Priorities, Scale and Insights: Opportunities and Challenges for Community Involvement in SDG Implementation and Monitoring

Ainhoa González (), Shane Mc Guinness, Enda Murphy, Grainne Kelliher and Lyn Hagin-Meade
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Ainhoa González: School of Geography, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
Shane Mc Guinness: School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
Enda Murphy: School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
Grainne Kelliher: Dundrum 2030 Community Group, Airfield Estate, D14 EE77 Dublin, Ireland
Lyn Hagin-Meade: Dundrum 2030 Community Group, Airfield Estate, D14 EE77 Dublin, Ireland

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: Monitoring progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) mainly relies on national voluntary review mechanisms, which often depend on regional spatial data and statistics. While it is critical that governments take ownership of SDG implementation and reporting, many communities are proactively driving changes towards sustainability through local action. This paper explores the potential implications of bridging national and local implementation and reporting through the lens of SDG indicators data. It presents a community-driven case study for sustainability monitoring in the Republic of Ireland, exploring how local priorities and associated data scalability and insights provide opportunities and challenges towards a comprehensive and accurate understanding of SDG progress in implementation and achievement. Systemic data availability and scale limitations weaken the evidence-base needed for informed community-driven sustainable development initiatives. Similarly, local efforts to track changes on relevant indicators are uncommon but necessary for filling in data gaps and contributing to a more accurate national reporting. The achievement of the SDGs requires invested commitment across national, regional, local, and community levels. The implementation of sustainability interventions and tracking any changes these may enact on relevant indicators is equally a joint effort, which calls for strategic data and knowledge exchange partnerships.

Keywords: sustainable development goals; local community; spatial data; knowledge; measuring progress; dashboards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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