APPENDIX A. SUSTAINABILITY ATLAS: THE POWER OF STORYTELLING Visualization Interface for Typologies and Data

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1 A.1 Preamble SUSTAINABILITY ATLAS: THE POWER OF STORYTELLING Visualization Interface for Typologies and Data In September 2015 the United Nations will adopt the post-2015 development agenda and launch the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replacing the Millennium Development Goals that were operational between 2000 and The 17 SDGs set a 15-year timeframe to mobilize global sustainable development efforts around a common set of goals and targets, aspirations and priorities. The SDGs call for worldwide joint action among all stakeholders, i.e. governments, the private sector, the academic and scientific community and civil society to ensure the sustainability of our planet by To be implemented, the SDGs will need to be localized to national and sub-national contexts, mitigating the gap between international processes and national implementation. Three major challenges have to be addressed: (1) make the SDGs and related processes easy to communicate; (2) develop an effective SDG monitoring framework with clear targets and indicators; (3) mobilize adequate financing 1. The SDSN Northern Europe (SDSN NE) based at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability (GMV) at Chalmers and University of Gothenburg therefore require funding for developing a demo of an interactive data-visualization information and communications technology (ICT) interface called the Sustainability Atlas and for an interactive survey and concept documentation that support it. The Sustainability Atlas demo will visualize and compare disaggregated typologies and data for Sweden, based on key indicators to help stakeholders participate to- and visualize the stateof-the-world on different levels, define priorities, impact and contribute to the implementation of the SDGs. Such visualized disaggregated typologies and data prioritized by stakeholders and civil society can create innovative possibilities and insights for informing and transforming society. It can protect the environment and for strengthen vertical (multi-level) and horizontal (multi-stakeholder) relationships. Note that stakeholders and civil society will both participate and be the end-user. The need for an interactive data-visualization interface is explicit in the global initiative Data Revolution for Sustainable Development 2 managed by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Formas also articulates the need for data from the academic and scientific community to be visualized, easily accessible and understandable. Suggestion 11:9 in Underlag till kontrollstation 2015 för anpassning till ett förändrat klimat 3 states that data visualization should be a priority for Formasfunded communications projects. A.2 Sustainability Atlas overview Note that this overview is for the fully functional version of the Sustainability Atlas. The demo of the Sustainability Atlas will follow the same principles but functionality will be limited. 1 UN SDSN; 2 Data Revolution for Sustainable Development; 3 Formas; Remissyttrande M2015/1162KI 1

2 The Sustainability Atlas will be an online interactive interface, launched in 2016 that will provide visualizations of disaggregated typologies and data based on specific aggregated indicators that are reflective of diverse input assessment methodologies. The objective of the interface will be to guide stakeholders and processes to meet their responsibilities and visualize opportunities in support of the SDGs. Input will consist of primary data (original input created by stakeholders and civil society, such as sectorial outputs) and secondary data (input for example via algorithms from databases or existing data such as publications, financial data, etc.). The Sustainability Atlas will be an interactive dynamic interface that evolves organically as the SDGs progress. The baseline for visualized output will be the SDGs and their targets, against which all disaggregated typologies and data will be leveraged. Typologies and data related to the SDG baseline, could for example be visualized by end-users selecting specific indicators. for: Strategies and players: visualize different stakeholders (university, business, government and civil society), their roles (research, technological innovations, social entrepreneurship, etc.) and their strategies (policy, etc.) Financial flows: visualize what kind, from where and how much financial resources are being mobilized Technology: visualize what technology is already deployed or what innovations exist, etc. Behavior: visualize citizen generated input that describes key drivers in behavior Visualize interlinkages, contact points and relevance to and between the SDGs and between SDGs and within and between such typologies and data will be generated by end-user selecting a combination of indicators. For example, choosing university as typology and a specific thematic research area as an indicator linked to the SDG baseline via assessment can visualize how specific universities within a specific theme contribute to the SDG. Comparing to a similar visualization on research funding can show gaps in knowledge vis-à-vis the SDG and typology. The SDSN NE Sustainability Atlas is inspired by three data visualization interfaces (see Appendix J, figure 2,3,4): (1) OECD Better Life Index 4 ; (2) UN The World We Want Visualizing People s Voices 5 ; (3) Better World Flux Progress on the Millennium Development Goals 6 A fully functional Sustainability Atlas will have clear added value and will therefore be an evolving project, continuously and interactively used and updated by all stakeholders and civil society. A.3 Added values of the Sustainability Atlas 4 OECD Better Life Index; 5 UN Visualizing People s Voices; 6 Better World Flux; 2

