Resource flows and land use in Austria 1950-2000: using the MEFA framework to monitor society-nature interaction for sustainability [An article from: Land Use Policy]

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Description:
This paper presents the 'MEFA toolbox', which is designed to measure society-nature interaction. MEFA stands for 'material and energy flow accounting' and refers to a set of quantitative methods to trace the materials and energy throughput of societies in a way that can be readily linked to established socio-economic data sets on a national and sub-national level. Within the MEFA framework, accounts of socio-economic material and energy stocks and flows can be linked to land use and its impact on material and energy stocks and flows in terrestrial ecosystems. Using Austria 1950-2000 as an empirical example, we demonstrate how MEFA tools can be used to assess the correlation of physical and monetary growth, and we discuss how changes in socio-economic metabolism and land use are related. We also outline some possible future research directions.