How can Ecological Footprinting contribute to Performance Management and relate to government indicator sets?
The Ecological Footprint can help provide evidence and context for performance management (Best Value, Corporate Performance Assessment, Local Area Agreements, Public Service Agreements, etc.) and directly supports and can supplement the Quality of Life Indicators.
This is because it offers an overall picture of progress in a way that is both practical and easy to understand. It also covers consumption and reflects environmental limits, as well as the local to global aspect of sustainable development that current indicators do not adequately address.
The Audit Commission in England has recognised the potential value of the Footprint as an indicator that can help to provide the ‘big picture’ on sustainable development and it is covered in their recent Quality of Life publication launched in August 2005. The report recognises that individual indicators cannot always provide the ‘big picture’ or reflect cross-cutting issues adequately and it makes reference to Ecological Footprinting as an aggregate indicator that can help provide this perspective.