Introduction In 1987, the need to strive towards development aimed at making it possible to satisfy the present needs without compromising the needs of future generations is generally acknowledged. The Rio Earth Summit in 1992 propagated Agenda 211, which is composed of principles to reconcile environmental protection, economic development and social equity. More then 150 countries committed to undertaking concrete actions and measures. The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 strove to address the obstacle and further priorities for implementation of Agenda 21: from an often vague definition of the objectives to an irregular control of activities and to the lack of final evaluation, several reasons explain why Agenda 21 has partly failed to achieve the expected goals so far. To improve these processes as well as to ensure their continuation, local authorities must be able to achieve actions of high quality in terms of sustainability, and develop the capacity to assess and evaluate efficiently the different projects. This currently remains difficult. How does one measure progress toward sustainable development? The general aim of this dissertation is to identify the key aspects in the sustainability field in order to set up an integrated method, which will help local actors to plan, monitor, assess and communicate the results of their actions in an easy and efficient way. The developed sustainability assessment procedure will meet the requirements of a comparative approach such as Life Cycle Assessment. This thesis aims at exploring ways to study consistently the three sustainability fields simultaneously, with a focus on the Swiss and regional context of the Vaud county. It has therefore a strong interdisciplinary character and an exploratory nature. Special care is put on the coherence between the used methodologies, the details of each methodology being not at the center of this work. The more detailed objectives of this thesis are to determine the essential steps for action assessment and specifically: To develop an assessment framework, which will help to consider all the sustainability aspects relevant to action evaluation (chapter 2). To define, on the basis of the assessment framework, a step-by-step procedure including a visualization and communication method for presenting the results (chapter 3). To set up a toolbox with compatible quantification and/or qualification methodology for the different sustainability fields (chapter 3 and 4). To study the appropriateness of the Input-Output approach for Swiss local assessment of Agenda 21 project, quantifying environmental, economic and social impacts in a consistent way (chapter 4). To apply the methodology described above to real case studies meeting the needs of local authorities (chapter 5). To achieve this, an interdisciplinary project called "Priority 21" was launched in 2000 involving two EPFL Laboratories: the GECOS (Ecosystem Management Lab) and the LASU
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Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental impact assessment" is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies and the term "strategic environmental assessment" (SEA) applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of state.
The Sustainable Development Goals or Global Goals are a collection of seventeen interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future." The SDGs are no poverty; zero hunger; good health and well-being; quality education; gender equality; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequalities; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; life below water; life on land; peace, justice, and strong institutions; and partnerships for the goals.
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