Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Bringing the “Missing Pillar” into Sustainable Development Goals : Towards Intersubjective Values-Based Indicators Burford, Gemma; Hoover, Elona; Velasco, Ismael; Janoušková, Svatava; Jimenez, Alicia; Piggot, Georgia; Podger, Dimity; Harder, Marie K.

Abstract

This paper argues that the need for a core “fourth pillar” of sustainability/sustainable development, as demanded in multiple arenas, can no longer be ignored on the grounds of intangibility. Different approaches to this vital but missing pillar (cultural-aesthetic, religious-spiritual, and political-institutional) find common ground in the area of ethical values. While values and aspects based on them are widely assumed to be intangible and immeasurable, we illustrate that it is possible to operationalize them in terms of measurable indicators when they are intersubjectively conceptualized within clearly defined practical contexts. The processes require contextual localization of items, which can nonetheless fit into a generalizable framework. This allows useful measurements to be made, and removes barriers to studying, tracking, comparing, evaluating and correlating values-related dimensions of sustainability. It is advocated that those involved in operationalizing sustainability (especially in the context of creating post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals), should explore the potential for developing indicators to capture some of its less tangible aspects, especially those concerned with ethical values.

Item Metadata

Title
Bringing the “Missing Pillar” into Sustainable Development Goals : Towards Intersubjective Values-Based Indicators
Creator
Burford, Gemma; Hoover, Elona; Velasco, Ismael; Janoušková, Svatava; Jimenez, Alicia; Piggot, Georgia; Podger, Dimity; Harder, Marie K.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2013-07-12
Description
This paper argues that the need for a core “fourth pillar” of sustainability/sustainable development, as demanded in multiple arenas, can no longer be ignored on the grounds of intangibility. Different approaches to this vital but missing pillar (cultural-aesthetic, religious-spiritual, and political-institutional) find common ground in the area of ethical values. While values and aspects based on them are widely assumed to be intangible and immeasurable, we illustrate that it is possible to operationalize them in terms of measurable indicators when they are intersubjectively conceptualized within clearly defined practical contexts. The processes require contextual localization of items, which can nonetheless fit into a generalizable framework. This allows useful measurements to be made, and removes barriers to studying, tracking, comparing, evaluating and correlating values-related dimensions of sustainability. It is advocated that those involved in operationalizing sustainability (especially in the context of creating post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals), should explore the potential for developing indicators to capture some of its less tangible aspects, especially those concerned with ethical values.
Subject
Sustainable Development Goals; Post 2015 Development Agenda; Millennium Development Goals; Sustainability; Governance; Values; Ethical framework; Indicators; Intersubjectivity
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-04-08
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 3.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0378030
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/69519
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Non UBC; Sociology, Department of
Citation
Sustainability 5 (7): 3035-3059 (2013)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/su5073035
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

CC BY 3.0