The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Governance of Global Public Goods

This chapter analyses the relationship between global public goods (GPGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It argues that the Global 2030 Agenda of the United Nations constitutes an example of how the concept of GPGs has been given a normative dimension in international law, as well as of the difficulties that may be encountered in the process of operationalization of GPGs. The normative framework for the implementation of the SDGs relies on the use of indicators to evaluate state performance in achieving the SDGs. The choice of such indicators is crucial for appropriate decision making. However, both the usefulness and the legitimacy of indicators have been put into question. The chapter contends that the indicators are in fact normative – and intrinsically politically-driven – instruments. For this reason, the development of a global indicator framework should be expected to follow a democratic procedure involving all the relevant stakeholders.

Partisan Dislocation: A Precinct-Level Measure of Representation and Gerrymandering

We introduce a fine-grained measure of the extent to which electoral districts combine and split local communities of co-partisans in unnatural ways. Our indicator—which we term Partisan Dislocation—is a measure of the difference between the partisan composition of a voter’s geographic nearest neighbors and that of her assigned district. We show that our measure is a good local and global indicator of district manipulation, easily identifying instances in which districts carve up clusters of co-partisans (cracking) or combine them in unnatural ways (packing). We demonstrate that our measure is related to but distinct from other approaches to the measurement of gerrymandering, and has some clear advantages, above all as a complement to simulation-based approaches, and as a way to identify the specific neighborhoods most affected by gerrymandering. It can also be used prospectively by district-drawers who wish to create maps that reflect voter geography, but according to our analysis, that goal will sometimes be in conflict with the goal of partisan fairness.

Using the SDGs for global citizenship education: Definitions, challenges, and opportunities

The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) employ a global indicator framework to detail each Goal and monitor its implementation. This article focuses on three targets from the indicator framework, which call for mainstreaming education for global citizenship, sustainable development, and climate change into national curricula. By investigating the practicalities of meeting these targets from an educator's perspective, this article proceeds with: arguing for a need to shift the central purpose of education; examining what is meant by education ‘for’ the three key areas included in the global indicator framework; exploring curricular opportunities offered by the SDGs; and presenting inquiry-based learning as a pedagogical approach for critically interrogating the SDGs with learners. If the SDGs are used to drive a pragmatic definition of global citizenship, then trends in education such as inquiry- and problem-based learning come to life with a clear and urgent purpose.

Monitoring mosquito nuisance for the development of a citizen science approach for malaria vector surveillance in Rwanda

Background Many countries, including Rwanda, have mosquito monitoring programmes in place to support decision making in the fight against malaria. However, these programmes can be costly, and require technical (entomological) expertise. Involving citizens in data collection can greatly support such activities, but this has not yet been thoroughly investigated in a rural African context. Methods Prior to the implementation of such a citizen-science approach, a household entomological survey was conducted in October–November 2017 and repeated one year later in Busoro and Ruhuha sectors, in southern and eastern province of Rwanda, respectively. The goal was to evaluate the perception of mosquito nuisance reported by citizens as a potential indicator for malaria vector hotspots. Firstly, mosquito abundance and species composition were determined using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps inside the houses. Secondly, household members were interviewed about malaria risk factors and their perceived level of mosquito nuisance. Results Tiled roofs, walls made of mud and wood, as well as the number of occupants in the house were predictors for the number of mosquitoes (Culicidae) in the houses, while the presence of eaves plus walls made of mud and wood were predictors for malaria vector abundance. Perception of mosquito nuisance reported indoors tended to be significantly correlated with the number of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) and Culicidae collected indoors, but this varied across years and sectors. At the village level, nuisance also significantly correlated with An. gambiae s.l. and total mosquito density, but only in 2018 while not in 2017. Conclusions Perception of mosquito nuisance denoted in a questionnaire survey could be used as a global indicator of malaria vector hotspots. Hence, involving citizens in such activities can complement malaria vector surveillance and control.

Quality indicators of the nursing process documentation in clinical practice

ABSTRACT Objectives: to propose quality indicators for clinical nursing documentation Methods: methodological study in which literature review guided the composition of an instrument for evaluating nursing documentation. Two independent professionals evaluated 204 medical records of adult patients. The analysis of this assessment generated quality indicators for clinical nursing documentation. Inter-rater agreement was analyzed by Cohen’s kappa. Results: the bibliographic review, analysis by experts and pre-test resulted in 88 evaluation items distributed in seven topics; in 88.5% of the items, inter-rater agreement between strong and almost perfect (k=0.61-1.0) was observed. Analysis of the evaluations generated a global indicator and seven partial indicators of documentation quality. Compliance in the two services ranged between 62.3% and 93.4%. The global indicator showed a 2.1% difference between services. Conclusions: seven quality indicators of clinical nursing documentation and their method of application in hospital records have been proposed.

Aggregate indicator for quantification of sustainability to increase energy efficiency of industrial processes

The paper is motivated by the need to provide relevant synthetic indicators, on the basis of which decision makers can evaluate and compare, the extent to which the proposed projects fall within the goals of sustainable development - economic efficiency, environmental responsibility, social solidarity, circular economy, production and responsible consumption. The case study, introduced in the paper, refers to the real and optimal thermal energy balance, made for an installation for the preparation of asphalt mixtures. The approached example took into account the perspective of multiplication and modernization of asphalt mixture preparation stations. Based on the measurements, performed “on site” and the calculations performed, the values of some indicators referring to energy performance, economic efficiency and environmental impact were obtained. The obtained indicators were aggregated in a global indicator, useful for administrative decision makers.

Assessment of the Competitiveness and economic development policies of the countries of the Former French Empire

A methodology for assessing the competitiveness and policy of economic development of the countries has been developed. As an indicator of competitiveness, the advanced development index is proposed, defined as the ratio of the growth rate of a country's real GDP to the global indicator. To assess the policy of economic development, it is proposed to use an assessment of changes in the advanced development index and the standard deviation of the annual growth rates of real GDP, evaluated for the periods of economic cycles from the beginning of the recovery to the end of the recession, in comparison with the previous period. The second indicator is proposed to be used as an indicator of the sustainability of economic growth and development risk. Such an assessment tool allows four types of economic development policies to be defined including conservative, aggressive, progressive, and regressive ones, when, in comparison with the previous period, the advanced development index and the growth sustainability indicator, respectively, fall or grow in the next period. On the basis of these indicators, an evaluation of the index of the proximity of historical fate is proposed. The developed methodology is applied to the assessment of the economic development of the countries of the former French Empire since 1952. The analysis of the indicators made it possible to reveal that the similarity of the economic development of countries that were previously part of the same empire, the higher, the closer the cultures of these countries, and the further away, the further away from their cultures. At the same time, only those countries achieved advanced development that, after gaining independence, which were able to form their own institutional system, significantly different from the colonial institutions of the metropolis. No signs of the emergence of French civilization, united by a common historical destiny, have been found on the territory of the former French Empire. The obtained scientific result is proof of the need to develop a model of a multipolar world, in which it is necessary to include a provision on the need to form institutions of economic development that are authentic to each culture.

You say you want a [data] revolution: Reflections one year on

In August 2019, the IAOS discussion platform was launched with a special session at the ISI World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The first paper published as part of that discussion series was ‘You say you want a [data] Revolution: A proposal to use unofficial statistics for the SDG Global Indicator Framework’. This follow-on paper looks back over the year since the launch, summarizes the online debate, highlights some other relevant papers, and reflects on where the discussion rests today.