19
government and potentially advocacy from
constituencies.
2. Existing networks promoting urban sustainable development need to be involved. The
SDGs represent a new framework for thinking
about and quantifying sustainable development; however, they do not represent new
issues for US cities. For many years, grassroots efforts have grown in the USA to address
urban sustainability, so making clear connections between existing priorities within organizations involved in any/all aspects of
sustainability will ensure buy-in from stakeholders already at the forefront of sustainable
development in North America.
3. Local data is critical for tracking the SDGs.
Having an existing repository of local data
collected by community indicator projects
like BNIA enabled speedier collection of
baseline data relevant to the global goals. In
fact, based on a recent report by the Urban
Institute, whereas 66% of the SDG targets
could be measured using national datasets
alone, 81% of the targets were measurable if
supplemented with local data (Greene and
Meixell 2017). Of course, local indicators
projects provide far more to urban communities than just the data alone; they offer training
and education to multi-sector stakeholders as
well as continuous integration of new local
datasets that arise from local policies and
administration. They are nimble enough to
help map local realities to global issues using
the common approach of the quantitative targets, which is precisely what the SDG localization process in Baltimore helped reveal.
References
Biron CL (2017, March) How Baltimore is using the sustainable development goals to make a more just city.
Citiscope
Espey J, Dahmm H, Manderino L (2018) Leaving no
U.S. city behind: the U.S. cities sustainable development goals index. Sustainable Development
Solutions
Network.
https://www.sdgindex.org/
reports/2018-u.s.-cities-sdgs-index/
Greene S, Meixell B (2017) Hacking the sustainable
development goals: can US cities measure up? Urban
Institute. http://www.urban.org/research/publication/
hacking-sustainable-development-goals
Iyer SD, Davis A (2017) Localizing the UN sustainable
development goals in Baltimore: next steps towards
implementation. Sustainable Development Solutions
Network. https://www.unsdsn.org/news/2017/12/20/
localizing-sdgs-in-baltimore-next-steps
Iyer SD, Howland A, Ruckstuhl S, Sheehan IS, Samuelson
L, Bowman L (2016) Baltimore’s sustainable future:
localizing the UN sustainable development goals,
strategies and indicators. University of Baltimore.
https://www.ubalt.edu/about-ub/sustainable-cities/
Kingsley GT (2017) A broader view of the data revolution and development agenda. Urban Institute.
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/broaderview-data-revolution-and-development-agenda
Seema D. Iyer, Ph.D. (co-editor), oversees the Baltimore
Neighborhood Indicators Alliance-Jacob France Institute
(BNIA-JFI) at the University of Baltimore (UB), which
has been dedicated to providing reliable, communitybased indicators for Baltimore’s neighborhoods since
2000. BNIA-JFI is the local partner of the Urban Institute’s
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a network
of cities that provide longitudinal data on demographics,
housing, crime, education, and sustainability. Under her
leadership, BNIA-JFI has received several awards for its
role in increasing accessibility to indicators for organizations such as the Community Indicators Consortium
(2016), Harvard Ash Center (2017), and the Association
of Public Data Users (2018). Since 2015, she has been
involved in the city of Baltimore’s localization of the
SDGs and has advised cities around the world on how
they can work with indicator programs to help monitor
progress. She is also director of UB’s undergraduate program in real estate and economic development. She holds
a Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the University
of Michigan.
2 Localizing the SDGs in Baltimore: Challenges and Opportunities of the USA Sustainable Cities Initiative
government and potentially advocacy from
constituencies.
2. Existing networks promoting urban sustainable development need to be involved. The
SDGs represent a new framework for thinking
about and quantifying sustainable development; however, they do not represent new
issues for US cities. For many years, grassroots efforts have grown in the USA to address
urban sustainability, so making clear connections between existing priorities within organizations involved in any/all aspects of
sustainability will ensure buy-in from stakeholders already at the forefront of sustainable
development in North America.
3. Local data is critical for tracking the SDGs.
Having an existing repository of local data
collected by community indicator projects
like BNIA enabled speedier collection of
baseline data relevant to the global goals. In
fact, based on a recent report by the Urban
Institute, whereas 66% of the SDG targets
could be measured using national datasets
alone, 81% of the targets were measurable if
supplemented with local data (Greene and
Meixell 2017). Of course, local indicators
projects provide far more to urban communities than just the data alone; they offer training
and education to multi-sector stakeholders as
well as continuous integration of new local
datasets that arise from local policies and
administration. They are nimble enough to
help map local realities to global issues using
the common approach of the quantitative targets, which is precisely what the SDG localization process in Baltimore helped reveal.
References
Biron CL (2017, March) How Baltimore is using the sustainable development goals to make a more just city.
Citiscope
Espey J, Dahmm H, Manderino L (2018) Leaving no
U.S. city behind: the U.S. cities sustainable development goals index. Sustainable Development
Solutions
Network.
https://www.sdgindex.org/
reports/2018-u.s.-cities-sdgs-index/
Greene S, Meixell B (2017) Hacking the sustainable
development goals: can US cities measure up? Urban
Institute. http://www.urban.org/research/publication/
hacking-sustainable-development-goals
Iyer SD, Davis A (2017) Localizing the UN sustainable
development goals in Baltimore: next steps towards
implementation. Sustainable Development Solutions
Network. https://www.unsdsn.org/news/2017/12/20/
localizing-sdgs-in-baltimore-next-steps
Iyer SD, Howland A, Ruckstuhl S, Sheehan IS, Samuelson
L, Bowman L (2016) Baltimore’s sustainable future:
localizing the UN sustainable development goals,
strategies and indicators. University of Baltimore.
https://www.ubalt.edu/about-ub/sustainable-cities/
Kingsley GT (2017) A broader view of the data revolution and development agenda. Urban Institute.
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/broaderview-data-revolution-and-development-agenda
Seema D. Iyer, Ph.D. (co-editor), oversees the Baltimore
Neighborhood Indicators Alliance-Jacob France Institute
(BNIA-JFI) at the University of Baltimore (UB), which
has been dedicated to providing reliable, communitybased indicators for Baltimore’s neighborhoods since
2000. BNIA-JFI is the local partner of the Urban Institute’s
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a network
of cities that provide longitudinal data on demographics,
housing, crime, education, and sustainability. Under her
leadership, BNIA-JFI has received several awards for its
role in increasing accessibility to indicators for organizations such as the Community Indicators Consortium
(2016), Harvard Ash Center (2017), and the Association
of Public Data Users (2018). Since 2015, she has been
involved in the city of Baltimore’s localization of the
SDGs and has advised cities around the world on how
they can work with indicator programs to help monitor
progress. She is also director of UB’s undergraduate program in real estate and economic development. She holds
a Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from the University
of Michigan.
2 Localizing the SDGs in Baltimore: Challenges and Opportunities of the USA Sustainable Cities Initiative