General Effectiveness
1. Is the indicator relevant to the community; does it show you something about the community you need to know?
2. Is the indicator easy to understand, even by people who are not experts?
3. Does the indicator have a good chance to be reliable and be perceived as reliable; could you trust the information provided? for example, if it comes from people in the community?
4. Does the indicator address what people is this community really want to see?
5. Could or would the indicator give you information while there is still time to act?

   Effectiveness as a Measure of Sustainability

6. Does the indicator appropriately address the sustainable use of natural resources (that come from within or outside of the community) - for example, by reflecting the proportion of renewable to non-renewable resources used (as in recycled content measures), or by relating the rate of use to the rate of replenishment? (for example, rate of timber harvested vs. rate of wood lot regrowth)
7. Does the indicator relate ecosystem services to their rate of replenishment? (for example, water use vs. acquifer recharge rate) or to the conditions on which they depend to continue? (for example, healthy sun bathing and stratospheric ozone, breathable outdoor air and ground level ozone)
8. Does the indicator show conditions under which the natural beauty of the area can continue and be appreciated by the community?
9. Does the indicator show the rate of replenishment of the community’s human capital - the skills, education, health, and natural abilities of the people in the community?
10. Does the indicator address the conditions of cooperation, working together, or positive or constructive association between people in the community (social capital), such as family relations, friendship, neighborliness, socializing, business, and governance.
11. Does the indicator show the community’s ability with existing resources to maintain and enhance its infrastructure, such as buildings, parks, playgrounds, support systems, and financial capabilities?
12. Can the community at large understand the indicator and use it in decision making?
13. Does the indicator provide a long term view of the community?
14. Does the indicator measure diversity - economic, social, or biological?
15. Does the indicator measure equity - between existing social groups or between present and future generations?
16. Does the indicator show links among the economy, environment, and social systems or people? (Up to 3 points here, one for each link.)
17. Does the indicator focus on local sustainability at the expense of global sustainability? If the answer is “Yes,” then the indicator is automatically disqualified. It is not an indicator of sustainability!
18. Other criteria:

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