Assessment tools based on static and linear concepts like traditional cost-benefit analysis can not reasonably be applied for long-term assessments of complex systems. One major reason is that secondary effects of policies caused by endogenous dynamics of the system are not considered. So, for environmental impacts the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is developed that already includes ...

Assessing sustainability is increasingly becoming a common practice in the appraisal of products and policy plans. Nonetheless, there are many concerns about the operationalisation of sustainability assessment. In the present paper we discuss the distinction between integrated assessment and sustainability assessment (SA), and using a systemic approach, w...

36 AI MAGAZINE It might be thought that artificial intelligence techniques or other types of computational methods are irrelevant in countries with few technological resources. As just one example of the possibilities, however, take road traffic in cities. The chaotic and spectacular road congestion that is characteristic of developing-world cities is a microcosm of opportunities for applying A...

Sustainability assessment is one of the keys to competition by food supply chains over sustainability. The way it is conceived and embodied into decision-makers’ choices affects the competitiveness of local and global chains. Science-based assessment methodologies have made substantial progress, but uncertainties—as well as interests at stake—are high. There are no science-based methods that ar...

2. Sustainability through Impact Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.1. Normative adequacy: Decisions, Substitutability and Trade-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2. Empirical Adequacy: impact models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.3. Impact Reduction Sustainability: Assessment . . . . . . . . . . ....

This paper presents an approach for rapid assessment of sustainability for Mainland China based on a multilayer index system. Efficient assessment is conducted with the basic mapping units at county and city levels. After evaluating a comprehensive sustainable development index, SDI, for each unit, five rankings of sustainability are determined, and a zonation map produced. Regional characteris...

Sustainability has been the focus of intense discussions over the past two decades, with topics surrounding the entire product life cycle. In the manufacturing phase, research has often focused solely on environmental impact assessment or environmental impact and cost analysis in its assessment of sustainability. Few efforts have investigated sustainable production decision making that addresse...