Sustainability assessments designed for multiple functions: five cases about water resources, nanotechnologies and communities

Sustainability assessments can play several critical roles in initiatives that support real-world problem solving and system transformations towards sustainability (Wiek et al., 2012; Miller et al., 2014). Various approaches to sustainability assessment emphasize different functions and associated procedures (e.g., Devuyst, 1999; Pope, Annandale and Morrison-Saunders, 2004; Gibson, 2006a; Weaver and Rotmans, 2006; Ness et al., 2007). Most often, the products of sustainability assessments act as normative reference points for planning, decision making and actions. They provide guidance on what to address (problem), what to achieve (vision), what the distance to target is and/or what the best course of action (set of interventions) is.