Environmental resource management

Business

Computer network

Mathematics

Biology

Environmental planning

Data mining

Epistemology

Risk analysis (engineering)

Engineering

Environmental economics

Philosophy

Political science

Economics

Geography

Ecology

Geometry

Reservation

Measure (data warehouse)

Computer science

Christian ministry

Management science

Strengths and weaknesses

Sustainability

Point (geometry)

International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology

Sustainability is one of the main challenges of society. Progress in operational tools that help with environmental management and decision-making is slower and more complex than expected. The objective of the research is to show the usefulness of calculating composite indicators of environmental sustainability as a management tool. The proposed scientific model applies a multicriteria analysis, in an aggregate approach, with a double reference point (reservation and aspiration levels), incorporating the opinions of experts, and making the concepts of strong and weak sustainability operational. The method is applied to the eight provinces of Andalusia (Spain), using the official data published by the Regional Ministry of Environment. The results show that the indicators obtained are especially useful for the management of the territory, because they serve as an absolute measure of environmental sustainability. Besides, they enable global and specific analyzes of each indicator, they easily identify the strengths and weaknesses of each territory, and they provide an alert system to prevent problems and help to make strategic decisions. The methodology is innovative, fast and without excessive economic cost.

Assessing environmental sustainability by the double reference point methodology: the case of the provinces of Andalusia (Spain)