The paper starts with a review of the approaches used to establish reference levels for indicators followed by a discussion on the role of institutions in setting reference levels via legislation as well as societal pressure. The paper provides illustrations from selected tools on the possibility of interactive visualizations of indicators of sustainability. It concludes with a discussion on (a) how additional flexibility can be introduced by allowing users to define weighting factors in so-called composite indicators of sustainability (where economic, social and environmental dimensions are integrated into an index-number) with a cautionary note on the statistical limitations of permitting different weights within a composite index and (b) the applicability of such frameworks to situations outside of Europe for example in sustainability studies in developing countries (www.lupis.eu).