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Conceptualizing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Assessment in Development Cooperation

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  • Jean Hugé

    (Systems Ecology & Resource Management Lab, Biology Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
    Centre for Sustainable Development, Universiteit Gent, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Nibedita Mukherjee

    (Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK)

  • Camille Fertel

    (Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD)—HEC Montreal, Côte-Sainte-Catherine Rd. 3000, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • Jean-Philippe Waaub

    (Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD)—HEC Montreal, Côte-Sainte-Catherine Rd. 3000, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada
    Department of Geography, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal, QC H3C 3P8, Canada)

  • Thomas Block

    (Centre for Sustainable Development, Universiteit Gent, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Tom Waas

    (Centre for Sustainable Development, Universiteit Gent, Poel 16, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Nico Koedam

    (Plant Biology & Nature Management Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Farid Dahdouh-Guebas

    (Systems Ecology & Resource Management Lab, Biology Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
    Plant Biology & Nature Management Lab, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium)

Abstract

Sustainability assessment has emerged as a key decision-support process in development cooperation in response to the growing acknowledgement of the impacts of global change. This paper aims at conceptualizing the effectiveness of sustainability assessment as applied in development cooperation, by focusing on the sustainability assessment practice by actors of the official Belgian Development Cooperation. The conceptualization of the effectiveness of sustainability assessment is synthesized in a set of issues and concerns, based on semi-structured interviews. The paper highlights the specificity of sustainability assessment in the development cooperation sector (e.g., through the cultural and discursive compatibility dimensions of assessment in a North-South context). Effectiveness is inherently linked to the expected functions of sustainability assessment in the decision-making process, which include fostering organizational change, shaping contextually adapted framings of sustainability and operationalizing the sustainability transition. These findings highlight the relevance of a discourse-sensitive approach to sustainability assessment if one is to strengthen its credibility and legitimacy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Hugé & Nibedita Mukherjee & Camille Fertel & Jean-Philippe Waaub & Thomas Block & Tom Waas & Nico Koedam & Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, 2015. "Conceptualizing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Assessment in Development Cooperation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:5735-5751:d:49341
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    Cited by:

    1. Elvis Modikela Nkoana & Aviel Verbruggen & Jean Hugé, 2018. "Climate Change Adaptation Tools at the Community Level: An Integrated Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    2. Martin Holubčík & Jakub Soviar & Viliam Lendel, 2022. "Sustainable cooperation management - insights from a selected company," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 10(2), pages 429-447, December.
    3. Hugé, J. & Rochette, A.J. & de Béthune, S. & Parra Paitan, C.C. & Vanderhaegen, K. & Vandervelden, T. & Van Passel, S. & Vanhove, M.P.M. & Verbist, B. & Verheyen, D. & Waas, T. & Janssens, I. & Jansse, 2020. "Ecosystem services assessment tools for African Biosphere Reserves: A review and user-informed classification," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    4. E. M. Nkoana & T. Waas & A. Verbruggen & C. J. Burman & J. Hugé, 2017. "Analytic framework for assessing participation processes and outcomes of climate change adaptation tools," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1731-1760, October.
    5. Sarah Feron & Raúl R. Cordero, 2018. "Is Peru Prepared for Large-Scale Sustainable Rural Electrification?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-20, May.
    6. Sarah Feron & Harald Heinrichs & Raúl R. Cordero, 2016. "Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-22, May.
    7. Elvis Modikela Nkoana & Aviel Verbruggen & Jean Huge, 2018. "Climate change adaptation tools at the community level: An integrated literature review," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/269477, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Corinna Salzer & Holger Wallbaum & Luis Felipe Lopez & Jean Luc Kouyoumji, 2016. "Sustainability of Social Housing in Asia: A Holistic Multi-Perspective Development Process for Bamboo-Based Construction in the Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-26, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    sustainability assessment; effectiveness; development cooperation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
    • Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q3 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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