Sustainability and regions: sustainability assessment in regional perspective

Currently there is no universal sustainability assessment methodology, which would be applicable by policy-makers for identification of regional development paths, policies' effectiveness and potential changes to sustainable development of regions. This paper reviews the best practices for sustainability assessment and identifies the needs of regional systems. Further, we propose the concept of regional sustainability assessment methodology (RSAM). It includes natural, social and economic capital transfer accounting through extended input-output tables and cyclicity analyses. RSAM reflects static and dynamic qualities of regional system for the assessment of development paths and policies effectiveness. Further methodological development of concept findings is needed.