Why sustainability assessment? -- The changing theory of impact assessment -- Challenges in determining the effectiveness of sustainability assessment -- Contested time horizons -- Contested spatiality: geographical scale in sustainability assessment -- Legal pluralism: notions of standing and legal process constraining assessment -- Pluralism in practice -- Framwork for comparing and evaluating sustainability assessment practice -- Sustainability assessment in England -- Leaning by doing: sustainability assessment in Western Australia -- Sustainability assessment in Canada -- Sustainability assessment in South Africa -- Better engagement -- Better learning -- Designing an effective sustainability assessment process -- Integrating sustainability assessment into planning: benefits and challenges

1. Sustainability
2. Sustainable development
3. Environmental impact analysis