Title: Learning and evaluation in Integrated Sustainability Assessment

Authors: Willemijn Tuinstra, Jill Jager, Paul M. Weaver

Addresses: European Air Quality and Sustainability, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. ' Sustainable Europe Research Institute (SERI), Vienna, Austria. ' Wolfson Research Institute, University of Durham, UK

Abstract: This paper explains why learning, especially social learning, and evaluation are essential and integral parts of Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA). This is linked to the intent and purpose of ISA as a process that seeks to achieve transformative outcomes, including through issue reframing. The goals of ISA require a participatory process, adaptability and an iterative architecture with, at the end of each ISA cycle, a phase of purposefully structured evaluation of learning achieved. The paper explains how the evaluation of learning outcomes has been structured in the MATISSE project and reports findings from the first round of evaluation.

Keywords: social learning; sustainability learning; learning-by-doing; conceptual learning; issue reframing; transformative outcomes; learning evaluation; integrated sustainability assessment; ISA; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2008.018197

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2008 Vol.3 No.1/2, pp.128 - 152

Published online: 11 May 2008 *

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