Indicators to Assess Sustainability of Transport Activities - Part 2: Measurement and Evaluation of Transport Sustainability Performance in the EU27

Inspired by the growing interest of academic and policy environments in the field of transport sustainability, this work focuses on the measurement and assessment of transport activities in the European Union (EU) with the use of transport sustainability indicators. On the basis of major international transport related indicator initiatives a set of 55 transport sustainability indicators has been developed (as defined in the first part of the report by Dobranskyte-Niskota et al., 2007) where due to lack of data 32 indicators have been assessed in quantitative terms and the JRC SusTrans Index has been developed. The Joint Research Centre software tool entitled ¿the Dashboard of Sustainability¿ based on a simple graphic interface has been applied to the JRC SusTrans Index in the assessment of transport sustainability performance in the EU Member States. The Dashboard tool has compared indicator groups using the EWA method and communicated a quick impression by pointing to areas where transport indicators showed particular success or problems. Additionally, the Dashboard tool has been also applied to the Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TERM) indicator set developed by the European Environmental Agency and the TERM Index has been calculated. The TERM Index has been used as a reference point to benchmark transport sustainability performance results of the EU Member States obtained by the SusTrans Index. The outcomes of the two indices (the SusTrans and the TERM) have revealed the highest rank of transport sustainability performance in Germany and Netherlands while the lowest performance ranks - in Greece and Bulgaria. The results of the two indices have revealed many similarities, while some differences in the outcomes observed are due to the variations in the structures of the indices. This in-depth analysis of EU 27 transport activities by the selected sustainability indicators using adequate modelling tools serves as valuable guidelines for forming transport policy strategies and scenarios. These policies aim to reduce negative impacts of transport activities with the final goal of achieving a sustainable transportation system in the European Union.JRC.H.4-Transport and air qualit

Indicators for Lisbon post-2010 - business as usual?

This paper looks at the ongoing debate within the European Commission on the EU 2020 strategy and in particular to the potential role of statistics-based knowledge in the strategy , and takes partly inspiration from a reflection on the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs EU 2020 in the framework of the implementation of the European economic recovery plan. We highlight three shortcomings in the present (pre-EU 2020) use of statistical indicators which the present debate does not seem to address and which hence risk being perpetuated in their EU 2020 formulation: - The paradox of the coexistence within the same European Commission of two holistic frameworks: the Structural Indicators and the Sustainable Development Indicators. One does not understand which of these two systems is taken to measure the overall policy performance of the Commission. The resulting dualism ¿ in the opinion of the authors - does not help the communication policy of the European Commission. - A communication issue whereby the Lisbon strategy and its offspring EU 2020 are not communicated (Lisbon is to the average citizen the capital of Portugal) and are especially not communicated in relation to existing statistical indicators of good quality, against the opinion of academicians that transparency and accountability based on sound statistics favour democracy and participation and may be useful against citizens¿ and voters¿ apathy. - The paradox that EU policy and its communication is mostly economic -- the financial crisis (the ¿crunch¿) and its management in relation to the health of public finances, and environmental (global change, carbon emission, post Copenhagen), and less to an EU social agenda. There is little emphasis in EU policy and communication on the challenge of inequality which might impact adversely on democratic participation and values. We illustrate the reasons that lead us to see these points as problematic and offer suggestions on how these should be tackled. Without a change of course on these three challenges the debate on the selection of new indicators will very much risk being and internal European Commission business as usual.JRC.DG.G.9-Econometrics and applied statistic

EU-UN Cooperation for Sustainable Development

Sustainable Development has become a high-level objective for the European Union. This contribution explores the current sustainable development agendas in the international discourse, and discusses the role of the European Union as a “sustainable development player” at the United Nations. Priorities for sustainable development in the future are outlined, with particular emphasis on the role of the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development frameworks and their respective indicator sets.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and statistical support to antifrau

Monitoring conflict risk: The contribution of globally used indicator systems

The Chapter deals with the contribution of globally used indicator systems, in particular governance, environmental and MDG indicators, to the measurement of the risk of violent conflict. The author argues that instead of specialising on conflict indicators in a narrow sense, one should rather go for a highly public and transparent broad indicator set along the lines of a Sustainable Development Index; the reason being that only a mainstream index can exert media pressure on political actors.JRC.DG.G.3-Econometrics and applied statistic

MDG Dashboard of Sustainability

The complexity of societies in the 21st century requires an adequate information system. As Europeans, we are proud of our democratic system. However, a functioning democracy needs citizens who underst and what their governments are doing.JRC.DG.G.3-Econometrics and applied statistic

MILDEVGOALS: HTML routine to display Millenium Development Goals indicators

The "Dashboard of Sustainability" is a free, non-commercial software which allows to present complex indicator sets in a highly communicative format. The software offers plenty of specialised features for working with indicator sets that are suitable for aggregation to indices. A simple interface to Excel allows creation of own dashboards on the fly. The simplified web version presents the Millennium Development Goals indicators based on United Nations statistics.indicators, indices, aggregation, linkage analysis, sensitivity analysis, sustainable development, Millennium Development Goals

Well-being stories

Contribution to the Panel "Key needs and ways forward" of the conference "Beyond GDP: Measuring progress, true wealth, and the well-being of nations", discussing the use of composite indicators in the fields of sustainability of fiscal and ecological development, economic welfare, and the ecological footprint.JRC.DG.G.9-Econometrics and applied statistic

Can Global Sensitivity Analysis Steer the Implementation of Models for Environmental Assessments and Decision-Making?

Abstract not availableJRC.(ISIS)-Institute For Systems, Informatics And Safet

Aggregating indicators for a sustainable regional development : the checklist for self-declaration and the Swiss regional-dashboard

Sustainable regional development is the long-term aim of alpine landscape and habitats. Therefore, areas with high ecological qualities and sufficient socio-cultural potential, but insufficient economical subsistence will have to develop into respective "Label regions". An adequate implementation strategy should be supported by a reliable indicator system, which finally will lead to certification procedures for regional management