Sustainable Development Evaluation And Policy Making

This pathbreaking book contributes to the discourse of evidence-based policy-making. It does so by combining the two issues of policy evaluation and sustainable development linking both to the policy-cycle. It covers contributions: · examining the perception of sustainability problems, which analyse the relationship between sustainability and assessment; · highlighting the role of evaluation and impact assessment studies during policy formulation; · looking at policy implementation by examining sustainability and impact assessment systems in different application areas; · addressing policy reformulation presenting monitoring and quality improvement schemes; · discussing quality of sustainability evaluations studies. Providing theoretic insights, reflections and case studies, this novel study will prove essential to postgraduate students, practitioners, policymakers and researchers in the area of sustainable development, policy-making and evaluation.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book presents methods to evaluate sustainable development using economic tools. The focus on sustainable development takes the reader beyond economic growth to encompass inclusion, environmental stewardship and good governance. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for outcomes. In illustrating the SDGs, the book employs three evaluation approaches: impact evaluation, cost-benefit analysis and objectives-based evaluation. The innovation lies in connecting evaluation tools with economics. Inclusion, environmental care and good governance, thought of as “wicked problems”, are given centre stage. The book uses case studies to show the application of evaluation tools. It offers guidance to evaluation practitioners, students of development and policymakers. The basic message is that evaluation comes to life when its links with socio-economic, environmental, and governance policies are capitalized on.

This manual draws on recent advances in public policy science as well as the decades-long experience of UNEP and other organizations in the field of sustainability-motivated policy assessment. By using a "building blocks" concept, it builds on the approach proposed in the UNEP Guidance Manual "Integrated Assessment: Mainstreaming Sustainability into Policymaking". It suggests using sustainable development as a major filter for prioritizing competing issues and for deciding on policy choices. The manual is expected to prove useful to policymakers and analysts, and will motivate its audience to adopt an integrated approach to policymaking and to play a role in a more intelligent management of human, financial and natural capital as a step towards achieving the Green Economy of the 21st century.

Sustainability Assessment is a comprehensive compilation of all the known policy factors related to sustainability. This book outlines all of the elements and considerations of community aspects of policy evaluation in an effort to reduce the future consequences on resources and environmental sustainability. The basic assumption behind it is that sustainability, though oriented to resources and meeting demands, starts from formulation of policy. Policies are so interrelated that all policies have some roles to play toward sustainability. Helps policymakers integrate the objectives of sustainability into policy actions in a given socio-political environment and plan a strategy for policy implementation Includes some policy factors that have not been discussed in other texts

This book is open access under a Creative Commons license. This authoritative book presents the ever progressing state of the art in evaluating climate change strategies and action. It builds upon a selection of relevant and practical papers and presentations given at the 2nd International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development held in Washington DC in 2014 and includes perspectives from independent evaluations of the major international organisations supporting climate action in developing countries, such as the Global Environment Facility. The first section of the book sets the stage and provides an overview of independent evaluations, carried out by multilateral development banks and development organisations. Important topics include how policies and organisations aim to achieve impact and how this is measured, whether climate change is mainstreamed into other development programs, and whether operations are meeting the urgency of climate change challenges. The following sections focus on evaluation of climate change projects and policies as they link to development, from the perspective of international organisations, NGO’s, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and academia. The authors share methodologies or approaches used to better understand problems and assess interventions, strategies and policies. They also share challenges encountered, what was done to solve these and lessons learned from evaluations. Collectively, the authors illustrate the importance of evaluation in providing evidence to guide policy change to informed decision-making.

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment for Decision-Making: Methodologies and Case Studies gives readers a comprehensive introduction to life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) methodology for sustainability measurement of industrial systems, proposing an efficiency methodology for stakeholders and decision-makers. Featuring the latest methods and case studies, the book will assist researchers in environmental sciences and energy to develop the best methods for LCA, as well as aiding those practitioners who are responsible for making decisions for promoting sustainable development. The past, current status and future of LCSA, Life Cycle Assessment method (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA), the methodology of LCSA, typical LCSA case studies, limitations of LCSA, and life cycle aggregated sustainability index methods are all covered in this multidisciplinary book. Includes models for assessing sustainability in environmental, energy engineering and economic scenarios Features case studies that help define the advantages and obstacles of real world applications Presents a complete view, from theory to practice, of a life cycle approach by exploring the methods and tools of sustainability assessment, analysis and design of sustainability assessment

Evaluating sustainable development is becoming increasingly important in policy making, evaluation practice and the scientific world in general. However, at present, there is neither a generally accepted set of measures and evaluation methods, nor specific standards to be met. Sustainable Development in Europe addresses these issues and presents an important and concise analysis of state-of-the-art sustainable development evaluation policies, programmes and projects currently at work in Europe.

Sustainability assessment is now emerging as a more transparent, comprehensive, integrated and far-sighted approach to decision making. Its basic demand is that all significant undertakings must make a positive contribution to sustainability. To apply this test, decision makers need criteria based on the core requirements of sustainability and the particularities of the context. As well, they need appropriately designed public processes; guidance on the weighing of alternatives, trade-offs and compromises; a supportive policy framework; suitable tools and inspiring examples. Drawing from transdisciplinary theory and practical case experience, the book addresses these matters and many of the surrounding controversies. While sustainability assessment must always be adjusted to particular circumstances, the generic approach set out in this book is applicable virtually anywhere.