Indicators, Data Revolution & Monitoring Framework
Behind every target are indicators. Building upon its expert and practitioner-led task force approach for the elaboration of targets for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Communitas Coalition actively engaged with UN Member States, agencies, and Major Groups and other Stakeholders on: (i) Crafting proposals for urban sustainability indicators and monitoring frameworks for the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements and relevant targets under the other SDGs and conducting public consultations on proposals for urban sustainability indicators and monitoring frameworks; (ii) Contributing to the territorial dimension of the Data Revolution and facilitating a technical dialogue on the opportunities and challenges for using geospatial technologies to benchmark and measure performance in sustainability at multiple scales, as well as for their integration into national census and other statistical or data collection systems; (iii) Sustaining multi-stakeholder advocacy into the implementation, monitoring, and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Communitas developed this technical work in support of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDG) that was established by the 46th UN Statistical Commission in March 2015 to craft an indicator framework for the SDGs.
Technical Seminar on Indicators, Geospatial Technology, and Disaggregation for SDG 11 and its Linkages with other SDGs
Welcoming remarks for seminar on “Urban Sustainability for Human Development”
H.E. Magnus Lennartsson
Dr. Shlomo Angel
Dr. Eugenie Birch
Urban Sustainability for Human Development
What key trends are currently monitored at the international, National and subnational levels?
Dr. Eduardo Lopez Moreno
Communitas Consultation on Urban Sustainability Indicators
Building on the consensus reached within the SDGs Open Working Group (OWG) by UN Member States and the subsequent guidance provided by the UN Secretary-General on the Synthesis Report, Communitas has proposed first draft indicators that maintain the integrity and structure of the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements and its associated targets. The integrative nature of this SDG, especially around implementation, implies considerable synergy with at least 11 other SDGs and their related targets and indicators.
The SDG on Cities and Human Settlements has brought to the fore the operational challenge of building a multi-scalar metric framework to enable monitoring of the SDGs at the appropriate level of action. To this end, the Communitas Coalition and the wider #UrbanSDG Campaign have suggested a minimal set of ‘universal’ national indicators that will be reported globally, plus a set of supplementary indicators that could be reported at the national, regional, and subnational and local levels as considered appropriate by each UN Member State (in consultation with its National Statistical Office and subnational and local governments) to support subnational and local action and monitoring on the SDGs.
The Communitas Coalition recognizes that building an effective multi-scalar goal, target and indicator framework for sustainable cities and human settlements will require regular review and fine-tuning. As a result, during this pivotal stage, we are conducting open consultations on indicators. Share your input on indicators for the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements at this pivotal stage towards the adoption of UN Sustainable Development Goals in September!
In parallel, the Communitas Coalition in its capacity as Associate Partner of the World Urban Campaign compiled an Indicator Bank pointing to the wide range of possible measurements for the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements. Cumulatively, these efforts set the stage for a stock taking of SDG indicators in January 2015, prior to the beginning of the Intergovernmental Negotiations towards the Post 2015 development agenda.
Engagement in the #UrbanSDG Campaign’s Work on Indicators
On 12th-14th January 2015, the Communitas Secretariat participated in the second consultation on Targets & Indicators for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Cities and Human Settlements of the #UrbanSDG Campaign, to which Communitas is a proud and committed member. Aimed at building consensus around national and city-level indicators, the meeting provided a statistical foundation for the SDG ahead of the beginning of the Intergovernmental Negotiations towards the Post 2015 development agenda. The consultation resulted in the comprehensive Bangalore Outcome Document, which is the culmination of a 15-month process of consultation featuring a unique set of indicators tailored to the 10 targets proposed under the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements.
In parallel, following the meeting in Bangalore, the Communitas Secretariat submitted an official response to the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) in response to its draft report, “Indicators and a Monitoring Framework for Sustainable Development Goals”.
Communitas Calls for Strong Urban and Territorial Dimensions in the Data Revolution
In October 2014, the Communitas Secretariat contributed to the consultation on “A World That Counts,” a report prepared by the UN Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution. Communitas’ contribution drew attention the lack of consideration to the urban reality and the urban dimension of the Data Revolution in the draft Report. More specifically, the Communitas Secretariat offered suggestions to ensure that the Data Revolution: (i) Is understood also as a long-term investment in good governance at all levels and in infrastructure for intra-national social cohesion; (ii) Ensures data collection that provides the basis for disaggregation down to the subnational and local level, as well as grass-roots data collection systems, involving directly the urban poor, slums dwellers, and their organizations and other disadvantaged groups; (iii) Legitimises grass roots data collection via institutionalized arrangements between subnational and local authorities and the experts collecting it and helps identify community- driven priorities; (iv) Provides quality reliable and timely disaggregated data at subnational and local levels that contribute to increasing interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goals and to a nexus approach to integrated policy-making; (v) Prevents the misleading conflation between the topics of, on the one hand, the needs and costs of the Data revolution; and, on the other hand, the multilateral process for adopting a transformative and universal Post-2015 Development Agenda, in the interest of the technical rigour of the Data Revolution discussions.
Matrix of Targets and Indicators
In July 2014, the Communitas Secretariat produced a Matrix of Targets and Indicators as a practical tool for the final session of the Open Working Group in charge of crafting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs OWG). At the final stages of the negotiation on the proposed SDG on Cities and Human Settlements, the OWG faced a few remaining issues toward refining the targets proposed in the reviewed Negotiation Draft. The matrix outlined the proposed targets under the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements in rows, as well as the latest iteration of proposals elaborated by the Communitas Secretariat on 3rd June. Each target was correlated with possible indicators. The ultimate objective of the matrix was to show how the inclusion of existing targets under the SDG on Cities and Human Settlements could already address additional areas of particular importance.