Sustainability Assessment in Wine-Grape Growing in the New World: Economic, Environmental, and Social Indicators for Agricultural Businesses

Irina Santiago-Brown, Andrew Metcalfe, Cate Jerram and Cassandra Collins
Additional contact information
Irina Santiago-Brown: Inkwell Wines and Consulting, P.O. Box 404, McLaren Vale SA 5171, Australia
Andrew Metcalfe: School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, 6.43 Ingkarni Wardli, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia
Cate Jerram: Adelaide Business School, University of Adelaide, 09.03 Nexus 10, Adelaide SA 5064, Australia
Cassandra Collins: Inkwell Wines and Consulting, P.O. Box 404, McLaren Vale SA 5171, Australia

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 7, 1-27

Abstract: Indicators have been used in many sustainability assessment methods, however, disagreements over a common definition and scope for the sustainability concept have led to many distinct assessment methods, which are not often directly comparable. Before developing a sustainability assessment, it is essential to: define sustainability and specify the viewpoint of the assessor, the purpose of the assessment, and the context and time frame of the assessment. This article presents a short list of indicators and a method that can be readily adopted by any agricultural business or region to assess sustainability, making any organization, region or crop qualitatively comparable. These indicators were proposed by 83 top-level executives in 14 group interviews conducted using our adapted nominal group technique (ANGT). Executives were sourced from wine-grape growing organisations from New World wine-producing countries that also owned vineyards, and they considered everyday management practices of farms. These indicators, grouped within three categories (economic, environmental, and social) were ranked by their importance. The method defines qualitative indicators that, in the context of distinct wine regions or crops should be quantified to maintain their relevance and usefulness.

Keywords: indicator; sustainability; agriculture; wine grape; assessment; adapted nominal group technique; rank; evaluation; viticulture; triple bottom line (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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