Bellagio Principles

In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) called for the development of new ways to measure and assess progress. This call has been subsequently echoed through activities that range from local to global in scale. In response, significant efforts to assess performance have been made by corporations, non-government organizations, academics, communities, nations and international organizations.

IISD received support from the Rockefeller Foundation to bring together an international group of measurement practitioners and researchers to review progress and to synthesize insights from practical ongoing efforts. Overarching principles were sought that would provide a link between theory and practice. The principles, as outlined in "Assessing Sustainable Development: Principles in Practice (PDF - 1.2 mb)," serve as practical guidelines for the whole assessment process.

These principles deal with four aspects of assessing progress toward sustainable development. Principle 1 deals with the starting point of any assessment—establishing a vision of sustainable development and clear goals that provide a practical definition of that vision in terms that are meaningful for the decision-maker. Principles 2 through 5 deal with the content of any assessment and the need to merge a sense of the overall system with a practical focus on current priority issues. Principles 6 through 8 deal with key issues of the process of assessment, while Principles 9 and 10 focus on the necessity for establishing a continuing capacity for assessment.

For more information please contact IISD Senior Fellow, Peter Hardi.