Activites

“Living well within planetary boundaries” is not just an aspiration but a core vision of the EU. As climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem collapse accelerate, achieving this vision is increasingly urgent. Despite ambitious global frameworks, progress remains uneven. The Sustainable Human Development paradigm offers an integrated approach that balances economic, social, and ecological dimensions. However, a coherent measurement framework is essential to guide this transition effectively. In the SPES  Working Paper “Towards a consensus on measuring transition performances within a Sustainable Human Development paradigm”  SPES Researchers from the University of Florence, TARKI Social Research Institute, ASviS – Alleanza Italiana per lo Sviluppo Sostenbile, London School of Economics and Political Sciences and University of Bordeaux explores how to effectively measure the progress of societies transitioning towards a sustainable well-being. They evaluate existing indicators, identify their strengths and limitation and elaborate recommendations for policymakers, researchers, and institutions to refine measurement systems.

The study identifies four key areas of consensus that are essential for developing a coherent and widely accepted measurement system:

1. Theoretical Consensus explores how different academic traditions need to converge in shaping a comprehensive measurement framework for sustainability transitions.
2. Technical Consensus assesses existing composite indicators, their methodologies, and statistical robustness.
3. Policy Consensus focuses on how a measurement framework can inform governance structures and policy decision-making.
4. Public Consensus discusses the role of participatory governance in legitimising new measurement approaches. It examines how civil society, researchers, and policymakers can collaborate to ensure that alternative indicators gain traction in public discourse and policy-making

The way forward

The way forward proposed by this working paper is to design a well-structured and participatory process of consultation to build a shared consensus on a new measurement framework. Three preliminary suggestions may arise from SPES for this co-creation process, respectively dealing with who, how and when issues.

First, the process should be built on a broad global alliance among the most relevant international organisations and supranational institutions, including the UN, the OECD, the European Union, and the top experts to coordinate convergence efforts of several prominent initiatives.

Second, the process should be able to truly engage with experts from different disciplines and schools of thought to make informed choices about the dimensions to be measured, as well as technical experts to make informed choices about indicators and their design, and policy experts to ensure the feasibility of uptake and use of a new system.

Third, the process should start as soon as possible in 2025, as a new European Commission has just taken office, and taking advantage also of the very relevant advancements from the UN initiative “what counts”, from the OECD WISE Centre, from the JRC COIN, as well as from the ongoing work by several beyond-GDP “sister projects” funded by Horizon Europe – SPES, ToBe, WISE Horizons, WISER, and MERGE.

Researchers truly believe that all actors are ready, and all components are well set to let the different “streams” merge in a “river” that can finally ensure a coherent and meaningful approach to measuring societal progress.

To read more on the discussion and reccomendations