Skip to main content
Book cover

Sustainable Food Chains and Ecosystems pp 103–133Cite as

Making ‘Soft’ Economics a ‘Hard Science’: Planning Governance for Sustainable Development Through a Sustainability Compass

Part of the Cooperative Management book series (COMA)

Abstract

Earlier research presented the need for a critical re-evaluation of economics in reference to its original definition of οἰκονομία (oikonomia) or ‘household management’, referring to the effective management and allocation of resources for meeting human needs. This is an attempt to reframe the concept of ‘hard economics’, into one which is holonic and rejects closed, oversimplified and anthropocentric valuation of goods and services according to individual utility and preference. Economics cannot be isolated from other natural systems but must incorporate hard evidence about them, integrating human and natural systems into a unique understanding. The approach aims at addressing the on-going conflict between human development and sustainability, and strives to develop social learning processes about systems’ sustainability and to generate criteria to support evidence-based decision-making. The emergence of empirical evidence is facilitated by multi-disciplinary social learning that integrates qualitative and quantitative information and knowledge from different fields of science.

This paper explores how this argument has been used to support the development of the Governance Assessment Matrix Exercise (GAME) matrix and tool-kit, from social learning about qualitative criteria of sustainability (based on the Five Capitals Model of Sustainability), to a Sustainability Compass that defines quantitative metrics for monitoring advancements towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper describes the background conceptual framework, as a harder vision of economics: this holonic vision of household management pursues an efficient and effective allocation of resources for addressing human needs, which is supported by cross-disciplinary knowledge integration and social learning rather than non-supported and non-informed expression of preference. The paper concludes by summarising this process and exploring how it might be developed further through the prototype Sustainability Compass and associated metrics that might be employed in the social learning that underpins policy-relevant and evidence-based decisions directed at the realisation of the SDGs. Possible further developments are being planned for complementing the Sustainability Compass with a meta-evaluation framework that assesses the qualitative level of the metrics for this purpose.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-39609-1_8
  • Chapter length: 31 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-030-39609-1
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 8.1
Fig. 8.2
Fig. 8.3
Fig. 8.4
Fig. 8.5
Fig. 8.6
Fig. 8.7
Fig. 8.8
Fig. 8.9

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://sisu.ut.ee/mares. BONUS MARES has been funded by BONUS (Art. 185), funded by the EU.

References

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ashby. (2014). Requisite variety, autopoiesis, and self-organization. Carlos Gershenson Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas & Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, P. M., & Hoerber, T. C. (2013). Sustainable development and governance in Europe. The evolution of the discourse on sustainability. New York: Routlegde.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Barzel, Y. (1997). Economic analysis of property rights (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Biermann, F. (2007). ‘Earth system governance’ as a cross cutting theme of global change research. Global Environmental Change, 17, 326–337.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bromley, D. W. (1990). Essays on the commons. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, P. G., Garver, G., Helmuth, K., Howell, R., & Szeghi, S. (2008). Right relationship: Building a whole Earth economy. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, S. (2006). Risk and the subjectivity of preference. Journal of Risk Research, 9(3), 225–242.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Capra, F. (2007). In A. E. J. Wals (Ed.), Social learning towards a sustainable world. Principles, perspectives and praxis. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, N., Simmons, C., & Wackernagel, M. (2000). Sharing Nature’s interest: Ecological footprints as an indicator of sustainability. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conant, R. C., & Ashby, W. R. (1970). Every good regulator of a system must be a model of that system. International Journal of System Science, 1(2), 89.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, H. E. (1991). Steady-state economics (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly, H. E. (2005). Economics in a full world. Scientific American, 293(3), 100–107.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Demsetz, H. (1967). Toward a theory of property rights. American Economic Review, 57(2), 347–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. P. (2012). Environmental governance. New York: Routledge.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, P. (2005). Pathologies of power (p. 40). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forum for the Future. (2019). The five capitals model – A framework for sustainability. Accessed Mar 03, 2019, from https://www.forumforthefuture.org/the-five-capitals

  • Funtowicz, S., & Ravetz, J. (1990). Uncertainty and quality in science for policy. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace, peace research. Journal of Peace Research, 6(3), 167.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, J. (1990). Cultural violence. Journal of Peace Research, 27(3), 291.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Graves, P. E. (2002). Valuing public goods. University of Colorado, Department of Economics. http://spot.colorado.edu/~gravesp/GravesRevtext.htm

