• Bellagio Principles
   
  
• Hart Indicator Checklist
   
  
• Waitikere City Smart Indicators
   
  
• Hamilton-Wentworth Indicator Grades

• Communities, groups and individuals have developed a number of different methods to evaluate indicators
   
  
• You can use these methods as examples
   
  
• Modify these examples to develop criteria that work for your community

We have already used the Hart Indicator Checklist.

Another set of criteria for evaluating indicators is the Bellagio Principles. These were developed by an international group of measurement practitioners and researchers:

"These principles deal with four aspects of assessing progress toward sustainable development. Principle 1 deals with the starting point of any assessment--establishing a vision of sustainable development and clear goals that provide a practical definition of that vision in terms that are meaningful for the decision-making unit in question. Principles 2 through 5 deal with the content of any assessment and the need to merge a sense of the overall system with a practical focus on current priority issues. Principles 6 through 8 deal with key issues of the process of assessment, while Principles 9 and 10 deal with the necessity for establishing a continuing capacity for assessment."

The full text for the Bellagio Principles is available on the web site of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Other communities have developed their own methods for evaluating the indicators they have developed. Additional information on contacting these organizations can be found on the Resources page of Maureen Hart's Indicators of Sustainability web site.