New book for measuring sustainability outcomes

Researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have released a book which contains a newly developed tool for measuring social, economic and environmental outcomes.

Professor Laurie Buys from QUT’s School of Design is the lead author of A Triple Bottom Line Planning Tool for Measuring Sustainability. The book gives organisations a tool to measure and monitor their performance on each of the three indicators and how they interact with each other.

“The Sustainability Scorecard provides rigorous, scientifically verifiable and comparable measures that organisations can use to engage government, the community and other stakeholders in tackling social, economic and environmental challenges,” Professor Buys said.

“The scorecard is a versatile tool for industry to use in decision-making in the areas of social, economic and environmental performance. It lets business see what happens when they tweak one factor to improve sustainability and how it plays out through all operations.

It will also allow policymakers and stakeholders to improve their decision-making as they build sustainability into their organisations.

The book explains the sustainability scorecard through a case study on the sustainability of the Australian dairy industry. Professor Buys said the authors looked at the impact of the three factors on the farm, the factory and the market.

“For instance, if a dairy farmer makes the environmental move to reduce water use it may mean they have a smaller herd, which may impact on the profitability of the business in the economic area and possibly job losses, affecting the social area,” she noted.

The book can be found here.