BARCELONA PROVINCIAL COUNCIL
Program Name
Municipal System of Sustainability Indicators
Municipal Profile
Population: 4.6 million
Budget: US$569 million
Land Area: 7,719 square kilometers
Economic Activities: services, industry, construction, agriculture
Environmental Expertise: sustainability program development, Local Agenda 21
Issue Addressed
Environmental Management
Key Management Concept
A network of municipalities working towards sustainable development can develop regionally relevant sustainability indicators to help municipalities of all sizes assess their progress and incorporate sustainability into their planning processes.
Program Goals
The program aims to provide a system for members of the Network of Cities and Towns for Sustainability to monitor their progress towards sustainable development by using sustainability indicators that are technically accurate and selected through a participatory process.
Program Abstract
The Network of Cities and Towns for Sustainability (Xarxa de Ciutats i Pobles cap a la Sostenibilitat) is currently composed of 200 municipalities in Catalonia. Since its creation in July 1997, the network has sought to develop a municipal system of sustainability indicators in order to evaluate progress towards sustainability among its member municipalities.
In 1998, the Network's Technical Secretariat (the Barcelona County Council Environment Service) initiated a consultation process to define a system of local sustainability indicators in order to propose it as a tool for Catalonian municipalities.
Research into indicator systems developed by different entities was carried out to initiate discussion in the network's workgroups. Indicators reviewed included those from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UN Commission for Sustainable Development, the European Environment Agency, and those used by cities such as The Hague (Netherlands), Leicester and Birmingham (UK), and Seattle (U.S.A.). Based on these experiences, local authority representatives created an initial list of fifty indicators that were appropriate to their needs.
A pilot project was carried out in 11 diverse network municipalities that had shown interest in the project. Continuous feedback between the municipalities and an expert commission resulted in the redefinition of some indicators to achieve the desired results. Subsequently, 30 indicators were selected from the initial list and approved by all members of the network, creating a Municipal System of Sustainability Indicators (SMIS).
For ease of use, the SMIS includes for each indicator a brief description, a calculation formula, information sources, and an explanation of the desirable tendency to advance towards a more sustainable municipal model. In some cases possible sub-indicators and observations to clarify certain concepts are also provided.
The indicators range from ones that can be calculated almost immediately to ones that are more difficult to calculate because they relate to complex parameters or because insufficient data are available at present. Protocols for the definition and application of each indicator were developed with the participation of several commissions. Participating groups included a small multidisciplinary group of experts (university professors, local authorities, representatives from professional colleges), a municipal monitoring commission (composed of members from the 11 municipalities participating in the pilot project who coordinated the process and monitored the availability and reliability of data), and the network's technical secretariat.
After two years of implementation, SMIS is getting highly positive results. About 30 municipalities now calculate sustainability indicators and are gradually incorporating them into their planning processes for sustainability.
The indicators system is now included as part of the technical requirements of environmental audits. Additionally, Barcelona Provincial Council and the Network of Cities and Towns for Sustainability recommend that municipalities launching their Local Agenda 21 processes include these indicators in their monitoring plans.
With the aim of providing resources to facilitate municipal work and management, the provincial council established a website to help users calculate the sustainability indicators. This website shows the results of the indicators and, therefore, the progress municipalities are making towards sustainability. This tool is intended to make municipal technicians' work easier and encourage more municipalities to carry out the calculations.
Financing
Barcelona Provincial Council provided direct financing totaling US$321,766 for the project from budget allocations in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The main expenditure was commissioning a consulting company and a group of 11 experts who were responsible for technical supervision.
Staff
The project was staffed in three ways: by commissioning a company of consultants, setting up a group of experts, and forming a group of municipal technicians. Overall supervision was provided by councillors from the municipalities involved who were interested in sustainability and environmental issues.
The 11 municipalities and the provincial council each provided a technician on a part-time basis and a political official on an occasional basis both at the formulation stage (definition of indicators) and throughout the implementation stage (information gathering and calculation of indicators). A Barcelona Provincial Council technician was responsible for coordinating the work of the other technicians involved in the project.
Lessons Learned
The support of a supra-municipal administration to launch the indicator development process is very important. Networking and cooperation between municipalities creates synergy, improves the quality of results, maintains interest, and ensures continuity in the process. Effort is needed to make the indicators instruments that influence municipal management. External assistance is required to maintain a system of indicators in small municipalities and leads to greater success in medium and large municipalities.
Key Publications
Diputació de Barcelona. 2000. Municipal System of Sustainability Indicators (available in Spanish and English).
Diputació de Barcelona. 1998. Proposal for 50 Sustainability Indicators.
