1.4.2 - Monitoring: Methodology and applications
Enroll to start learning
You’ve not yet enrolled in this course. Please enroll for free to listen to audio lessons, classroom podcasts and take practice test.
Interactive Audio Lesson
Listen to a student-teacher conversation explaining the topic in a relatable way.
Importance of Monitoring in Sustainable Development
🔒 Unlock Audio Lesson
Sign up and enroll to listen to this audio lesson
Today, we will discuss the importance of monitoring in sustainable development. Why do you think monitoring is essential?
To see if the strategies are working?
Exactly! Monitoring helps us assess the impact of our strategies and ensure they align with our goals for sustainable development.
What kind of data do we need for effective monitoring?
Great question! We need various data and statistics, including demographic information, environmental trends, and economic indicators. This data is critical for making informed decisions.
And how is this data collected?
Data can be collected through different methods like surveys, administrative records, and even advanced technologies like GIS.
What is GIS again?
GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, helps analyze spatial data by mapping and assessing indicators visually. It uses satellite imagery and other sources to understand our environment better.
To summarize, effective monitoring involves various data sources and technologies that inform us about the progress of our sustainable development goals.
Custodian Agencies and Their Roles
🔒 Unlock Audio Lesson
Sign up and enroll to listen to this audio lesson
Let's delve into the roles of custodian agencies. Can anyone name some of them?
I think UNEP and WHO are some of them?
Correct! UNEP, or the United Nations Environment Programme, and WHO, the World Health Organization, are indeed important. They collect and provide necessary data for monitoring.
What do they specifically monitor?
They monitor various indicators related to health, environment, food security, and other themes critical for sustainable development.
How do these agencies ensure the data is accurate?
They rely on established data sources, adhere to international standards, and often collaborate for consensus-based approaches.
This sounds complex, but important!
Indeed! Remember, these agencies play a vital role in gathering timely and accurate data that informs global strategies.
Principles of Global Monitoring Indicators
🔒 Unlock Audio Lesson
Sign up and enroll to listen to this audio lesson
Now, let's explore the ten principles for global monitoring indicators. Who can share one principle they remember?
Limited in number and globally harmonized?
Great! That's the first principle. It ensures that we have a manageable number of indicators that can be applied universally.
What about the other principles?
Another principle is that they should allow for high-frequency monitoring. This means we need data that can be collected regularly to track progress effectively.
I think simple indicators are better for understanding!
That's right! Simplicity leads to clearer policy implications, making it easier to understand and act on the data.
Can you summarize all these principles?
Sure! The principles advocate for simplicity, consensus, high-frequency monitoring, and using established data sources to ensure the effectiveness and relevance of our indicators.
Introduction & Overview
Read summaries of the section's main ideas at different levels of detail.
Quick Overview
Standard
Monitoring is essential for assessing the impact of sustainable development strategies. Various methodologies are employed, involving data collection from custodian agencies and embracing principles that ensure the integrity of these indicators.
Detailed
Monitoring: Methodology and Applications
Monitoring is crucial for evaluating the implementation and impact of sustainable development strategies. It involves collecting a diverse array of data and statistics through well-defined methodologies. Key organizations, such as the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), HGL-PCCB, and IAEG-SDGs, are at the forefront of developing these methodologies. They designate custodian agencies, including UNEP, WHO, World Bank, FAO, UNESCO, and OECD, which play vital roles in the periodic updating and collection of data regarding sustainable development indicators across various levels (global, national, and regional).
Moreover, the Global monitoring indicators are guided by ten fundamental principles established by UNSDSN in 2015:
1. Limited and harmonized indicators globally.
2. Simplicity and specificity in policy implications.
3. High-frequency monitoring capacity.
4. Consensus-driven.
5. Alignment with international standards.
6. Dependence on established data sources.
7. Disaggregation of data according to demographics (age, sex, income, etc.).
8. Universal applicability.
9. Focus on outcomes.
10. Scientific basis for prediction and assessment.
Data sources for these indicators include census and household surveys, civil registrations, administrative records, and advanced technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS combines geographical data with attribute data for effective mapping, helping to visualize and analyze real-world challenges using satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and other spatial data. Overall, monitoring serves as a backbone for informed decision-making, ensuring that sustainable development aligns with targeted growth objectives.
Youtube Videos
Audio Book
Dive deep into the subject with an immersive audiobook experience.
Purpose of Monitoring for Sustainable Development
Chapter 1 of 5
🔒 Unlock Audio Chapter
Sign up and enroll to access the full audio experience
Chapter Content
Monitoring is a major task for assessing the implementation and impact of a strategy for sustainable development. A variety of data and statistics are required for monitoring and to capture this, methodologies to measure the indicator, collect the data accurately and timely, outline the apt unit of measure and method of computation, etc., are developed by three key bodies, namely the UNSC, HGL-PCCB, and IAEG-SDGs.
Detailed Explanation
Monitoring is crucial in evaluating if sustainable development strategies are effectively put into practice. It involves gathering a wide range of data and statistics that help measure progress towards sustainability goals. Several organizations—like UNSC, HGL-PCCB, and IAEG-SDGs—develop specific methodologies for this purpose. These methodologies help define how to collect data accurately and in a timely manner, what units of measurement to use, and how to compute the results.
Examples & Analogies
Think of monitoring as a report card for a student. Just like teachers collect data about students' performance through tests and assignments to assess their learning, monitoring in sustainable development collects data on various indicators to assess how well societies are achieving sustainability goals.
