Validating sustainability indicators: focus on ecological aspects of Flemish dairy farms

Abstract Although many indicator-based sustainability monitoring tools for agriculture have been developed in the last decade, considerably less effort has been put on their validation. In the present study, we developed and applied a procedure to validate (i) MOTIFS (Monitoring Tool for Integrated Farm Sustainability), an indicator-based monitoring tool for integrated farm sustainability of Flemish dairy farms and (ii) a selection of ecological indicators (included in MOTIFS), related to nutrient use, energy use, water use and water quality. The procedure considers two steps. The first step is an accuracy evaluation, which consists of a design validation related to the scientific quality of MOTIFS and its selected indicators, and an output validation that is an evaluation of the information supplied by their output. For both validation types, we applied a transdisciplinary approach of stakeholder participation. The second step is a credibility evaluation, which relates to the degree of confidence potential end-users have in MOTIFS and hence their willingness to effectively use it in practice. This involves an end-use validation, for which we designed a test to evaluate (i) the end-use value of the selected indicators as decision aid tools, (ii) the end-use value of MOTIFS as a decision aid tool and communication tool and (iii) the willingness of potential end-users to use MOTIFS in practice. We considered two potential end-user groups: Flemish dairy farmers and ‘sustainability consultants’ (e.g. agricultural advisors assigned by farmer's organisations). Based on the validation results, we made suggestions to improve the tool and its effective application in practice. We concluded that MOTIFS is a potentially effective sustainability monitoring and management tool, since it has major assets that should be incorporated in any indicator-based system: positioning, informing, learning and communicating.