Indicators of sustainability need to look at all three dimensions - environment, society and economy. An important aspect of developing these indicators at the local level is that they need to be defined, developed and used by the community. The community must be stewards of the indicators and the indicators need to be determined through a democratic process. Need for baseline information. Evaluation of environmental change requires baseline information to measure against.
Baselines allow measurements of significant change in a selected attribute.
In that sense, baselines form part of the set of environmental indicators. They can show change over time or the difference between different areas at a particular time. If key species recover, the collective environment must be doing better. Physical indicators such as water clarity, degree of air pollution, complaints of noise pollution, etc. Health indicators, such as numbers of people smoking, potable water availability, use of exercise facilities such as running or bicycle paths, availability of organic foods, etc.