Custodian Agencies for Data Collection
Chapter 2 of 5
🔒 Unlock Audio Chapter
Sign up and enroll to access the full audio experience
Chapter Content
The latter has selected custodian agencies, such as UNEP, WHO, World Bank, FAO, UNESCO, OECD, etc., for periodically collecting and updating data on indicators, across themes, at global, regional, and national levels.
Detailed Explanation
To ensure that data is collected systematically, specific agencies are assigned the role of custodian agencies. Organizations like UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), WHO (World Health Organization), and World Bank are responsible for regularly gathering and updating the relevant data on various sustainability indicators. They operate at different levels—global, regional, and national—to ensure comprehensive coverage.
Examples & Analogies
Imagine these custodian agencies as the different departments in a hospital, where each department specializes in a particular area of healthcare. Just as a cardiology department would monitor heart health statistics, these agencies monitor specific sustainability indicators at their assigned levels.
Principles for Global Monitoring Indicators
Chapter 3 of 5
🔒 Unlock Audio Chapter
Sign up and enroll to access the full audio experience
Chapter Content
Ten principles for Global monitoring indicators (UNSDSN, 2015) entail: 1. Limited in number and globally harmonised, 2. Simple, single-variable indicators, with straightforward policy implications, 3. Allow for high frequency monitoring, 4. Consensus-based, 5. Consensus-based, in line with international standards and system-based information, 6. Constructed from well-established data sources, 7. Disaggregated (by sex, age, location, income, spatial - rural/urban), 8. Universal, 9. Mainly outcome-focused, 10. Science-based and forward-looking.
Detailed Explanation
For effective monitoring, certain principles guide the development of indicators. These principles emphasize that indicators should be few in number and standardized across the globe to facilitate comparison. They should measure a specific variable clearly, allowing for monitoring at frequent intervals. Additionally, the development of these indicators should be based on a collective agreement among experts and rely on reputable data sources, ensuring they are applicable across different contexts and populations.
Examples & Analogies
Imagine if a school wanted to measure student success. Instead of using a hundred different tests, they decide to focus on a few core subjects that everyone agrees are important. This simplification allows for easier tracking of progress and comparisons between students across different classes.
Data Sources for Indicators
Chapter 4 of 5
🔒 Unlock Audio Chapter
Sign up and enroll to access the full audio experience
Chapter Content
Indicators to be measured are categorised with respect to global, national and thematic, and Data in turn, is sourced from census data and Household surveys (Demographic and health surveys, Fertility and Family Surveys, Reproductive health surveys, Labor Force survey, R&D Surveys etc); Administrative data (formal waste collection and management data from municipalities, National production, international trade statistics); Civil registrations (birth certificates, death certificates, etc), Vital statistics and health records; School-based or citizen-led learning assessments; as well as from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) that uses remote sensing, GPS (global positioning system), aerial photographs, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and satellite imagery from US Geological Survey/NASA Landsat data, for mapping and surveying.
Detailed Explanation
Data for sustainability indicators comes from a variety of sources. These include census data, health surveys, administrative records, and registration documents. This data is essential, as it helps distinguish between global, national, and thematic concerns. Moreover, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) play a critical role, utilizing advanced technology like satellite imaging and GPS to provide spatial data and visualize complex information about different areas.
Examples & Analogies
Consider how a city planner uses maps and statistics to plan public parks. By analyzing population data (census) and geographical data (like GIS), they can decide the best locations for new parks based on where people live and highest needs, ensuring that public resources are allocated effectively.
Role of GIS in Monitoring
Chapter 5 of 5
🔒 Unlock Audio Chapter
Sign up and enroll to access the full audio experience
Chapter Content
GIS is an application that uses geographical and spatial data in conjunction with attribute (additional information in tabular form) data to map, analyse and assess indicators. It uses imagery data-type, which includes aerial photos, satellite images, thermal images digital elevation models, scanned maps, land maps, land classification maps, etc.
Detailed Explanation
Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, are powerful tools that combine geographical data with additional contextual information to help map, analyze, and evaluate critical sustainability indicators. By using different types of imagery, such as satellite images or aerial photographs, GIS can visualize how areas develop over time and how various environmental factors interact.
Examples & Analogies
Think of GIS like a detailed recipe book that not only lists ingredients but also shows images of each dish. It allows users not only to see the final product but to understand how the ingredients combine at different stages and how they can affect each other. Similarly, GIS helps policymakers visualize the interactions between various ecological and social factors.
Key Concepts
-
Monitoring: It refers to the systematic collection of data to assess sustainable development initiatives.
-
Custodian Agencies: Organizations designated to collect and oversee the data necessary for sustainable development indicators.
-
Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A technology that integrates spatial data for analysis and decision-making.
-
Global Monitoring Principles: Guidelines to ensure effective data collection and analysis.
Examples & Applications
Using GIS technology to analyze urban development patterns.
The role of WHO in tracking global health indicators.
Memory Aids
Interactive tools to help you remember key concepts
Rhymes
To keep our targets in sight, data must shine bright.
Stories
Once there was a village that wanted to grow sustainably. They used data to track their progress and made sure they met their goals, ensuring the environment thrived.
Memory Tools
Remember the ten principles with 'SIMPLE HUG': Simple, Impactful, Measurement, Policy relevance, Low frequency, Endorsed, Harmonized, Universal, Global.
Acronyms
GEO - GIS, Emphasis on Outcomes.
Flash Cards
Glossary
- Monitoring
The systematic process of collecting data to assess the implementation and impact of sustainable development strategies.
- Custodian Agencies
Organizations appointed to collect, maintain, and update data for specific sustainable development indicators.
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
A system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
A set of global goals established to address pressing global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and peace and justice.
Reference links
Supplementary resources to enhance your learning experience.