The aim of the Fist International Conference on Sustainability Measurement and Modelling ICSMM 2006, is to be the launch of an interacting and open forum for organizations, institutions, and experts interested in discussion, confrontation and networking on sustainable development measurement, modelling and evaluation issues

The conference topics are organized in order to gather together all those works, studies, projects and experiences related to Sustainability Measurement and Modelling, especially on the following areas:

Sustainability: systemic and complexity -SC-
This topic aims to analyze the sustainability concept from the point of view of complex systems and its survival. The importance of this analysis determines how to measure and/or model sustainability itself.

Information Analysis and Treatment -IA-
This topic aims to cover the previous step before any calculation and/or modelling exercise. Data give us the characterization of the attributes of elements contained in any system. It defines all elements and describes particular features of the system we are going to model. This area covers from the selection of appropriate data, up to the treatment of information entailed within information sets, namely, indicators and twilight indicators.

Indicators and Benchmarking. Agenda 21 -IB-
Initiatives carried out among the sustainability measuring community. Our interest focus is to explore issues related to computing different indicators and data collection methodologies, to Agenda 21 and to other existing ideas on how to weight and aggregate indicators, to build combined and aggregated indexes.

Sustainability Modelling. -SM-
This topic attempts to collect the various studies and experiences in modelling practices. All those whose main objective has been the complex description of the human-environment system interactions with the aim of acknowledging lessons learned in finding more and better ways towards sustainability.

Sustainability Evaluation -SE-
This particular area intends to cover all pertinent methodologies and tools related to the evaluation of the processes towards sustainable development achievement. Governments, non governmental institution, international organizations, and communities demand further means to evaluate; programs, policies and actions relevant to Sustainability issues as well as means to monitor and follow up their achievements and progress.