The SDG agenda is broader and goes further than that of the MDGs, which poses challenges in terms of designing an effective and inclusive indicator framework. In our recent Lancet comment Measuring the SDGs: a two-track solution (Davis et al., 2015), we argue that a solution that could break a potential deadlock is a two-track approach, which would involve separate lists of indicators at the political and technical levels.
What would be other options for an efficient SDG indicator framework?
I also think we need a raft of indicators at regional level - especially for environmental variables that are relevant for only some countries (eg ocean variables are not so relevant for landlocked countries). Tracking these indicators at regional level allows a different set of accountability mechanisms to operate. Maybe 30 individual country political indicators and 300 technical indicators - then regionally 3 political indicators and 30 technical?
It is a very interesting subject to debate and deliberate. We have experienced the indicator based measurements in every strategic issue that we face in our life, business, organizations, society and polity. MDGs and their measurements have also shown results that we all know. Portfolios of indicators were used...
Being from the software engineering background, I have also experienced similar attempts being made to measure projects, TCOs, effectiveness etc... But one challenge we software engineers face is to understand "What to measure?" we also tend to agree that "Measure that is measurable" else the entire process would provide miserable consequences.
Another phenomenon is quite striking here. Would more numbers of indicators provide better results? secondly, who participates in the SDG measurements!---- politicians, administrators, academia, civil society and after all citizens (who often face challenges of divides and oblivious of the term "development"??). Lastly, we need to also settle for one prominent assumption to work on --- "Development is process oriented" --- is this correct?
If yes, all these indicators may work and hopefully.
I want to share this snippet; a publication of the Fund for sustainable development - United Nations
“What is the background of the sustainable development objectives?
The background of the objectives of sustainable development (SDG-F, for its acronym in English) is a mechanism for development cooperation created in 2014 by UNDP on behalf of the system of the United Nations, with an initial contribution from the Government of Spain, in order to promote sustainable development through joint programmes of integrated and multidimensional character. The bottom part of the experience, knowledge, lessons learned and best practices accumulated during the term of the Fund to the achievement of the objectives of the Millennium Development (2007-2013).
At the same time, it aims to expand its activities promoting sustainable development paying greater attention to alliances between the public and private sectors. Gender mainstreaming and the empowerment of women constitute cross-cutting priorities in all our areas of work. The ODS Fund seeks to act as a bridge in the transition mechanism from the MDGs to the ODS, offering concrete examples of "how" to achieve a sustainable and inclusive world beyond 2015”.
I want to share this snippet; a publication of the Fund for sustainable development - United Nations
“What is the background of the sustainable development objectives?
The background of the objectives of sustainable development (SDG-F, for its acronym in English) is a mechanism for development cooperation created in 2014 by UNDP on behalf of the system of the United Nations, with an initial contribution from the Government of Spain, in order to promote sustainable development through joint programmes of integrated and multidimensional character. The bottom part of the experience, knowledge, lessons learned and best practices accumulated during the term of the Fund to the achievement of the objectives of the Millennium Development (2007-2013).
At the same time, it aims to expand its activities promoting sustainable development paying greater attention to alliances between the public and private sectors. Gender mainstreaming and the empowerment of women constitute cross-cutting priorities in all our areas of work. The ODS Fund seeks to act as a bridge in the transition mechanism from the MDGs to the ODS, offering concrete examples of "how" to achieve a sustainable and inclusive world beyond 2015”.
Sustainability suppose to require consideration of different dimensions of the same indicators under (say for example) the MDGs. If we want to sustain the development achieved in calorie intake, certainly we would require to sustain the yield growth achieved in the agriculture sector under the efforts taken with a view point of achieving the MDGs. Then we have to look deeper into the ways to make the yield growth sustained in the coming future which might be to spend certain amount of budget (say for example in advanced seed propagation and G engineering) on certain aspects.
Two comments:
a) Once when writing my proposed theory of sustainability and indices I noticed that Agenda 21 had develped an indicator framework outside sustainabilty rules as you can not connect subsystem systainability and the general sustainabilty system and have a systematic assessing and monetoring framework. See ideas on this in:
Beyond traditional sustainable development: Stating specific and general sustainability theory and sustainability indices using ideal present-absent qualitative comparative conditions
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242130792_Beyond_traditional_sustainable_development_Stating_specific_and_general_sustainability_theory_and_sustainability_indices_using_ideal_present-absent_qualitative_comparative_conditions
b) I took the time to show how the Agenda 21 framework could be brought within sustainability rules, it was read and downloaded many times at that time, but I did not see any action, still the framework is not consistent with sustainability rules. See ideas on this in:
Linking Sustainable Development Indicators by Means of Present/Absent Sustainability Theory and Indices: The Case of Agenda 21
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281276222_Linking_Sustainable_Development_Indicators_by_Means_of_PresentAbsent_Sustainability_Theory_and_Indices_The_Case_of_Agenda_21
Article Beyond traditional sustainable development: Stating specific...
