PFISD Newsletter N°3

Seminar "Towards a National Set Indicators for Sustainable Development: Initiatives and Viewpoints". Brussels, 27 September 2005
In November 2002, the Platform organised a national conference about the expectations of Belgian actors regarding indicators for sustainable development (ISD). The need of a national set ISD or alike became apparent at this conference. In the last years, also the Federal Council for Sustainable Development (FCSD) has advised on different occasions a similar tool. With the development of a national strategy for sustainable development, the issue of indicators has come to the front once more. Therefore, the Platform in collaboration with the FCSD has organised a seminar on the national set ISD on the 27th of September. European and Belgian governmental representatives and academicians presented their experiences and the progress made so far, and societal actors discussed their expectations. The proceedings and presentations will be available on the website of the platform soon.

Sustainability Barometer: Belgian coast
The Coördinatiepunt Geïntegreerd Beheer van Kustgebieden (GBKG), a collaboration between provincial, regional and federal governments and the scientific institution Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), updates and monitors the Kustbarometer, a list of 20 indicators to monitor the sustainability of the coastal region. The barometer has been developed by the Centrum voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling and Ecolas and can be accessed here .

Sustainability Indicators for the Southern North Sea region: SAIL
The VLIZ (see higher) is also implied in the Schéma d'Aménagement Intégré du Littoral (SAIL). SAIL is a collaboration between institutions and governements of the Southern North Sea region (in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and the UK). To monitor and evaluate the sustainablity of this region, 27 indicators have been developed. For more info .

Centrum voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling Publication on the City Monitor
SInce a number of years the Centrum voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling of the University of Ghent and the Departement Handelswetenschappen en Bestuurskunde of the Hogeschool Ghent have been developing and implementing a tool for monitoring the progress towards sustainable development in cities - the stadsmonitor voor Duurzame Vlaamse steden. An article is now available in which the development of the monitor is explained: Block, T., De Rynck, F., Vallet, N., en Van Assche, J. (2005), Een omgevingsscanner voor lokale besturen: Stadsmonitor voor Leefbare en Duurzame Vlaamse steden, Praktijkgids Management Lokale Besturen, Kluwer, juni 2005. More information about the Monitor and the indicators used can be found on this link of "Thuis in de Stad": (in Dutch). An analysis of 13 Flemish cities is available here: (in Dutch).

EEA Publication "European Environment Outlook"
In September 2005, the European Environmental Agency (EEA) has published the European Environment Outlook report. Ther report addresses a range of European environmental concerns and their common driving forces in an integrated way, and turns the spotlight on some of the more pressing issues .

UN Publication "Report on the World Social Situation 2005"
Every two years the UN Division for Social Policy and Development publishes a report on the major emerging social trends of international concern and relationships among major development issues which have both international and national dimensions The 2005 report, published on the 25th of August, focuses on the international aspects of inequality. More info .

UNDP Publication "Human Development Report 2005"
In September 2005, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published its annual Human Development Report. This year's focus is on international cooperation, aid, trade and security .

UNEP-WCMC Publication: "World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation"
The United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP--WCMC) published in September the World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. According to the authors, the Atlas is the first comprehensive review of what is currently known (incl. up-to-date data) about great apes, their ecology, distribution, and key threats tot their survival. More info .

UNIFEM-Publication: "Progress of the World's Women 2005: Women, Work and Poverty"
In August 2005, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) published the third report in a series started in 2000 to evaluate the world's commitments to gender equality. This report focuses on employment and specifically on informal employment, and the potential it has to reduce or perpetuate gender inequality. The report also provides a broad range of data and statistics on this issue .

WRI et al. Publication "World Resources Report 2005: The Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty"
The World Resources Institute (WRI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank have published the third World Resources Report. The thesis of World Resources 2005 is that income from ecosystem can act as a fundamental stepping stone in the economic empowerment of the rural poor, if certain conditions are met. The report elaborates on these conditions and presents statistics on current environmental, social, and economic trends in more than 150 countries. For more info see . The full World Resources database is also accessible and searchable online in the companion website Earth Trends

Conclusions and papers of International Seminar on Sustainable Development Indicators for Regional Governements, Bilbao 2004
The Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development held a seminar on developing common indicators at the regional level. The conclusions, as well as contributions from European (incl. Flanders) and non-European regions are available on the following website .

