Defenition
- aggregated and simplified accurate description of a complex reality
- necessary part of the stream of information we use to understand the world, make decisions, and plan our actions
- what we care about measuring
- some are quantitatively measurable, others feel qualitative
Different applications for retrospect and prospect of environment
Retrospective 1. Learning 2. Communicate 3. Change Prospective
What does it mean with retrospective application
Learning is a retrospective tool
With retrospective indicators, historical events can be examined and learned from
- tracing the story
What does it men with prospective application
Change is a prospective tool
With prospective indicators future events can be predicted
- shaping the story
What is between retrospective and prospective?
Communicating is a tool for the present
With indicators focused on the present, recent occasions can be identified
- telling the story
How are indicators often used
Decision-making and problem structuring -> indicators -> used in eg MFA, LCA
Choices of indicators is a critical determinant of the behavior of a system
Hierarchy of indicators
Aggregated info (most-least)
Index
Headline indicator
Indicator
Data
Indicator pitfalls
- overaggregation - too many things lumped together
- measuring what can be measure rather than what is important
- Incompleteness - missed info
- overconfidence
Commonly used indicators
- Ecological footprint - measures human demand on nature, ie the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy
- Human development index (HDI) - indicates the welfare by looking at factors such as death rate, education, healthcare
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total market value of all final goods and services of a nation
- Genuine Progress Indicators (GPI) - GDP adjusted for factors such as income distribution, cost of crime, pollution
