One huge challenge facing our ability to embark on more socially and ecologically-sustainable pathways is presented by the metrics through which governments measure “progress.” What are alternative ways to measure progress, do we even need to think in terms of “progress,” and what institutional changes are needed to change the ways we measure progress or change?

Measures such as GDP and even HDI have been critiqued in the social sciences for being inadequate in multiple ways. We thus need some better metrics that recognize the deep inter-linkages between social and ecological systems. Importantly, we also need accompanying political changes to change the way the world understands progress. Obstacles include a dazzling array of different measures of “sustainable development,” an equal number of critiques of these measures, and a dearth of research on how exactly we get from point A (our current political systems, focused on GDP, growth, etc) to point B (a new political system that uses better metrics).