustainabilityAssessment 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 bookis unique in setting out state-of-the-art in terms of SustainabilityAssessment 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 SustainabilityAssessment.Written by authors among theleading 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.

297 pages, ebook

First published September 10, 2012