Methodological Guide for Developing Environmental and Sustainable Development Indicators in Latin America and Caribbean Countrie
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61 S E R I manuals Methodological Guide for developing Environmental and Sustainable Development Indicators in Latin American and Caribbean countries Rayén Quiroga This document is not to be cited as a reference or circulated. Santiago, Chile, June 2009 This document was prepared by Rayén Quiroga Martínez, Regional Advisor on Environmental Statistics in the Statistics and Economic Projections Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), with the collaboration of Pauline Stockins, Matías Holloway, Kristina Taboulchanas, Alynn Sanchez, Luisa LaFleur and Paulina Pizarro. Preliminary versions of this methodology have been used in a variety of courses and workshops offered by the Statistics and Economic Projections Division of ECLAC. The views expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Organization. United Nations Publications ISSN print version 1680-886 ISSN electronic version 1680-8878 ISBN: 978-92-1-323298-9 LC/L.3021-P Sales No.: S.09.II.G.45 Copyright © United Nations, June 2009. All rights reserved Printed at the United Nations, Santiago, Chile Applications for the right to reproduce this work or parts thereof should be sent to the Secretary of the Publications Board, United Nations Headquarters, New York, N. Y. 10017, U.S.A. Member States and their governmental institutions may reproduce this work without prior authorization, but are requested to mention the source and inform the United Nations of such reproduction. ECLAC - Manuals Series No 61 Methodological guide for developing environmental and sustainable development indicators Table of Contents Summary ............................................................................................ 7 Introduction ............................................................................................ 8 I. Concepts and fundamentals for building indicators .................. 11 1. A basic review of concepts ....................................................... 11 1.1 Information, knowledge and decisions ............................. 14 1.2 Variable, data, statistic, indicator ..................................... 16 1.2.1 Some definitions ...................................................... 18 1.2.2 Statistical information processing: data, statistics, Indicators................................................................. 19 1.3 Processed and selected information: indicators ................ 21 1.3.1 What is an indicator?...............................................21 1.3.2 Definitions of Environmental Indicator and sustainable development indicator ......................... 21 1.3.3 What purpose do environmental and sustainable development indicators serve? ................................ 23 1.4 Complexity of environmental information ....................... 23 1.4.1 The dynamics an spatial dimensions of environmental Phnomena ................................................................ 23 1.4.2 Complexity of interrelationship among environmental, economic and social dynamics ...... 24 1.4.3 Difficulty and costs of measurement ...................... 25 1.4.4 Organizing the Environmental Statistical System and strenhthering inter-institutional cooperation..............................................................25 1.5 Sources of information for building Environmental Indicators.............................................................. ............. 25 2. Fundamentals for building indicators ........................................ 26 3 ECLAC - Manuals Series No 61 Methodological guide for developing environmental and sustainable development indicators 2.1 Teamwork ......................................................................... 26 2.2 Adequate organization ...................................................... 27 2.3 Cooperation ...................................................................... 27 2.4 Selection of information and coordination of processes .. 28 2.5 Demand-driven design ..................................................... 30 2.6 Manageable number of indicators .................................... 31 2.7 Strict compliance with procedures ................................... 32 2.8 User-friendly indicator format .......................................... 33 2.9 Flexibility ......................................................................... 33 2.10 Perseverance .................................................................... 34 II. Methodological road map for building and maintaining Environmental Indicators ............ 35 1. Stage 1: Preparation ........................................................................................................... 38 1.1 Team-building ............................................................................................................ 38 1.2 Training ...................................................................................................................... 40 1.3 Review of institutional context, relevance to national situation and international experience .................................................................................................................. 41 1.3.1 Review of the international context an the national experience ....................... 41 1.3.2 Capturing national (territorial) characteristics, versus international Comparability ................................................................................................... 42 1.4 Review of conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches..........................43 1.4.1 Conceptual or referential frameworks and their possible indicators ................. 44 1.4.2 Methodological approaches...............................................................................50 1.5 Preliminary substantive decisions .............................................................................. 55 2. Stage 2: Design and construction of Environmental Indicators ........................................ 57 2.1 Preliminary list of potential indicators ....................................................................... 59 2.2 Review of sources and availability of information for building indicators ................................................................................................ 61 2.2.1 Types of environmental statistical sources........................................................61 2.2.2 Identification and compilation of existing statistics...........................................64 2.3 Development or completion of Methodological Sheet for each indicator ................. 65 2.4 Formation of subject-area subgroups for elaborating Methodological Sheets ........... 68 2.5 Selection of final indicators........................................................................................69 2.5.1 Eligibility criteria for indicators.........................................................................69 2.5.2 Definition of a logical framework......................................................................71 2.6 Fact Sheet Design ....................................................................................... …………73 2.6.1 Selection of graphic representation: types of graphs and maps ........................ 75 2.7 Development of final publication............................................................................... 79 2.7.1 Selection of dissemination platform .................................................................. 79 2.8 Development of Data Sharing Sheet .......................................................................... 81 2.8.1 Individualized inter-and-intra-institutional data flow sheets for indicators.......82 2.9 Development of Statistical Log ................................................................................. .86 2.10 Launch ...................................................................................................................... 87 3. Stage 3: Institutionalization and updating of the System of Indicators................................89 3.1 The formation of the Core Team ............................................................................... 90 3.1.1 Organizational proposal for a Unit to implement and provide continuity to the systems of Environmental Indicators ................................................................. 90 4 ECLAC - Manuals Series No 61 Methodological guide for developing environmental and sustainable development indicators 3.2 Promoting the use of the indicators................................................................................................91 3.3 Updating ........................................................................................................................................91 3.4 General principles ..........................................................................................................................92 3.4.1 Intra-institutional coordination for internal data flow......................................................................93 3.4.2 Inter-institutional coordination for the flow of external data or data originating from other organizations collaborating with th institution in charge................................................................94 3.5 Products resulting from the indicator-building process .................................................................95 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................97