35 - Sustainability analysis – development of indicators

Programme manager:

Programme director:

Objective

To further develop existing sustainability impact assessment methods and develop new specific indicators and associated tools for mapping and evaluating agricultural activities. Sustainability impact assessments in the different dimensions serve to transfer knowledge, identify trade-offs and optimise agricultural practices in terms of their economic, environmental and social sustainability.

• Specific objectives

  • Further develop indicators in the TAPE project for use both on Swiss farms and in an international context
  • Further develop and manage SALCA indicator methods (Swiss Agricultural Life Cycle Assessment); continually review with a view to expanding the set of SALSA indicators, including specific indicators from other sustainability dimensions (e.g. animal welfare).
  • Further develop indicators for agri-environmental monitoring
  • Check whether existing indicators in the socio-economic dimension are relevant to Switzerland and further develop them
  • Develop principles for an endpoint sustainability impact assessment for the social dimension
  • (Further) develop/establish new sustainability indicators and assessment methods
  • Exchange information with different groups (other research organisations, international monitoring programmes, private organisations, etc.) to support the further development of indicators/tools.
  • Further exploit the potential of farm management information systems as data platforms for indicators
  • Highlight the pros and cons of assessment methods for analysing sustainability
  • Expand the underlying data in life cycle assessment databases, including data on organic products.
  • Further develop/adapt existing methods/indicators for policy purposes (e.g. direct payments), if required by federal offices

Expected outcomes

Indicators facilitate an integrated and robust assessment of production systems and support their further development, marking a step towards economically, environmentally and socially sustainable agricultural production in Switzerland.

Projects

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