naa a22 4500 510806449 CHVBK 20180411083420.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11625-012-0184-2 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11625-012-0184-2 A discourse-analytical perspective on sustainability assessment: interpreting sustainable development in practice [Elektronische Daten] [Jean Hugé, Tom Waas, Farid Dahdouh-Guebas, Nico Koedam, Thomas Block] Sustainable development is a ubiquitously used concept in public decision-making: it refers to an ideal vision of global society where human development and environmental quality go hand in hand. Logically, any decision-supporting process aiming at facilitating and steering society toward a sustainable future then seems desirable. Assessing the sustainability of policy decisions is, however, influenced by what sustainable development is believed to entail, as different discourses coexist under the umbrella of the sustainable development meta-discourse. This paper proposes a typology of sustainable development discourses, and, subsequently, applies a discourse-analytical lens on two practical cases of sustainability assessment in different institutional and geographical contexts (in Belgium and in Benin). The results indicate that sustainability assessments tend to be influenced mainly by the consensual ‘sustainable development as integration' discourse, while also providing a forum for dialogue between different discourses. The results shed light on context-specific discursive and institutional dynamics for the development and application of sustainability assessment. Acknowledging these dynamics as well as sustainable development's inherent interpretational limits can lead to an improved use of sustainable development as a decision-guiding strategy. Springer, 2012 Sustainable development nationallicence Discourse analysis nationallicence Sustainability assessment nationallicence Belgium nationallicence Benin nationallicence Hugé Jean Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut Waas Tom Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut Dahdouh-Guebas Farid Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut Koedam Nico Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut Block Thomas Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Poel 16, 9000, Ghent, Belgium aut Sustainability Science Springer Japan 8/2(2013-04-01), 187-198 1862-4065 8:2<187 2013 8 11625 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0184-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0184-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hugé Jean Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Waas Tom Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dahdouh-Guebas Farid Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Koedam Nico Laboratory of Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Block Thomas Centre for Sustainable Development, Ghent University, Poel 16, 9000, Ghent, Belgium aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Sustainability Science Springer Japan 8/2(2013-04-01), 187-198 1862-4065 8:2<187 2013 8 11625 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer