Institute for Rural Development Research in Frankfurt/Main

Advanced techniques and tools for sustainability assessment (Sustainability A-Test)

To realize progress towards the ambitions regarding Sustainable Development (SD), the EU and others should set wise objectives, and make sure that the implementation is taken care of in an effective way. This requires proper policies and a consistent implementation process. Tools (i.e. methodologies, models, approaches and appraisals) are needed that support strategy development, ex-ante sustainability impact assessments as well as policy reviews.

This project will assist in improving both impact assessments and the SD strategy definition, by high-level validation of relevant tools using a consistent and comprehensive evaluation framework. This framework will help to examine what different tools can and cannot deliver, when they can be used etc. Key aspects of SD, against which the tools will be evaluated, will be formulated. A catalogue of state-of-the-art tools will be made and a preliminary evaluation of the tools in the context of different policy questions will be carried out based on literature reviews. In this phase the project will focus on water, climate change and agriculture & land-use policy questions.

Then an array of tools will be tested in one case study on agriculture and land-use that will be coordinated by IfLS. This will lead to a final evaluation of the merits of each tool, the circumstances under which they can be used, the constraints, the pros and cons and the extent to which they integrate externalities of policies.

The project builds on the considerable knowledge and experience that is available among the members of the European Forum for Integrated Environment Assessment (EFIEA). It is coordinated by Free University Amsterdam (NL), Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM).

For more information see the project website: Sustainability A-Test-Website

Contact persons at the IfLS: Karlheinz Knickel and Nadja Kasperczyk