The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide - Democrats Against UN ...

The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide
• the incorporation of indicators into official reporting, review, and assessment processes; and
• the use of a clear and consistent reporting format for presenting indicator values to the public.
Box F illustrates how a performance-oriented planning and evaluation process has been put into effect in the state of Oregon, USA.
One of the important elements in the success of the Oregon Benchmark Program is the institutionalization of the indicator
measurement and application process. The state legislature has established clear legal provisions to ensure that indicators are
applied. A senior government official is given responsibility for each “benchmark” indicator, and the benchmarks are used as criteria
for allocating resources during the state budgeting process.
Figure 17 provides an example of the reporting format used by the city of Jacksonville, USA, to report on its quality of life
indicators. The format clearly states the target, illustrates trends, and transparently communicates how the indicator is measured.
Link indicators to statutory planning and resource allocation decisions.
6.3 Periodic Progress Review
While indicators can be a very suitable tool for the evaluation of local performance relative to action targets, they are generally too
simplistic a tool to use in evaluating a community’s actual progress in becoming more sustainable. The ability of a community to
sustain itself economically, socially, and environmentally in a complex and rapidly changing world cannot be determined from a
limited set of simple measurements of local conditions.
Use periodic progress auditing to evaluate the actual sustainability of local conditions.
Therefore, just as State of the Environment Reporting periodically reassesses and reevaluates local environmental conditions, it is
recommended that progress towards sustainability be periodically evaluated (every two to five years) through a comprehensive audit.
Such a sustainability progress audit should broadly review local conditions and trends, indicate the systemic nature of conditions,
and describe how these local conditions relate to regional and global trends. As a practical matter, the system of data collection for
performance indicators and for a sustain-ability progress audit can be integrated to link performance and progress evaluations, but a
progress evaluation should seek to undertake a deeper analysis of conditions and trends in a local, regional, and global context. The
results of the progress audit can then be distributed to the community at large, can be debated by experts, and can ultimately be used
to determine whether revisions need to be made to the Community Vision and to the Action Plan and its goals, targets, and action
strategies so that these reflect the latest information about sustainability.
FIGURE 17 EXAMPLE OF INDICATOR PRESENTATION IN THE “LIFE IN JACKSONVILLE” PROJECT
The effective use of indicators as a reporting and accountability mechanism requires consistent, clear, and understandable
presentation of indicator information. This example from Jacksonville, Florida, USA, demonstrates the key features of
effective indicator presentation. Trend data is clearly presented in both data and graphic formats. The target is presented
along with the method for calculating the indicator, i.e., performance relative to the target. Verbal explanations are also
provided for the lay reader.
http://www.idrc.ca/openebooks/448-2/ (141 of 180)18/10/2010 12:47:23 AM