Measuring Sustainability in Communities

It is universally true that if you're going to measure the success, or failure of something that you need to have a set criteria as a basis for evaluation. The same holds true for measuring the degree of success, or completion of a sustainable community. The trouble is setting indicators that are specific, yet also non-specific enough to ensure that achieving a sustainable community is actually plausible.

This afternoon in class, we broke out into groups to try and set a series of these indicators for Greater Victoria. It's easy enough to create an exhaustive list, but is this really effective? It goes back to the videos of Elizabeth May and Ken Lyotier who both had very different views of sustainable development. Elizabeth May's view was very idealistic; it involved the decentralization of control, local reliance resources and social equity. By contrast, Ken Lyotier stated that it simply involves being accommodating. He explains that reliance on peoples strengths, skills and values provides the framework for a sustainable community and goes farther by outlining the difficulties in planning for the future. If given the opportunity, how would the indicators for May and Lyotier differ?

Indicators can provide individuals, or groups, with the motivation to acheive goals. However, they may be more effective if the are adaptable and limited in number. In addition, if the opportunity of developing these indicators lies within specific communities, perhaps this will inspires individuals to feel a certain responsibility in helping to meet these goals.