Valuation of sustainable development policies: Social multi-criteria evaluation

Sustainable development is a multidimensional concept, including socio-economic, ecological, technical and ethical perspectives. In making sustainability policies operational, basic questions to be answered are sustainability of what and whom? As a consequence, sustainability issues are characterized by a high degree of conflict. The main objective of this Chapter is to show that multiple-criteria decision analysis is an adequate approach for dealing with sustainability conflicts. To achieve this objective, lessons learned from both theoretical argumentations and empirical experience are examined. Guidelines of "good practice" are suggested too. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.