CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Davis de Andrade Lessa, Jefferson |
|---|---|
| Title | Goal systems: An exploration of links between voluntary sustainability standards in agriculture and public sustainable development goals |
| Summary | This exploratory and qualitative research aims to add the theoretical framework of Goal Systems and Transition Management to the current discussion about the impact of agricultural voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), discussing both conceptual and practical possibilities and challenges in using sustainability goal systems as conceptual and practical tools to assist these VSS schemes in better understanding, assessing and strengthening their impacts on the environment and human well-being and in demonstrating their effectiveness in bringing about changes that support progress towards higher-level sustainable development goals (SDGs). Drawing upon the agricultural VSS community’s perspective, the findings indicate that it would be possible for agricultural VSS systems to establish and integrate a more explicit goal system into their management and governance architectures. There are three main ways in which VSS are currently using elements of a goal system: through existing VSS verification processes; via implementation of the theory of change (TOC); and through use of comprehensive impact MRV systems. Agricultural VSS could seek alignment with SDGs through the establishment of goal systems, allowing them to contribute to and build on SDGs) and be a potential means of implementation of these higher-level sustainability goals. This work develops and improves a conceptual framework for VSS goal systems that proves to be very useful to understand how agricultural VSS can go about setting an explicit system of sustainability goals, as well as how these VSS can use goal systems to realize their potential as a vehicle for the implementation of sustainable development goals. |
| Supervisor | Pinter, Laszlo |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/lessa_jefferson.pdf |
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