Abstract
We develop an assessment framework for monitoring the impact of land use policy changes on production, environmental, and socio-economic outcomes in the Republic of Ireland. The framework uses a three-tier system of indicators, organized by the level at which they summarize data. Tier I reports a modified Genuine Progress Indicator, tailored to Ireland’s needs. Tier II reports domain summary indicators over environmental, socio-economic, and production spheres plus metrics on contributions to planetary boundary issues. Tier III metrics are then a granular set of indicators chosen via an ‘expert vote’ approach using their frequency of inclusion in diverse datasets. The indicators are drawn from a multidisciplinary review of sources including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on Biological Diversity targets. Following the selection of preferred indicators, we survey their current collection in Ireland. When not currently collected at a sufficiently disaggregated scale that we can link their variation to land use policy differences, we estimate the costs associated with enhancing data collection. This has involved interviews with subject matter experts at national agencies and survey firms. We then report baseline statistics across our chosen indicators at the scales currently available including as recent percentage changes in the indicators with land use policy changes where possible. Our research highlights how the framework can help align land use policies with broader objectives to support Ireland’s efforts to meet biodiversity, social and sustainability targets.
Presenters
Zachary TurkSenior Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Economics, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Economic, Social, and Cultural Context
KEYWORDS
Land use, Environmental, Socio-economic, Indicators, Ireland, Policy, Monitoring
