Conclusions
The data sources can definitely be improved and the main constants introduced into the calculations need to be gradually revised21. Even so, we cannot expect this environmental indicator to solve all the problems that need to be solved to bring about the transformation and changes towards becoming a more sustainable society. The Ecological Footprint is an excellent tool in helping us to change the perspective in which we view development and stimulating us to find solutions that will tailor our economic and social growth to be appropriate to the Earth’s capacity to support them. What we hope is that this Ecological Footprint study will inspire consistent long term planning that goes beyond the bounds of public administration and that it will be maintained and continued regardless of which government is in power. We are fully aware too that this is not the kind of work that can be done from one day to another. It is essentially long-term work and there are many stages to be gone through. Nevertheless, it must be begun immediately and to that end it is important to verify what the numbers that are set out in this x-ray reveal, analyse the most critical points and implement an action plan in harmony and agreement with all the partners, so that when the next measurement of Campo Grande’s impacts is made, they will have diminished and the city will have become more sustainable, offering a better quality of life to its inhabitants.
21 Kitzes, J.,Galli, A., Bagliani, M., Barrett, J., Dige, G., Ede, S., Erb, K-H., Giljum, S., Haberl, H., Hails, C., Jungwirth, S., Lenzen, M., Lewis, K., Loh, J., Marchettini, N., Messinger, H., Milne, K., Moles, R., Monfreda, C., Moran, D., Nakano, K., Pyhälä, A., Rees, W., Simmons, C., Wackernagel, M., Wada, Y., Walsh, C., Wiedmann, T. (2009). A research agenda for improving national ecological footprint accounts. Ecological Economics 68(7), 1991-2007.
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