Modelling Ecologically Sustainable Economie Development in a Region: A Case Study in the Netherlands

This paper f ocuses attention on the relevance of the notion of sustainable development in a regional context and the use of models for regional sustainable development policy. The paper discusses first the notion of sustainable development by linking socioeconomic and ecological elements. Time and space prove to be important dimensions of sustainable development. In a spatial context, an often neglected but relevant concept is that of regional sustainable development (RSD). lts reiationship with both the global concept of sustainable development and sustainable use of resources is discussed. Next, we focus on the use of models for sustainable development in a regional context. All such models integrate economy and ecology: a description of economie processes, ecological processes and their interactions; and an inclusion of socio-economic and ecological indicators in the policy evaluation. Only dynamic models are considered, as they are regarded to be the most relevant class for tracing sustainable development. ft is argued that scenario and simulation models are most appropriate on a regional levei, as here the leve! of detail of describing economics and ecology (and their interactions), including their policy relevance, is fairly balanced. Finally, a case study is presented for the Peel region, an agricultural area in the Netherlands, where presently agriculture causes consideratie damage to groundwater, forests, and protected fen areas due to intensive cattle farming, irrigation and drainage. Several relevant development scenarios for RSD planning are developed, and the model analyses for each of them are reviewed from the viewpoint of RSD.