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Review
. 2021 Jun:29:100546.
doi: 10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100546.

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Aniek Hebinck  1   2 , Monika Zurek  1 , Thom Achterbosch  3 , Björn Forkman  4 , Anneleen Kuijsten  5 , Marijke Kuiper  3 , Birgit Nørrung  4 , Pieter van 't Veer  5 , Adrian Leip  6
Affiliations
Review

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Aniek Hebinck et al. Glob Food Sec. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Growing acknowledgement that food systems require transformation, demands comprehensive sustainability assessments that can support decision-making and sustainability governance. To do so, assessment frameworks must be able to make trade-offs and synergies visible and allow for inclusive negotiation on food system outcomes relevant to diverse food system actors. This paper reviews literature and frameworks and builds on stakeholder input to present a Sustainability Compass made up of a comprehensive set of metrics for food system assessments. The Compass defines sustainability scores for four societal goals, underpinned by areas of concern. We demonstrate proof of concept of the operationalization of the approach and its metrics. The Sustainability Compass is able to generate comprehensive food system insights that enables reflexive evaluation and multi-actor negotiation for policy making.

Keywords: Food governance; Food system metrics; Healthy and sustainable diets; Societal goals; Sustainable food systems; Trade-offs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The operationalization of the Sustainability Compass through a hierarchical approach to calculate the sustainability scores.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The Sustainability Compass.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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