Article Linking Sustainable Development Indicators by Means of Prese...
Two comments:
a) Once when writing my proposed theory of sustainability and indices I noticed that Agenda 21 had develped an indicator framework outside sustainabilty rules as you can not connect subsystem systainability and the general sustainabilty system and have a systematic assessing and monetoring framework. See ideas on this in:
Beyond traditional sustainable development: Stating specific and general sustainability theory and sustainability indices using ideal present-absent qualitative comparative conditions
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242130792_Beyond_traditional_sustainable_development_Stating_specific_and_general_sustainability_theory_and_sustainability_indices_using_ideal_present-absent_qualitative_comparative_conditions
b) I took the time to show how the Agenda 21 framework could be brought within sustainability rules, it was read and downloaded many times at that time, but I did not see any action, still the framework is not consistent with sustainability rules. See ideas on this in:
Linking Sustainable Development Indicators by Means of Present/Absent Sustainability Theory and Indices: The Case of Agenda 21
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281276222_Linking_Sustainable_Development_Indicators_by_Means_of_PresentAbsent_Sustainability_Theory_and_Indices_The_Case_of_Agenda_21
Article Beyond traditional sustainable development: Stating specific...
Article Linking Sustainable Development Indicators by Means of Prese...
Dear Lucio,
Thank for engaging with the topic. These are interesting ideas. Why do you think we can't connect subsystem sustainability and the general sustainability system? Apologies, if I missed something in the paper.
regards,
Sylvia
Good day Sylvia... at the time I wrote the articles I noticed that the agenda 21 framework and methodology was being crticised from differennt angles as indicated in my agenda 21 paper among other things for jus being a list of indicators arranged in four groups social, economic, environmenal and institutional and linking and agregation issues.
Then I noticed that the framework and working was not consistent with sustainability rules, not surprised to me at that time, sustainable development is not susstainability. So I didided to bring attention to that fact and wrote and share the theory of true sustainability and indices and took the time to show how a sustainable development framework can be brought withing sustainability rule.
The agenda 21 framework nos haw evolved to "themes", but it is still facing the same limitations I listed in my paper at that time:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd9_indi_bp3.pdf
But having a framework is better than having nothing as improvements can be made when the time comes.
Have a nice day
while designing the SDGs indicator framework, we need to focus on the regional scale challenges and spatial heterogeneity of human wellbeing in relation to the society and ecosystem.
Moreover, the current SDGs target of zero poverty within 2030 by UN is highly challenging because of the ground zero experience of farmers in Bangladesh and India, where food production increases at a cost of investment in agriculture and technology, as well as environmental degradation. So we need to focus such type of local environmental issues which can challenge the global sustainability.
Dear Sarwar, I agree. However, the agregation issues and linking issues mentioned aparently limits the framework to fit as the level of analysis moves from local to regional to national and globally. One of my concerns with programs reaching ground zero is that if they are implemented, as they usually are, in an environment of income insecurity things have the potencial to go socially sour.: When you have time take a look at my articulo which is focused on privatization of public resources, but it may affect a lot of more the situation at ground zero:
Pointing out the expected price and cost impacts on consumers and producers from implementing water privatization under conditions of income insecurity and scarcity
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281276543_Pointing_out_the_expected_price_and_cost_impacts_on_consumers_and_producers_from_implementing_water_privatization_under_conditions_of_income_insecurity_and_scarcity
Have a nice day.
Article Pointing out the expected price and cost impacts on consumer...
The MDG experience has shown that quantifiable targets could be even more important than the goals for focusing efforts.
so that the SDGs as proposed should provide a coordinating and synthesizing framework. Research efforts should elaborate other key indicators and targets for existing and future pressures and initiate appropriate monitoring, evaluation, and implementation schemes
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss4/art49/
Dear Chrishman, good day. Thank you for sharing this. In my publications on the sustainability wheel/2015 or the proposed sustainability theory/2009or on the sustainable development and sustainability related concepts and issues/2010 and others you can see that integrating ecology and society is one of three possible sustainable development partnerships, which hightlights again the difficulty with the concept of sustainable development. This concept fits 6 different development options, and ecology and society is one of those 6. As you know the dominant partnership today is economy and ecology.
Have a wonderful day.
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