Sustainability Assessment as an Interdisciplinary Approach to Improve Policy-Making: Experience from Benin and Belgium

Sustainability assessment is an innovative ex ante assessment process that aims at integrating sustainability principles at various decision-making levels by identifying the potential impacts of a policy proposal before its implementation. The current global environmental challenges demand creative policy solutions in order to steer human societies towards a more sustainable future. Sustainability assessment has its role to play in this respect, although it can take up many different functions, depending on the expectations of the involved stakeholders, the commitments of the policy-makers and the institutional setting. The actual impact of an assessment exercise ranges from small modifications of the original policy proposal to important secondary effects such as attitude shifts among decision-makers and radical changes in the way policy is designed and implemented. The discussion of two case studies, one on the 'greening' of the Benin Poverty Reduction Strategy and one on the introduction of a sustainability assessment framework in Belgium, illustrates the varied interpretations of sustainability assessment. Nevertheless, sustainability assessment exercises typically show a number of shared characteristics such as a succession of working phases, an emphasis on participation and an overall objective to improve the quality of policy. Whether strictly codified or realised through a flexible and adaptable process, sustainability assessment exercises have the potential to significantly improve policy quality, to strengthen democratic participation and to contribute to a transition towards a sustainable society.