What Are Sustainability Indicators Really For? Reflections from a Research Trajectory in Conversation with Jan Bebbington
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1982-6486.rco.2025.246912Keywords:
sustainability indicators, sustainability reporting,, accounting for sustainabilityAbstract
The article presents a reflection grounded in the author’s research trajectory in the field of sustainability, particularly concerning the use and interpretation of indicators, and informed by insights emerging from a dialogue with Professor Jan Bebbington. Rather than offering definitive answers, the text explores how sustainability indicators are mobilized, translated, and reinterpreted across different organizational and institutional contexts, highlighting their limitations, ambiguities, and potential in supporting governance and accountability. The reflection emphasizes that indicators do not function as neutral representations of reality, but as socially constructed tools embedded in dynamics of power, knowledge, and decision-making. Situated within the field of social and environmental accounting, the article advances a research agenda that values more reflexive approaches, capable of bridging theory and practice and contributing to a more critical and informed use of indicators in the pursuit of sustainable trajectories. In doing so, the article is intended not only as a reflection, but as an invitation—seeking to inspire new lines of inquiry, encourage dialogue within the field, and stimulate further research on the roles, uses, and implications of sustainability indicators.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Hans Michael Van Bellen
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