Evaluation of indicators sets using a polyocular perspective on agroecosystems.

The sustainability of many agroecosystems is under severe pressure due to the intensive application of uniform management practices, which pose a significant threat by causing degradation of the natural resource base and by reducing the socio-economic viability of rural areas. The process of increasing intensity and uniformity is catalyzed by social and economical drivers, such as urbanization and global market forces. In contrast, the beneficial impacts of the multifunctional character of many agroecosystems that simultaneously address economic, environmental and social objectives are undervalued and underutilized. Indicators are commonly the first, most basic, tools for analyzing the status of social-ecological systems and changes therein. Indicators provide important data for assessment of system performance and for decision-making processes. By presenting several data in one number that commonly is simpler to interpret than complex statistics, they can facilitate communication between stakeholders, for example between experts and non-experts, as well as farmers, scientists, technicians and policymakers. Thus, indicators are suitable to quantify the sustainability of farming systems (FSs), and can support design and implementation in the process of building sustainable FSs. The objectives of this paper are to present a conceptual approach to systematically evaluate sets of indicators identified for evaluation of the sustainability of farming systems (FS) and discuss its possible application by analyzing and evaluating two indicator frameworks used for FS analysis (MESMIS and AESIS). The formulation and functioning of the indicator frameworks will be related to their use in case-studies in Uruguay and Italy. The presented approach was devised with the specific aim of combining the need for a holistic approach, addressing the multiple dimensions and hierarchical levels of agroecosystems (to allow for detection of missing information), with the need of stimulating direct involvement of stakeholders in the case-studies.