Ireland's Sustainable Development – the Impact of Maps
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Ireland’s Sustainable CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Development – Ireland’s Sustainable Development the impact of maps – the impact of maps 1. Introduction In September 2015, Transforming Our World, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable ForDevelopment many years, (the 2030 it has Agenda) been was accepted adopted by that all 193 economic Members andStates other of the formsUnited provide us with geospatial information which indicate how we are doing We are all responsible ofNations development (UN). The can2030 causeAgenda seriousaims to deliver damage a more to sustainable, our environment. prosperous and in relation to the SDGs. To fi nd the Story Maps go to http://irelandsdg. In the year 2000, United Nations member states agreed a set of eight Ourpeaceful atmosphere future for the can entire be polluted,world, and setsas canout a ourframework water forsupplies. how to achieve Even this small by geohive.ie/. The following sections illustrate the Story Map experience. Millennium Development Goals. These goals included poverty, primary changes2030. This inframework our climate is made could up of cause17 Sustainable serious Development fl ooding Goalsor drought. (SDGs) which There arecover many the social, other economic possible and outcomes, environmental each requirements posing for a threata sustainable to human future. Life on and education and environmental sustainability. They were not met by the health and wellbeing and, indeed, to all forms of life. Renewed concern target date of 2015. The SDGs represent the most ambitious agreement the UN has ever reached. The Goals Life on Land (Goal 15) aims to protect, restore and promote sustainable has resulted in a detailed updating of agreed approaches to these use of ecosystems and forests and to It took three years to agree are unique, because they apply equally to every country, and are based on the idea that h education is important problems.ending poverty, The protecting result is the The environment 2030 Agenda and strengthening, initially adoptedhuman rights by are the mutually 193 protect against land degradation and loss on the 2030 Agenda. This is the national mapping Memberbeneficial Statesand reliant of theon each United other Nationsfor success, including and cannot Ireland be achieved (www.un.org/ separately. of biodiversity. In Ireland, certain areas agreement recognises that “ The Department of Education and Ordnance Survey Ireland Si) sustainabledevelopment). The Agenda requires countries to take action are protected by EU Directives and by close global partnerships Skills National Strategy on Education agency of the Republic of Ireland. It produces and sells a very toFigure achieve 1.1: The 17 17 Sustainable SDGs Development Goals (SDGs). national law against activities that might and the input of many for Sustainable Development in comprehensive range of urban, rural, tourist and leisure maps at cause damage to the natural environment. communities and individuals Ireland 2014-2020 aims to ensure that a variety of scales in digital and printed form. OSi also produces These areas include: will be necessary to achieve education contributes to sustainable aerial photographs and digital terrain models. the ambitious 17 SDGs. development by equipping learners Customers include: Special Protection Areas (SPAs): bird wildlife conservation with the relevant knowledge, skills We must take notice of this. • Individual members of the public Special Areas of Conservation (SACs): rare animal and plant species and values (the ‘why’) that will motivate We need to know what is and empower them throughout their • Tourists ( ): vulnerable habitats of plants and animals. Natural Heritage Areas NHAs important, what we should lives to become informed active • Schools be doing and how we are The Story Maps look at these citizens who take action for a more • The construction industry protected areas across Ireland, progressing in our efforts sustainable future.” to achieve the Goals. • Architects identifying habitat types and The Sustainable Development Goals Awareness is the key. For • Engineers national initiatives to protect National Implementation Plan 2018-2020 biodiversity. The map shown example, a visit to http:// • Property and legal fi rms identifi es the protected areas. irelandsdg.geohive.ie/ will • Government Departments and local authorities. Clicking on a region reveals the reveal that we have serious problems around energy supply (SDG7) and water quality (SDG6). A look at the other Goals will reveal even The 2030 Agenda is voluntary and not legally binding, but every country has agreed to location and shows the total area Ireland’s Sustainable Development National Implementation Plan ◄ ► x more challenges. Annual revenues amount to €20 million. implement the SDGs and every country is expected to develop a national framework and the percentage of it that is 2918/2020 sets out our initial response to this task. Corrofi n setting out how they will be achieved. Ireland is fully committed to achieving the SDGs protected. The Story Map also Understandin eospatial lanuage OSi also licences data for a wide range of computer based Inand this this lesson Plan represents we discuss Ireland’s the initial objectives framework of for this doing plan so. Itand is the illustrate first in whathow will relates to Goal 6: Clean Water COUNTY CLARE applications such as Computer Aided Design (CAD) and CONTAE An Clár The word geospatial, is a combination of the words ‘geo’ (from the Geographic Information Systems (GIS). mapsbe a series play of a SDG central Implementation role in the Plans development in the period toand 2030. monitoring of such and Sanitation. Total Area (m2) 93,955,857.84 ambitious projects. Cover Area (m2) 46684, 077.30 Greek, meaning ‘earth’) and ‘spatial’ (meaning related to ‘space’). OSi products are state of the art, produced using the most up to Governments have primary responsibility for implementing the SDGs, but the Goals do Wor and overty % Protected Area Cover 46.69 Although relatively new, the word is now widely used to refer to the date technology to international standards and, consequently, the not belong solely to governments. They belong to everyone, in every community, in every position of things on the earth’s surface. company is a leader in the Irish geographic information market. What is sustainable development This Story Map illustrates country across the world. To achieve the SDGs, governments, businesses, communities All products are available directly from the OSi shop (+353 1 Sustainable development (SD) means changes in Ireland in relation to It is frequently used as a synonym for GIS (Geographical Information and individuals will all have to work together. Everyone can contribute to that work, from 802 5300) at the OSi headquarters in the Phoenix Park (near meetingbusinesses the adopting needs sustainable of the present corporate without strategies, to communities working together to unemployment and poverty System) although such usage is debatable. Geospatial usually implies Castleknock Gate) through its online shop and through a national compromisingimprove their local the environment, ability of to future the individual choices hewe all make s ofas consumers.Sustainable throughout the last decade. the combination of location and data related to that location. Hence, Development network of retail outlets. generations to meet their own needs. It relates to Goal 8: Decent other terms such as spatial data, geospatial data and geodata are The 2030 Agenda is a global agenda but its substance is equally important and relevant In November 2017, OSi/CSO hosted the prestigious European Essentially, it is an attempt to provide an eople Work and Economic Growth frequently used. Technologies such as GPS (Global Positioning to our own daily lives here in Ireland. Together with ending global poverty and combatting Forum for Geography and Statistics (EFGS) Conference in Dublin. acceptable standard of life for existing lanet and Goal 1: No Poverty. System) and remote sensing systems are often referred to as harmful climate change, the SDGs also aim to make our towns and cities cleaner and safer, The experts at that conference debated on the topics discussed geospatial technologies. generationsto ensure people without have access damaging to decent the jobs, to promote better healthrosperit and education for in this lesson, while exploring the best ways of linking geography prospectsall, and to end for all future forms of generations. inequality including The gender inequality andeace discrimination. The fi rst recorded use of geospatial data to solve a social problem was with other offi cial statistics. broad objective here is a society where artnership in 1854, long before the above terminology existed. Dr. John Snow economic prosperity provides a good wrote his data on cholera outbreaks on a map of London and concluded standard of living, without exhausting our SDG National Implementation Plan 7 accurately that the disease was associated with contaminated water. natural resources or damaging the environment, To accomplish these outcomes, a development plan must address economic, environmental The future of maps? and social considerations. This is graphically illustrated by the 5P model How will maps develop in response to the growing need for powerful shown here. No ‘P’ should be excluded. geospatial services? Will we see holographic 3D visualisations? We Stor maps brin statistics to life probably will, because the technologies necessary to generate such The map