Modelling and Measurement

The vital role of measurement and modelling for the evaluation of progress in achieving policy aims and targets has received greater recognition in recent years. SRI focuses on the design and development of models for resource and sustainability accounting, and in the collection and assessment of data required to underpin these models. Recent work has focused on:

Material Flow Analysis (MFA)
MFA can be used to measure resource flows through countries, regions and industries. An economy-wide MFA provides a comprehensive description of the material flows between the environment and the economy as well as within the economy (production and consumption). The MFA provides an aggregated overview in tonnes of annual material inputs and outputs of an economy, including inputs from the national environment, outputs to the environment and the physical amounts of imports and exports. A number of indicators can be derived from an economy-wide MFA which describe the material productivity and resource intensity of an economy.

Input-Output Analysis (I-O)
I-O is widely used in economic modelling to analyse and estimate monetary flows between sectors. Environmentally extended I-O analysis is an established approach that can be used to assign intermediate resource flows to final demand. The analysis is carried out by extending a monetary input-output table (MIOT) to show the physical flow of resources into the economy, within the economy and from the economy to the environment in a condensed way. Unlike economy-wide MFA, they elaborate the flows of products within the economy and allow for estimation of the physical amount of natural resource inputs required to produce one physical amount of product. They can provide the link between production and consumption and assign responsibilities for environmental impacts to categories of demand such as households, exports and Government.


Home Strategic Vision Key Themes Tools and Techniques Modelling and Measurement Ecological and Carbon Accounting Stakeholder Analysis Decision Support Scenario Building Research Northern Visions Northern Limits Island Limits Northern Limits II Updates and Downloads People and Contacts Advisory Group Search	Modelling and Measurement The vital role of measurement and modelling for the evaluation of progress in achieving policy aims and targets has received greater recognition in recent years. SRI focuses on the design and development of models for resource and sustainability accounting, and in the collection and assessment of data required to underpin these models. Recent work has focused on: Material Flow Analysis (MFA) MFA can be used to measure resource flows through countries, regions and industries. An economy-wide MFA provides a comprehensive description of the material flows between the environment and the economy as well as within the economy (production and consumption). The MFA provides an aggregated overview in tonnes of annual material inputs and outputs of an economy, including inputs from the national environment, outputs to the environment and the physical amounts of imports and exports. A number of indicators can be derived from an economy-wide MFA which describe the material productivity and resource intensity of an economy. Input-Output Analysis (I-O) I-O is widely used in economic modelling to analyse and estimate monetary flows between sectors. Environmentally extended I-O analysis is an established approach that can be used to assign intermediate resource flows to final demand. The analysis is carried out by extending a monetary input-output table (MIOT) to show the physical flow of resources into the economy, within the economy and from the economy to the environment in a condensed way. Unlike economy-wide MFA, they elaborate the flows of products within the economy and allow for estimation of the physical amount of natural resource inputs required to produce one physical amount of product. They can provide the link between production and consumption and assign responsibilities for environmental impacts to categories of demand such as households, exports and Government.
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