permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] Gee - I guess it all depends on how one defines 
 'sustainable'.........
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:19:19 -0400
From: Laura Lengnick <lengnick@WARREN-WILSON.EDU>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Hi Grace,

Would be happy to consult with the Leonardo Academy group on my work
developing multi-criteria sustainable decision-making tools based on
sustainability indicators.

As a start, your group can check out the set of 87 coherent, well
performing and relevant agriculture sustainability indicators developed
by Sauvenier, et. al., 2006 through an exhaustive review of the
international literature.

Sauvenier X., Brouckaert V., Van Cauwenbergh N., Garcia V., Goyens S.,
Valckx J., Wauters E., Bielders C., Hermy M., Mathijs E., Muys B.,
Vanclooster M. and Peeters A. 2006. Framework for assessing
sustainability levels in Belgian agricultural systems – SAFE. Part 1:
Sustainable production and consumption patterns (SPSD II). Final report.
Belgian Science Policy (BSP). Brussels.

For a process with integrity, any sustainability
assessment/certification process must include a multidimensional
evaluation of performance on indicators - social, economic and
ecological well-being, AND require that any system certified as
sustainable perform at some minimum standard level on relevant criteria
representing all three aspects of the sustainability triad.

I've developed a method with the characteristics above for assessing and
monitoring farm system sustainability at the individual farm scale.  I
am currently working on applying that method to a campus community with
a resident population of about 1000.  Hope to begin working soon with a
small city, population 75,000.


Best regards,

Laura