The role of values and objectives in communicating indicators of sustainability

Indicators can help package complex information into a usable form for public policy. We can think of no greater need for such clarity than the case of sustainability. The sustainability paradigm is applicable to the complex, urgent and interconnected problems we now face because of several characteristics. It is: (1) comprehensive and inclusive, (2) simple in concept and flexible, (3) value-based, and (4) an approach that necessitates consistency across policy areas. Indicators are needed to determine progress toward sustainability goals. In this paper, we argue that indicators of sustainability will only be effective if they support social learning by providing users with information they need in a form they can understand and relate to. These concepts also apply in other situations where policy makers must evaluate complex systems. roduce a hierarchical control model, which is then used to demonstrate the path from values to objectives to actions and impacts, demonstrating the direct linkage from objectives to measures of the degree to which objectives have been reached. The model is extended first to sustainability goals and then to sustainability policies. We discuss the conceptual consistencies among the hierarchical model, sustainability theory and public policy processes. Using the concept of targeted indicators, we argue that science is effective when it is presented in a manner that is meaningful to the audience, and also represented in the context of their values and objectives. clude that the overlaps among policy, science and the publics’ values and objectives cannot be ignored. Policy, and particularly sustainability policy, is value driven. However, for the contextual application of those values to be realistic, society must understand the status and functioning of social, economic and environmental systems and be aware of the consequences of their choices. Policy makers will be more likely to create attainable policy goals if they understand the importance of interactions between the environment and society and the implications of choosing one objective over another. Achievement of the public’s objectives as embodied in policies can be facilitated through the use of indicators that have been derived from participatory processes, indicators that are chosen because they are meaningful to the public and reflect an understanding of their values and objectives.