Spain: Proposal of list of sustainable development indicators by the Basque Government
Following the main conclusion of the International Seminar on Sustainable Indicators (see higher), the Basque Government has suggested a new proposal containing ten plus two optional sustainable development indicators which can be applied and used at the regional level. The new proposal is open for comments and contributions .

Proceedings of the EASY-ECO 2005-2007 conference on Sustainability Assessment in Manchester
On the 15-17 June 2005, the first conference within EASY-ECO 2005-2007 was organised by the Impact Assessment Research Centre in the University of Manchester. The conference aimed to develop greater understanding of how different forms of strategic impact assessment (or evaluation) can work together as an integrated whole. The specific focus was on strengthening European sustainable development at the different levels. The proceedings of the conference can be downloaded here .

Global Health Watch Publication "Global Health Watch 2005/06: An Alternative World Health Report"
The Global Health Watch 2005/06 is the first alternative world health report, written from the perspective of civil society. It covers health and globalisation, health care services and systems, health of vulnerable groups, the wider health context; and the accountability of global institutions. The report intends to challenge the major health institutions. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the NASA, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Maryland published this atlas in June 2005. The atlas consists of satellite images, graphics and text about environmental changes resulting from natural processes and human-induced activities. The focus is on the status and trends over several decades, both in physical and human geography .

Center for Global Development's "2005 Commitment to Development Index"
The most recent Commitment to Development Index has been published by the Center for Global Development in August. The Commitment to Development Index ranks 21 of the world's richest countries on their dedication to policies that benefit the 5 billion people living in poorer nations .

Japan: Headline Sustainability Indicators for Japan
Japan for Sustainability (JFS) has chosen 20 headline indicators for sustainability based on an analysis of over 200 data sets in several sustainability-related categories. According to the NGO, this is the first ever numerical evaluation / trial calculation of national sustainability for Japan .

Switzerland: MONET, sustainable development monitoring system
The Swiss Office fédéral de la statistique and two other federal institutions have developed a monitoring system for sustainable development on the basis of indicators. MONET, as the system is called, provides more than 100 indicators which allow to measure the progress of Switzerland towards sustainable development .

Publication of Giuseppe Munda "Measuring sustainability': a multi-criterion framework"
Giuseppe Munda's article discusses methods to aggregate multi-dimensional to assess sustainable development. The article appeared in Environment, Development and Sustainability (Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 117-134).

Publication of Philippe A. Lawn "An Assessment of the Valuation Methods Used to Calculate the Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW), Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), and Sustainable Net Benefit Index (SNBI)"
Philippe A. Lawn examines the valuation methods in a number of alternative indexes and argues that a consistent and more robust set of valuation techniques is needed in order for these alternative indexes to gain broad acceptability. The article appeared in Environment, Development and Sustainability (Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 117-134).

Publication of Joachim H. Spangenberg "Economic Sustainability of the Economy: Concept and Indicators"
Drawing on System and Orient Theory, Joachim A.. Spangenberg suggests a number of criteria for the assessment of the economic sustainability of the economy. The article appeared in International Journal of Sustainable Development (Vol. 8, No. 1-2, pp. 46-64). More info.

Aurelio Peccei Lecture: "Ecological Footprint" by Mathis Wackernagel, 24th November 2005, Brussels
In the Aurelio Peccei Lecture series of the independent NGO the Brussels EU Chapter of the Club of Rome, Mathis Wackernagel, founder and Executive Director of Global Footprint Network, will make a presentation on the Ecological footprint

International Conference "Sustainable Indicators and their Uses. How can we link processes and knowledge relating to marine resources and coastal zones with achievements in other scientific fields?": Montpellier (France), 3-4 April 2006
Abstracts of papers for this conference can be submitted until 3 October 2005. For more information .