  • Green, S., & Lemon, M. (1996). Perceptual landscapes in Agrarian systems: Degradation processes in North-western Epirus and the Argolid Valley, Greece. Ecumene, 3(2), 181–199.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, L. (2013). Governance for sustainability in the European Union: A post-political project. In P. M. Barnes & T. C. Hoerber (Eds.), Sustainable development and governance in Europe, the evolution of the discourse on sustainability (p. 8). New York: Routlegde.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson, L. H., & Holling, C. S. (Eds.). (2002). Panarchy: Understanding transformations in human and natural systems. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ho, K. (2007). Structural violence as a human rights violation. Essex Human Rights Review, 4(2), 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holling, C. S. (Ed.). (1978). Adaptive environmental assessment and management. London: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. (2009). Prosperity without growth? The transition to a sustainable economy. Sustainable Development Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessop, B. (2002). Liberalism, neo-liberalism and urban governance: A state theoretical perspective. Antipode, 34(3), 454.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. A., Dana, G., Jordan, N. R., Draeger, K. J., Kapuscinski, A., Schmitt Olabisi, L. K., & Reich, P. B. (2012). Using participatory scenarios to stimulate social learning for collaborative sustainable development. Ecology and Society, 17(2), 9. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04780-170209.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for behavioral economics. The American Economic Review, 93, 1449–1475.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (1991). Anomalies: The endowment effect, loss aversion, and status quo bias. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5, 193–206.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kaul, I., & Mendoza, R. U. (2002). Advancing the concept of public goods. In I. Kaul, P. Conceincao, K. Le Goulven, & R. U. Mendoza (Eds.), Providing global public goods–Managing globalisation. UNDP. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, R., S. Parto and R.B. Gibson (2005). Governance for sustainable development: Moving from theory to practice. International Journal of Sustainable Development, 8(½), 12–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koestler, A. (1967). The ghost in the machine (1990 repr). London: Hutchinson (Penguin Group).

    Google Scholar 

  • Landman, T. (2006). Studying human rights (p. 45). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemon, M., Jeffrey, P., McIntosh, B. S., & Oxley, T. (2004). Understanding the perceptions of change: A pathways contribution to community consultation and environmental decision-making. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 6(2), 1–23.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • McFadden, D. (2014). The new science of pleasure: Consumer choice behavior and the measurement of well-being. Chapters 7–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLeod, S. (2014). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simply psychology. Consulted 05.02.2015 and 8.10.2018, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

  • Meadowcroft, J. (2013). Reaching the limits? Developed country engagement with sustainable development in a challenging conjuncture. Environment and Planning: Government and Policy, 13, 988–1002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mostert, E., Pahl-Wostl, C., Rees, Y., Searle, B., Tábara, D., & Tippet, J. (2007). Social learning in European river basin management: Barriers and fostering mechanisms from 10 river basins. Ecology and Society, 12(1), 19. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art19/

  • Oskamp, S., & Schultz, P. W. (2005). Attitudes and opinions. Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrom, E. (2009). Coping with tragedies of the commons. Annual Review of Political Science, 2, 493–535.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Peck, J., & Tickell, A. (2002). Neoliberalizing space. Antipode, 34(3), 382.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Porritt, J. (2007). Capitalism as if the world matters. Abingdon. Oxon: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist. London: Random House Business Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, M. S., Evely, A. C., Cundill, G., Fazey, I., Glass, J., Laing, A., Newig, J., Parrish, B., Prell, C., Raymond, C., & Stringer, L. C. (2010). What is social learning? Ecology and Society, 15(4), r1.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Röckstrom, J., Steffen, W., Noone, K., Persson, A., Chapin, F. S., Lambin, E. F., et al. (2009). A safe operating space for humanity. Nature, 461, 472–475. https://doi.org/10.1038/461472a.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Röling, N. G. (2002). Beyond the aggregation of individual preferences. In C. Leeuwis & R. Pyburn (Eds.), Wheel barrows full of frogs: Social learning in rural resource management (pp. 25–48). Assen, Drenthe: Koninklijke Van Gorcum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumsfeld, D. H., & Mayer, R. (2002, Feb 12). US Department of Defense News and Briefing. Accessed Mar 30, 2019, from https://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2636

  • Sachs, S. E. (2003). The changing definition of security. International relations. Merton College, Oxford. Consulted 6.11.2014, from http://www.stevesachs.com/papers/paper_security.html

  • Sagebiel, J., Schwartz, C., Rhozyel, M., Rajmis, S., Hirschfeld, J. (2016, March/April). Economic valuation of Baltic marine ecosystem services: Blind spots and limited consistency. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 73(4), 991–1003. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv264

