solution for SD

Indicators for a European sustainable development :

Dominique PROY contributes significantly to the INDI-LINK Project for the European Commission : Indicator-based evaluation of interlinkages between different sustainable development objectives - Contract FP6-2005-SSP-5A.

The Scientific objectives of INDI-LINK are :

1. Further development and improvement of EU SD indicators

2. Assessment of interlinkages between different priorities of the EU SDS

3. Elaboration of conclusions for future SD policy making

A particular focus is put on the consideration of inter-temporal interactions and inter-generational aspects of different SD policies.

The main contributions of Earth Interactive Governance to INDI-LINK are :

· Impact Assessment in the Commission – Guidelines: the version assessed is SEC(2005) 790 with March 2006 updates. The risk assessment guidelines provide a series of comprehensive questions in order to understand the interactive impacts of each measure but only in a qualitative manner. The version assessed is: SEC(2005) 790 with March 2006 updates. Indicators for sustainability of European tourism were detailed according to the extended impact assessment ‘Com(2003) 716 final’.

· Public participation of individual citizens and CSOs as an indicator of inclusion in governance and sustainable and environmental policy- and decision making .

· Non-ionizing Electro-Magnetic Fields as an emerging policy issue in environmental management and sustainable development : proposed indicators.

In France : the Grenelle de l’environnement strategy

In 2007 Dominique Proy contributed during the first phase to the third task force from the 6 that elaborated proposals submitted to the approval of the President of the French Republic (Link in French)

fighting climate change and controling energy consumption : « lutter contre les changements climatiques et maîtriser la demande d’énergie »

preserving biodiversity and natural resources : « préserver la biodiversité et les ressources naturelles »

creating an environment respectful of health issues : « instaurer un environnement respectueux de la santé »

sustainable production and consumption :« adopter des modes de production et de consommation durables »

building an ecological democraty : « construire une démocratie écologique »

promoting ecological development to contribute to employment and competitiveness : « promouvoir des modes de développement écologiques favorables à l’emploi et à la compétitivité »

Indicators for monitoring

the EU Sustainable Development Strategy

The EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS), which was renewed in June 2006, sets out a coherent approach to how the EU will more effectively live up to its long-standing commitment to meet the challenges of sustainable development. It reaffirms the overall aim of achieving continuous improvement of the quality of life and well-being on earth for present and future generations, through the creation of sustainable communities able to manage and use resources efficiently and to tap the ecological and social innovation potential of the economy, ensuring prosperity, environmental protection and social cohesion.

The SDS requires the Commission to develop indicators at the appropriate level of details to monitor progress with regard to each particular challenge. A first set of indicators was adopted by the Commission in 2005 and further reviewed in 2007 in order to adjust to the SDS. Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) are used to monitor the EU SDS in a report to be published by Eurostat every two years.

The emphasis of these pages is on indicators as well as associated document for the EU and its Member States, as well as the Candidate Countries (Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey) and EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) where possible.

The indicator framework

The SDI framework is based on ten themes, reflecting the seven key challenges of the strategy, as well as the key objective of economic prosperity, and guiding principles related to good governance. The themes follow a general gradient from the economic, to the social, and then to the environmental and institutional dimensions. They are further divided into sub-themes to organise the set in a way that reflects the operational objectives and actions of the sustainable development strategy.

In order to facilitate communication, the indicator set is built as a three-level pyramid. This distinction between the three levels of indicators reflects the structure of the renewed strategy (overall objectives, operational objectives, actions) and also responds to different kinds of user needs, with the headline indicators having the highest communication value. The three-levels are complemented with contextual indicators, which provide valuable background information but which do not monitor directly the strategy’s objectives.