Effective, easy-to-use measurement helps decision-makers and the public define social goals, link them to clear objectives and assess progress toward meeting those targets. Measuring sustainable development makes it possible for the subject to become part of the mainstream political and economic debate. Developing countries are still far from measuring progress toward sustainable development as a strategic priority. Capacity building and practical fieldwork in these countries will continue to be a priority for IISD. Good information and good indicators will produce the right data to inform policy planning, assessment and evaluation.

Achievements and Highlights

• Work continued in earnest this year on IISD's Dashboard of Sustainability, available online at http://www.iisd.org/cgsdi/
  dashboard_dsply.htm. The Dashboard is an easy-to-understand online tool designed for use by experts, the media, policy-makers and the general public. Using a car's instrument panel as a metaphor, the Dashboard allows the presentation of complex relationships and provides an empirical foundation for all efforts to assess progress toward sustainable development. During the year, new functionality was added and the dashboard was tested with leading indicator experts and different data sources, thereby demonstrating the Dashboard's utility and flexibility. The Dashboard was discussed and presented numerous times over the past year, most notably at a Commission on Sustainable Development side event in April 2001.

• From September 4 to 19, IISD hosted eight guests from Romania as part of the Canadian International Development Agency/United Nations Development Programme Local Agenda 21 project. The guests received extensive training in various areas of IISD expertise and then moved on to Calgary and Ottawa for additional learning. The project is intended to help Romanian officials build capacity, improve environmental policies, implement sustainable development strategies and assess performance.

• With the importance of SD measurement techniques gaining increased support, IISD staff were in high demand. Measurement and Indicators Director Peter Hardi presented papers and lectured this year in Victoria, British Columbia; for the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy in Ottawa, with IISD Project Officer Pumulo Muyatwa; Pocantico Hill, New York; Wellington, New Zealand; Toronto, Ontario; Trento, Italy; and Brussels, Belgium.

• Senior Project Manager László Pintér returned from his tenmonth leave at Harvard University and completed his University of Minnesota PhD dissertation, Making Global Integrated Environmental Assessment and Reporting Matter. It is posted at http://www.iisd.org/measure/
  pdf/pinter_thesis.pdf (1,081 kb) .

• For the United Nations Environment Programme Division of Early Warning and Assessment, IISD continues to work on a strategy that will define the direction and approach of UNEP's capacity building initiatives in the area of assessment and reporting. The resulting strategy will aim to improve the production, availability and impact of environmental information on the global, regional, national and local scales. Work also continues on the preparation of background analyses for the fourth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4) toward improving the process and products. IISD remains active in the development of training materials for integrated environmental assessment (GEOkit), in collaboration with UNEP and GRID-Arendal.

Long-term Vision

The IISD Measurement and Indicators team will continue to seek ways to improve the international measurement and reporting of sustainability performance. The team will continue to enhance methods in order to inform and influence policy-making, engage the media and empower communities.

From the Director of Measurement and Indicators...

"I hardly had a free minute during the four weeks of the training program we organized for the members of the Romanian Local Agenda 21 project team, but all our hard work was greatly rewarded. This e-mail I received from one of the participants made all of the hard work worthwhile:

Dear Peter, ...In the end of this message I have to reiterate the fact that the Canadian training segment was one of the most professional events (in which) I've ever participated and I could affirm that it changed my approach very much. In this respect I want to thank you again for all your sterling support during the period spent in Canada and I want to fulfill your expectations regarding this project... Thank you for all your support and cooperation. Warmest regards, Radu"

-Peter Hardi, PhD