Sustainable development and its assessment

Abstract

The relevance and the main problem. In the scientific literature, sustainable development has been analyzed in different qualitative aspects, such as economic, social, ecologic, institutional, ethical, political, etc. Comprehensive progress of society could be reached only by coordination of goals of economic effectiveness, social justice, and environmental protection. Therefore, the idea of sustainable development is an integral part of a successful society’s development. The variety of the applied research techniques further confirms the problematic nature of the concept of sustainable development and its assessment. In order to formulate reasonable objectives of sustainable development, to schedule effective means of their implementation, and to guarantee their realisation, clear criteria (indicators) of sustainable development are necessary. But still there is a lack of qualitative methodology of sustainability assessment, applicable in economic research. [...]