  • Sajeva, M. (2016). Governance for sustainable systems: The development of a participatory framework. De Montfort University, Leicester. https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/13125

  • Sajeva, M., & Masera, M. (2006). A strategic approach to risk governance of critical infrastructures. International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 2(4), 379–395. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJCIS.2006.011346.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sajeva, M., Singh Sahota, P., & Lemon, M. (2015). Giving sustainability a chance: A participatory framework for choosing between alternative futures. Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change (JOTSC), 12(1), 57–89.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sajeva, M., Mitchell, A., & Lemon, M. (2019a). Reconfiguring household management in times of discontinuity as an open system: The case of agro-food chains. International Journal of Food and Beverage Manufacturing and Business Models, 4(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJFBMBM.2019010101.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sajeva, M., Valonen, M., Maidell, M., Lemon, M., & Mitchell, A. (2019b). Are we lost in the ocean of human development? Finding our way through a SUSTAINABILITY COMPASS. In Article accepted for publication in the proceedings at energising the sustainable development goals through appropriate technology and governance international conference. Leicester: De Montfort University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuller, D., Brunken-Winkler, H., Busch, P., Förster, M., Janiesch, P., Lemm, R. V., Niedringhaus, R., & Strasser, H. (2000). Sustainable land-use in an agriculturally misused landscape in northwest Germany through ecotechnical restoration by a “Patch-Network-Concept”. Ecological Engineering, 16, 99–117. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-12754-0_2

  • Schultz, P. W., Nolan, J. P., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). The constructive, destructive, and reconstructive power of social norms. Psychological Science, 18, 429–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01917.x.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, E. F. (1973). Small is beautiful: A study of economics as if people mattered. London: Abacus.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1997). Development thinking at the beginning of the 21st century. Harvard University and London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1999). Development as freedom (p. 74). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slim, A. (2013). The impact of de-growth (la décroissance) on the discourse of sustainability. In P. M. Barnes & T. C. Hoerber (Eds.), Sustainable development and governance in Europe, The evolution of the discourse on sustainability (pp. 48–60). New York: Routlegde.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorrell, S. (2007). The rebound effect: An assessment of the evidence for economy-wide energy savings from improved energy efficiency. Project Report. UK Energy Research Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern, D. I. (2014). Economic growth and energy. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, United States, web source, retrieved on 18.3.2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steyaert, P., & Jiggins, J. (2007). Governance of complex environmental situations through social learning: A synthesis of SLIM’s lessons for research, policy and practice. Environmental Science and Policy, 10, 575–586.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. (2014). Intervention at the Italian Parliament on 24 September 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbW4TT7fCY

  • Swyngedouw, E. (2005). Dispossessing H20: The contested terrain of water privatisation. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 16(1), 1–18.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Natural Step (consulted on 9.12.2019). https://thenaturalstep.org/approach/

  • Türke, R. E. (2008). Governance: Systemic foundation and framework. Heidelberg: Springer Science & Business Media.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Consulted 11.3.2019, from http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E

  • Wackernagel, M., & Rees, W. (1996). Our ecological footprint: Reducing human impact on the Earth. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wals, A. E. J., & van der Leij, T. (2007). Social learning towards a sustainable world. Principles, perspectives and praxis. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Webler, T., Kastenholz, H., & Renn, O. (1995). Public participation in impact assessment: A social learning perspective. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 1, 443–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/0195-9255(95)00043-E.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pellervo Economic Research PTT, Helsinki, Finland

    Maurizio Sajeva

  2. Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Mark Lemon & Andrew Mitchell

Authors
  1. Maurizio Sajeva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark Lemon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrew Mitchell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maurizio Sajeva .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Prof. Konstantinos Mattas

  2. Faculty Center for Entrepreneurship, Governance & Stewardship, Nyenrode Business University, Breukelen UT, The Netherlands

    Prof. Dr. Henk Kievit

  3. TIAS School for Business and Society, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Prof. Dr. Gert van Dijk

  4. Department of Business Economics & Management, Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Chania, Greece

    Dr. George Baourakis

  5. Department of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece

    Prof. Constantin Zopounidis

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sajeva, M., Lemon, M., Mitchell, A. (2020). Making ‘Soft’ Economics a ‘Hard Science’: Planning Governance for Sustainable Development Through a Sustainability Compass. In: Mattas, K., Kievit, H., van Dijk, G., Baourakis, G., Zopounidis, C. (eds) Sustainable Food Chains and Ecosystems. Cooperative Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39609-1_8

Download citation