Unlocking a sterile sustainability? Some considerations in the process of selecting indicators for a territorial diagnosis

Abstract

When sustainability emerged as the consensus by antonomasia to modify governmental agendas, several voices that encouraged the use of new metrics for the territorial diagnostic, were raised. However, many of them, promoted by governmental entities, often seems to continue with the operationalization of the definition of sustainability with focus on the overcome of material aspects, which has meant an incessant struggle only “against to the poverty”. Otherwise, if sustainability underlies only the idea of combating poverty, how can we differentiate it from the one that needs to restrict domestic and industrial consumption? This article undertakes a discussion around system of indicators and how they are fundamental to translate sustainability into a territorial diagnosis that reveals an “environmental space”, challenging to rethink priorities that promote optimal decision making at different scales.