How to measure the sustainability of an area? The SPIn-Eco project and the sustainability of the Province of Siena

摘要

The SPIn-Eco project has been proposed and funded with the aim of studying the Province of Siena (Italy) and the Communes in which it is divided from the viewpoint of sustainable development. Several sustainability indicators, especially originating from holistic approaches, are used. These indicators point out the weak and strong points for the territory with respect to sustainability and the results will be offered to the policy makers as tools for planning. Indicators which will be used are the result of the following methodologies: 1. Ecological Footprint 2. Exergy analysis 3. Emergy evaluation 4. Natural capital and ecosystems services accounting 5. Greenhouse gases balance 6. Remote sensing data analysis 7. Life Cycle Assessment Some of these approaches will be used at a "micro" scale (production systems), some at a "macro" scale (territorial level), some at both scales or for the integration of scales. Production systems to be analyzed are those of greatest importance for the province (agriculture―especially wine production, crystal production and the impact of tourism). The results will be summarized in sustainability maps which will point out the distribution of sustainabilityevels whthin the province(from different perspectives). These analyses will be included as a basis of a procedure of certification ISO14001, EMAS2 and, for some subsystems, ISO14040.