Development of Indicators and Benchmarks of Sustainability for a Standardized Municipal Sustainability Index

Municipal sustainability in Canada has been gaining importance in recent years. In order to ensure real progress is made, sustainability assessment must be conducted. Indicators are the recommended measures for sustainability assessment. This research project will create a core set of indicators for use in a sustainable cities index. A set of sustainable best practices will also be compiled to assist in developing benchmarks for use in ranking of sustainable cities. These objectives will be completed by conducting both academic and practitioner literature reviews and a comparison of the two. Further depth will be gained through selected interviews with relevant city officials and/or staff. The research gained through this project will benefit the private sector (MMM Group) by providing the indicator and benchmark bases for their ‘successful cities audit.’if"

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Amelia Clarke

Student:

Allan Taylor

Partner:

MMM Group

Discipline:

Environmental sciences

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

University of Waterloo