12
Strategy.
6
As mentioned previously, the
stocktaking effort identified (a) partner organizations that could share tacit knowledge on development in Baltimore and collaborate on the SDG
achievement effort and (b) indicators and measure data for SDG target tracking. The information yielded through the stocktaking effort grew
with each consultative event as SDG partners
convened and pooled information on their work
and the work of others in the city, making the
stocktaking exercise a “living” process to promote efficiency by building a coordinated SDG
effort from existing sustainable development
knowledge, resources, and activities.
Of course, given the comprehensive and interconnected nature of the SDGS, the breadth of
stocktaking made clear that Baltimore was regulated and guided by many, many plans created by
city and state governmental agencies in response
to legislative and executive mandates. For example, the Maryland Department of Transportation
annually prepares the Air Quality Attainment
Report to ensure the regional compliance with
the 1963 Federal Clean Air Act. Every 6 years,
the city of Baltimore prepares a Comprehensive
Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) to
remain eligible for program funding from the
Economic Development Agency (EDA). By
2016, the UN Sustainable Development Goals
6 See Appendix 1 (Existing Plans and Indicators) of the
full report “Baltimore’s Sustainable Future: Localizing
the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Strategies and
Indicators.” https://www.ubalt.edu/about-ub/sustainablecities/
did not yet figure into existing regulatory mandates for cities nor did that come with substantial
monetary resources to address the scale of the
needs. Without these, for a distressed city like
Baltimore, the SDG localization initiative hardly
seemed worth the extra effort for executive
branches of the government.
2.5
Developing the Preliminary
Set of SDG Indicators
for Baltimore
The second key objective of the SCI-Baltimore
initiative was to identify locally relevant and useful indicators that could be used to set and track
progress toward SDG-aligned targets. These
indicators, developed out of the stocktaking exercise, considered stakeholder data needs for their
own SDG-aligned development efforts and incorporated community aspirations. Community buyin and collaboration with a wide range of
stakeholders are essential to the success of the
SDGs. By establishing indicators to measure
progress toward development outcomes, accountability and transparency of public programs and
non-profit initiatives is maintained, and results
can be more effectively achieved. Support for
expanded and improved data collection will bolster the city’s existing efforts to eliminate poverty
and homelessness, increase opportunities for
employment and education, and protect the
environment.
Fig. 2.1 Example of connecting local strategies to the global goals. (Source: The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan,
Chap. 5, “Human-Made Systems”)
S. D. Iyer
Strategy.
6
As mentioned previously, the
stocktaking effort identified (a) partner organizations that could share tacit knowledge on development in Baltimore and collaborate on the SDG
achievement effort and (b) indicators and measure data for SDG target tracking. The information yielded through the stocktaking effort grew
with each consultative event as SDG partners
convened and pooled information on their work
and the work of others in the city, making the
stocktaking exercise a “living” process to promote efficiency by building a coordinated SDG
effort from existing sustainable development
knowledge, resources, and activities.
Of course, given the comprehensive and interconnected nature of the SDGS, the breadth of
stocktaking made clear that Baltimore was regulated and guided by many, many plans created by
city and state governmental agencies in response
to legislative and executive mandates. For example, the Maryland Department of Transportation
annually prepares the Air Quality Attainment
Report to ensure the regional compliance with
the 1963 Federal Clean Air Act. Every 6 years,
the city of Baltimore prepares a Comprehensive
Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) to
remain eligible for program funding from the
Economic Development Agency (EDA). By
2016, the UN Sustainable Development Goals
6 See Appendix 1 (Existing Plans and Indicators) of the
full report “Baltimore’s Sustainable Future: Localizing
the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Strategies and
Indicators.” https://www.ubalt.edu/about-ub/sustainablecities/
did not yet figure into existing regulatory mandates for cities nor did that come with substantial
monetary resources to address the scale of the
needs. Without these, for a distressed city like
Baltimore, the SDG localization initiative hardly
seemed worth the extra effort for executive
branches of the government.
2.5
Developing the Preliminary
Set of SDG Indicators
for Baltimore
The second key objective of the SCI-Baltimore
initiative was to identify locally relevant and useful indicators that could be used to set and track
progress toward SDG-aligned targets. These
indicators, developed out of the stocktaking exercise, considered stakeholder data needs for their
own SDG-aligned development efforts and incorporated community aspirations. Community buyin and collaboration with a wide range of
stakeholders are essential to the success of the
SDGs. By establishing indicators to measure
progress toward development outcomes, accountability and transparency of public programs and
non-profit initiatives is maintained, and results
can be more effectively achieved. Support for
expanded and improved data collection will bolster the city’s existing efforts to eliminate poverty
and homelessness, increase opportunities for
employment and education, and protect the
environment.
Fig. 2.1 Example of connecting local strategies to the global goals. (Source: The 2019 Baltimore Sustainability Plan,
Chap. 5, “Human-Made Systems”)
S. D. Iyer