| Popis: |
Sustainable development was traditionally measured using only environmental, social and economic indicators, still starting from an often incomplete but enormously popular pillar-approach. This approach through clustered indicators, combined in so-called pillars often automatically lead to the risk of over-focus on one of these selected parameters, neglect of complementary and integrative approaches and lack of anthropological, comparative cultural and worldviews-perspectives. Studies still show the need for better integration of bottom-up participatory methods in sustainability assessment. Key questions remain to be answered: How (far) are cultural and biological diversity -emphasizing their interactions- already integrated in traditional approaches of sustainable development and sustainability assessment tools? What cultural challenges do theses tools still face? What recommendations can be put forward for further refinement? (How) can we integrate culture and its dynamic diversity in sustainability assessment? What are potential 'biocultural' indicators or is an indicator approach per se contra-productive from an anthropological perspective? These questions have been put forward in a comparative cultural context, by performing case studies and focus groups on the cultural and participatory aspects of sustainable development in the different scientific contexts of Belgium and India, leading to a comparative cultural study of expert insights on sustainability assessment. A Belgium-India Delphi survey on cultural differences and sustainability assessment will be used to elaborate expert insights in needs, preconceptions and challenges for community-based assessment tools. Through participatory focus groups, potential 'biocultural' sustainability indicators will be identified. Results will support the co-operative design of a toolbox that integrates 'cultural diversity' and local knowledge in sustainability assessment. Results of these studies will be evaluated in a field try-out of a community-based sustainability assessment tool. |