Contact
Domènec Cucurull Descàrrega, Head of Service
Servei de Medi Ambient
Diputació de Barcelona
Carrer d'Urgell, 187, edifici del rellotge, 2ª planta
08036 Barcelona, Spain
Tel: +34-93/402-24-85
Fax: +34-93/402-24-93
Email: cucurulldd@diba.es
Website
www.diba.es
Municipal System of Sustainability Indicators
Municipal Profile
Population: 4.6 million
Budget: US$569 million
Land Area: 7,719 square kilometers
Economic Activities: services, industry, construction, agriculture
Environmental Expertise: sustainability program development, Local Agenda 21
Issue Addressed
Environmental Management
Key Management Concept
A network of municipalities working towards sustainable development can develop regionally relevant sustainability indicators to help municipalities of all sizes assess their progress and incorporate sustainability into their planning processes.
Program Goals
The program aims to provide a system for members of the Network of Cities and Towns for Sustainability to monitor their progress towards sustainable development by using sustainability indicators that are technically accurate and selected through a participatory process.
Program Abstract
The Network of Cities and Towns for Sustainability (Xarxa de Ciutats i Pobles cap a la Sostenibilitat) is currently composed of 200 municipalities in Catalonia. Since its creation in July 1997, the network has sought to develop a municipal system of sustainability indicators in order to evaluate progress towards sustainability among its member municipalities.
In 1998, the Network's Technical Secretariat (the Barcelona County Council Environment Service) initiated a consultation process to define a system of local sustainability indicators in order to propose it as a tool for Catalonian municipalities.
Research into indicator systems developed by different entities was carried out to initiate discussion in the network's workgroups. Indicators reviewed included those from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UN Commission for Sustainable Development, the European Environment Agency, and those used by cities such as The Hague (Netherlands), Leicester and Birmingham (UK), and Seattle (U.S.A.). Based on these experiences, local authority representatives created an initial list of fifty indicators that were appropriate to their needs.
A pilot project was carried out in 11 diverse network municipalities that had shown interest in the project. Continuous feedback between the municipalities and an expert commission resulted in the redefinition of some indicators to achieve the desired results. Subsequently, 30 indicators were selected from the initial list and approved by all members of the network, creating a Municipal System of Sustainability Indicators (SMIS).
For ease of use, the SMIS includes for each indicator a brief description, a calculation formula, information sources, and an explanation of the desirable tendency to advance towards a more sustainable municipal model. In some cases possible sub-indicators and observations to clarify certain concepts are also provided.
The indicators range from ones that can be calculated almost immediately to ones that are more difficult to calculate because they relate to complex parameters or because insufficient data are available at present. Protocols for the definition and application of each indicator were developed with the participation of several commissions. Participating groups included a small multidisciplinary group of experts (university professors, local authorities, representatives from professional colleges), a municipal monitoring commission (composed of members from the 11 municipalities participating in the pilot project who coordinated the process and monitored the availability and reliability of data), and the network's technical secretariat.
After two years of implementation, SMIS is getting highly positive results. About 30 municipalities now calculate sustainability indicators and are gradually incorporating them into their planning processes for sustainability.
The indicators system is now included as part of the technical requirements of environmental audits. Additionally, Barcelona Provincial Council and the Network of Cities and Towns for Sustainability recommend that municipalities launching their Local Agenda 21 processes include these indicators in their monitoring plans.
With the aim of providing resources to facilitate municipal work and management, the provincial council established a website to help users calculate the sustainability indicators. This website shows the results of the indicators and, therefore, the progress municipalities are making towards sustainability. This tool is intended to make municipal technicians' work easier and encourage more municipalities to carry out the calculations.
Financing
Barcelona Provincial Council provided direct financing totaling US$321,766 for the project from budget allocations in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The main expenditure was commissioning a consulting company and a group of 11 experts who were responsible for technical supervision.
Staff
The project was staffed in three ways: by commissioning a company of consultants, setting up a group of experts, and forming a group of municipal technicians. Overall supervision was provided by councillors from the municipalities involved who were interested in sustainability and environmental issues.
The 11 municipalities and the provincial council each provided a technician on a part-time basis and a political official on an occasional basis both at the formulation stage (definition of indicators) and throughout the implementation stage (information gathering and calculation of indicators). A Barcelona Provincial Council technician was responsible for coordinating the work of the other technicians involved in the project.
Lessons Learned
The support of a supra-municipal administration to launch the indicator development process is very important. Networking and cooperation between municipalities creates synergy, improves the quality of results, maintains interest, and ensures continuity in the process. Effort is needed to make the indicators instruments that influence municipal management. External assistance is required to maintain a system of indicators in small municipalities and leads to greater success in medium and large municipalities.
Key Publications
Diputació de Barcelona. 2000. Municipal System of Sustainability Indicators (available in Spanish and English).
Diputació de Barcelona. 1998. Proposal for 50 Sustainability Indicators.
Contact
Domènec Cucurull Descàrrega, Head of Service
Servei de Medi Ambient
Diputació de Barcelona
Carrer d'Urgell, 187, edifici del rellotge, 2ª planta
08036 Barcelona, Spain
Tel: +34-93/402-24-85
Fax: +34-93/402-24-93
Email: cucurulldd@diba.es
Website
www.diba.es
