The Goal

Sustainable development has become an overall policy objective in the European Union. The objective of MATISSE is therefore to achieve a step-wise advance in the science and application of Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA) of EU policies. In order to reach this objective the core activity of the MATISSE project is to improve the tool kit available for conducting Integrated Sustainability Assessments.

The resulting improved tools portfolio will form the primary deliverable of the project. A major focus will be on developing ISA-modelling tools in relation to ISA-participatory methods. These, primarily quantitative, ISA-tools will be made suitable for use by the European Commission and other actors in the governance hierarchy that seek to apply ISA in a wide range of contexts. A comprehensive dissemination programme will ensure the optimal take-up of these deliverables across Europe with a special emphasis on the new EU member countries. The dissemination programme will be underpinned by the creation of a web-based portal to disseminate the improved tools portfolio, and to provide a contact service for ISA practitioners and stakeholders. The development of these primary deliverables will be made possible by: utilizing (from the Sustainability A-Test project) a systemic inventory of current tools and methods for ISA; and by anchoring sustainability assessment within a rigorous scientific and theoretical context through the development of a conceptual framework for ISA. The improved tools portfolio will be evaluated and improved through application to a set of European case studies selected in order to deliver case-specific sustainability assessments useful to policy makers and other stakeholders. MATISSE aims to contribute to the longer-term development of ISA as a generic, strategic, multipurpose approach to the integrated analysis and assessment of sustainability strategies and policies.

In sum, the MATISSE-approach forms a cyclical and iterative process, in which learning, interaction and feedback are crucial elements. Past learning experiences form the basis for the improved tools portfolio. Results from the case studies form the input for the further development of existing and new ISA-tools. These are then used in the case studies, which in their turn feed back into the development of ISA-tools and methods.

 

What is Integrated Sustainability Assessment?

Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA) is a process rather than a product.

ISA is based on the following principles:

• the dynamics of sustainable development are at different scales in time, space and function;
• there are significant trade-offs between the social-cultural, economic and ecological domains; and
• the interaction of both collective and individual agents influence the system in question.

The methods used to work with this set of ISA principles are a combination of an analytical approach in the form of an integrated systems analysis, and a process approach in the form of a participatory process involving relevant stakeholders. In process terms we can define ISA as a cyclical, iterative and participatory process based on four stages:

• scoping,
• envisioning,
• experimenting, and
• learning

A shared interpretation of sustainability for a specific context is developed among researchers and stakeholders. This interpretation is applied in an integrated manner, in order to explore solutions to persistent problems of unsustainable development.