98
(IGES 2018). Communities, in various countries,
are also localizing the SDGs through the development of community dashboards (Hawaii, USA;
San Jose, USA; British Columbia, Canada) and
local data hubs (New York, USA; Cambridge,
Canada; and Winnipeg, Canada). These efforts
are demonstrating that localizing the SDGs
through measurement and reporting is a promising way to engage local actors and community
members in action for SDG implementation.
While the reports of successful SDG localization are encouraging, they also reveal a fundamental challenge in measuring and reporting
progress at the local level. The UN SDG indicator framework, a collection of 232 indicators that
countries can use to report national progress on
the 169 SDG targets, is not suitable to monitor
progress in a local context. Many of the UN SDG
indicators require data that is not available at the
local level or is difficult to collect. Other SDG
indicators may not resonate with local communities in all global regions, and risk ignoring important areas for action. Homelessness, for example,
is a key issue that affects community well-being
in North America, and many communities are
beginning to track the number of homeless people to inform decisions on investments in housing, social support programs, and emergency
shelters. Under the SDGs, however, homelessness is combined with other forms of inadequate
housing into one indicator on a target referring to
inadequate housing, access to services, and conditions in slums. Reductions in homelessness
alone, while vital for many communities, are not
well reflected in the context of the UN SDG indicator framework. The UN SDG indicator framework is a highly efficient system for measuring
global progress, but it does not capture progress
on the specific issues that are vital for community
well-being in the eyes of community members.
How then can communities track progress on
their own initiatives for SDG implementation
in a way that links local conditions and priorities
to the shared global aspirations and targets
represented in the SDGs? One solution is to
leverage existing local community-driven indicator
systems that link data on local progress to
national targets. Over the past decade, many
communities around the world have developed
Community Indicator Systems (CIS), online platforms that communities can use to share and
visualize data to inform policies and decisions at
the local level. CISs have evolved into an important tool for citizens to access, understand, and
share information about their communities and
stimulate action on key issues of community
well-being. While CISs have helped facilitate
positive change in many communities to date,
their high cost has made them inaccessible for
smaller communities or communities in poor
countries.
In the following sections, we report on our
experiences in “retrofitting” an existing CIS to
allow users to interpret local data in the context
of the global SDGs and to reduce the cost and
other barriers that may prevent more widespread
use of CIS to track community well-being and
SDG implementation at the local level.
In 2013, the International Institute for
Sustainable Development (IISD) in partnership
with the United Way of Winnipeg (UWW) developed Peg, an online CIS for the citizens of
Winnipeg, the largest city of the province of
Manitoba, Canada. The data, indicators, and
themes used to populate Peg were developed during a 2-year process of consultations and cocreation with community partners to ensure that
the platform captures the issues that Winnipeggers
care about most and that are important to track
the city’s vitality and well-being. In 2018, after
winning multiple awards and gaining widespread
recognition in Winnipeg and beyond, Peg was
redesigned in a more user-friendly platform that
links the existing indicator system to the SDGs.
At the same time, IISD began exploring how the
experience with Peg could be replicated in other
communities in Canada and in other countries
such as Peterborough Ontario, Cape Breton Nova
Scotia, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador.
We use Peg as a case study to explore how, and
under what conditions, CISs can support localizing
the SDGs. In this work, localizing is a process of
J. Temmer and S. Jungcurt
(IGES 2018). Communities, in various countries,
are also localizing the SDGs through the development of community dashboards (Hawaii, USA;
San Jose, USA; British Columbia, Canada) and
local data hubs (New York, USA; Cambridge,
Canada; and Winnipeg, Canada). These efforts
are demonstrating that localizing the SDGs
through measurement and reporting is a promising way to engage local actors and community
members in action for SDG implementation.
While the reports of successful SDG localization are encouraging, they also reveal a fundamental challenge in measuring and reporting
progress at the local level. The UN SDG indicator framework, a collection of 232 indicators that
countries can use to report national progress on
the 169 SDG targets, is not suitable to monitor
progress in a local context. Many of the UN SDG
indicators require data that is not available at the
local level or is difficult to collect. Other SDG
indicators may not resonate with local communities in all global regions, and risk ignoring important areas for action. Homelessness, for example,
is a key issue that affects community well-being
in North America, and many communities are
beginning to track the number of homeless people to inform decisions on investments in housing, social support programs, and emergency
shelters. Under the SDGs, however, homelessness is combined with other forms of inadequate
housing into one indicator on a target referring to
inadequate housing, access to services, and conditions in slums. Reductions in homelessness
alone, while vital for many communities, are not
well reflected in the context of the UN SDG indicator framework. The UN SDG indicator framework is a highly efficient system for measuring
global progress, but it does not capture progress
on the specific issues that are vital for community
well-being in the eyes of community members.
How then can communities track progress on
their own initiatives for SDG implementation
in a way that links local conditions and priorities
to the shared global aspirations and targets
represented in the SDGs? One solution is to
leverage existing local community-driven indicator
systems that link data on local progress to
national targets. Over the past decade, many
communities around the world have developed
Community Indicator Systems (CIS), online platforms that communities can use to share and
visualize data to inform policies and decisions at
the local level. CISs have evolved into an important tool for citizens to access, understand, and
share information about their communities and
stimulate action on key issues of community
well-being. While CISs have helped facilitate
positive change in many communities to date,
their high cost has made them inaccessible for
smaller communities or communities in poor
countries.
In the following sections, we report on our
experiences in “retrofitting” an existing CIS to
allow users to interpret local data in the context
of the global SDGs and to reduce the cost and
other barriers that may prevent more widespread
use of CIS to track community well-being and
SDG implementation at the local level.
In 2013, the International Institute for
Sustainable Development (IISD) in partnership
with the United Way of Winnipeg (UWW) developed Peg, an online CIS for the citizens of
Winnipeg, the largest city of the province of
Manitoba, Canada. The data, indicators, and
themes used to populate Peg were developed during a 2-year process of consultations and cocreation with community partners to ensure that
the platform captures the issues that Winnipeggers
care about most and that are important to track
the city’s vitality and well-being. In 2018, after
winning multiple awards and gaining widespread
recognition in Winnipeg and beyond, Peg was
redesigned in a more user-friendly platform that
links the existing indicator system to the SDGs.
At the same time, IISD began exploring how the
experience with Peg could be replicated in other
communities in Canada and in other countries
such as Peterborough Ontario, Cape Breton Nova
Scotia, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador.
We use Peg as a case study to explore how, and
under what conditions, CISs can support localizing
the SDGs. In this work, localizing is a process of
J. Temmer and S. Jungcurt