Sustainability indicators UK


 * International and other country information - see main Sustainability indicators article

Action Ideas

 * Local quality of life indicators
 * Local quality of life Index
 * Community surveys
 * Footprint analysis

Why it matters
Indicators simply measure or indicate what’s going on, and answer straightforward questions about chosen issues. Indicators can show
 * Where we are now, and provide a ‘benchmark’ against which to assess future progress
 * What’s improving, what’s getting worse, and what’s not changing
 * The strengths or good aspects of an area as well as challenges it faces

Sustainability Indicators or local Quality of Life Indicators are about questions that affect us all
 * What’s going on in your community?
 * Is crime on the increase?
 * Is the environment in trouble?
 * What shape is the local economy in?

Related topics

 * Community resources
 * Communities online
 * Local needs met locally

Related wiki

 * Environment monitoring, Future scenarios

Related Wikipedia content

 * Ecological footprint

News UK

 * November 27 2006 - Statistics on local and regional carbon dioxide emissions for 2004 released. Defra / Forum:Will 'our' climate change data be free to reuse?, Climate change UK
 * July 31 2006 - Guide to state of UK environment, society and economy. Sustainable development indicators in your pocket 2006, published. Defra, National Statistics
 * January 26 2006, Local Environment Quality information for all
 * CO2 emissions by area - Defra release new figures, October 21 2005

Comment

 * Forum:Will 'our' climate change data be free to reuse?, from November 2006
 * New Start editorial August 2 2006 - Devotees of silent comedy will know self-congratulation is a dangerous thing. No sooner do heroes like Fatty Arbuckle or Laurel and Hardy beam with pride at their achievements than they come a cropper, usually with a hefty dollop of personal humiliation.

Campaigns

 * Free Our Data, a Guardian Technology campaign

Resources

 * The Environment in your Pocket, 2006 (EIYP), published in October 2006. A National Statistics publication produced by Defra. Facts and figures on climate change, air quality, water quality, land use, waste and recycling, wildlife and other environmental issues. It includes sustainable development environmental indicators and has a section on environmental pressures including energy use, transport, pollution incidents and household consumption as well as spending on mitigation measures.
 * Resources and Energy Analysis Programme (REAP), FREE set of local authority area Ecological footprint and Carbon dioxide data is available for every local authority in the UK. (Sign in required)
 * Regional Sustainable Development Indicators 2005. See also Sustainable development - how the regions measure up, December 13 2005
 * The Audit Commissions Quality of Life Indicators
 * Making Indicators Count: Using quality of life indicators in local governance, nef, 2003. Publication available to download via NEF website. NEF found that fewer than half of all Local Authorities in England and Wales have used quality of life indicators, and there are examples of authorities that have started using and then discarded them.

UK links

 * National Statistics Official government statistics
 * Neighbourhood Statistics A service of National Statistics to give the Local Focus
 * Magic Web-based interactive map to bring together geographic information on key environmental schemes and designations in one place
 * Reviewing Progress, UK government information
 * What's in Your Backyard? Local and National environmental data from the Environment Agency
 * Indices of deprivation, via the website of the Office of the Deputy Primi Minister
 * Radical Statistics

UK local links

 * West DEN West Devon Environmental Network. Past Projects have included a Sustainability Indicators Project.
 * Scotland’s Global Footprint Project