Parris, T. M., and R. W. Kates. 2003. Characterizing and measuring sustainable development. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28:559-586.

2.4.2.1 INTEGRATIVE METHODS AND MODELS: Observations, indicators and monitoring - Indicators To move to a sustainability transition, societies need to establish or change direction, assess progress, and obtain warnings of unsustainability. Quantitative indicator systems relevant to the sustainability transition, such as institutional audits, integrated “sustainability” metrics of cities or regions, or global accounts of carbon, populations, or ecosystems, were early products of sustainability efforts. Despite or perhaps because of upwards of 500 efforts, no sets of indicators have achieved the widespread use and credibility of such indicators as gross domestic product (GDP)/capita or the human development index (HDI). The Reading reviews the diverse efforts to measure and to characterize sustainable development by examining twelve selected efforts. It then proposes an analytical framework that clearly distinguishes among goals, targets, and indicators, of sustainable development and related trends, driving forces, and policy responses.

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