As a community, now and in the future, we face many difficult decisions. Indicators are bits of information that reflect the status of large systems. For example, the Dow Jones Industrial average is an indicator of the health of the stock market. It doesn't measure every stock, but it does measure a representative sample. Trends that sample closely match trends in the stock market as a whole.
Indicators are like the gauges and dials of an aircraft's instrument panel.
By designing them carefully, watching them closely, and interpreting them wisely, we know the status of our flight and can make good decisions about where to go. Good indicators are bellwether tests of sustainability, and reflect something basic and fundamental to the long term economic, social, or environmental health of a community over generations. Good indicators can be understood and accepted by the community as a valid sign of sustainability or symptom of distress. Good indicators have interest and appeal for use by local media in monitoring, reporting and analyzing general trends toward or away from sustainable community practices. They have long been useful in science, economics, public policy, health, and many other areas as a feedback mechanism to tell us how we are doing.