3 Note that the added value of the demo Sustainability Atlas is increased stakeholder understanding on the need and added values of a fully function Sustainability Atlas interface. A fully functional interface further increases this value: Provide easy stakeholder and civil society participation with data and understanding of data that can increase their overview of critical interlinkages that fuel monitoring, planning, innovation, knowledge and decision-making relevant to the SDGs. Understanding such interlinkages can aid stakeholders and civil society to concentrate efforts, prioritize, engage, and discover knowledge and technological gaps. It can also create new or redirect existing financing and identify financial opportunities, in a measurable way towards an integrated implementation of the SDGs. Consequently, these interlinkages between and within typologies and data create a unified and shared framework across all dimensions of sustainable development and will allow the discovery of scalable partnerships models aligned with the SDGs and enable effective back casting and scenario planning. Used correctly, visualization can remove barriers to data comprehension by providing a shared language that simplifies complex issues and increases mutual understanding. It can harness the power of information and empower stakeholders and civil society to understand and visualize the ways in which complexity can be navigated. Consequently, visualization of typologies and data provides order, without which the ability for stakeholders and civil society to act is limited, and responsibilities and efforts for achievement of the SDGs cannot be integrated for systemic transformation for sustainable development. A.4 Purpose and goal 1. Inform all stakeholders about the importance and added value of structured and visualized data in their participation for the implementation of the SDGs 2. Increase insights on the most relevant indicators for the Sustainability Atlas, the best data sources and how these can be used by stakeholders and civil society in relation to the SDGs 3. Increase knowledge and create an enabling environment for citizen generated data, the creation of data recording algorithms and new databases and access to existing databases 4. Mobilize interest for stakeholder participation and engagement in the Sustainability Atlas for demo development The goal of the project is to mobilize stakeholder participation, knowledge production, engagement and additional funding for the scale up to a fully functional Sustainability Atlas. A.5 Why the SDSN NE should develop the Sustainability Atlas? The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network 7 (SDSN) is a global initiative that was initiated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The SDSN is a unique network of problem-solvers that mobilizes scientific and technical knowledge to 7 3

4 contribute to practical solutions for sustainable development. It is built on the idea that centers of knowledge must take leadership in driving goal-based integrated and systemic transformation ensuring scientific excellence. With universities at its core and in close collaboration with the UN, institutional and private sector partners, SDSN NE facilitates collaborative efforts that support: Active dialogue and impact, Problem solving, solutions and financing, Educational initiatives Applied research and communication. The SDSN NE is a regional node for Northern Europe within the global SDSN initiative that will be launched in January It will include Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland and mobilize all universities in this region as well as many government, private sector and civil society stakeholders to develop a broad engagement on the localization 8 and implementation of the SDGs through a participatory approach. The post-2015 development agenda outcome document Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly states that the academic and scientific, research and innovation will play a central role in the successful implementation of the SDGs. The rationale to develop the Sustainability Atlas within the SDSN NE is valid as the academic and scientific community is central to the SDSN. It has the capacity to appreciate the inherent complexity of the process for implementing the SDGs to national contexts, and by initiating dynamic complex relationships (interface) between institutional partners, universities and the private sector. In order for the Sustainability Atlas to visualize interlinkages that can integrate action for transformation related to the SDGs, data must come from all stakeholders, not only the academic and scientific community. Visualized data interconnections between data from the academic and scientific community and data from other stakeholders and civil society can be a resource from which stakeholders, decisionmaking and policy and resource efficiency can draw knowledge from. The starting point for the demo Sustainability Atlas should be in the academic and scientific community and related to the SDG baseline, for example through visualizing a research agenda that can support stakeholders and civil society to effectively to the implement the SDGs. Visualizing applied participatory research can help stakeholders capacities relative to stakeholder responsibilities related to the SDGs, and develop strategies for deploying and enhancing them. A successfully evaluated demo will create the enabling environment for scaling up the Sustainability Atlas to a fully functional version. Upscale will include communicating all deliverables to the entire global SDSN network beyond Sweden. This will further connect the Sustainability Atlas to the SDG Compass reporting tool and assessment mechanisms created by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). 8 UN Habitat, 2014; Localizing the post-2015 Agenda 4

5 A.6 Thematic connection to Formas areas of responsibility This project is relevant to Formas areas of responsibility via a sustainability science lens, intrinsically taking an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach (by also involving non-scientists). The Sustainability Atlas envisions to primarily use data sourced from the academic and scientific community as baseline, to assist and inform stakeholders and civil society on roles and ways to address complexity and diverse agendas for sustainable development. This is congruent with the overarching theme in Formas responsibility areas. The objectives of our proposal are also in line with the Formas mission to promote sustainable development in society that in turn corresponds to the SDGs. Successful sustainable development strategies require research and development, promoted by the Brundtland Commission's report Our Common Future in 1987, the Agenda 21 initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 and further developed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Hence Sustainability science emerged as a relatively new academic discipline over recent decades and can be described as a field of research dealing with the interactions between natural and social systems, and with how those interactions affect the challenge of sustainability 9. Sustainability science is focused on evaluating the interactions between human, environmental, and engineered systems to understand and contribute to solutions for challenges to planetary life systems like climate change, biodiversity loss, and land and water degradation 10. Sustainability science converges diverse scientific disciplines to enhance an integrated understanding of sustainable development. Such integration calls for interdisciplinary research, necessitates integrating the humanities and the engineering sciences, with their very different methods and traditions, 11 to jointly frame problems, devise methodological approaches and analyze data. Sustainability science requires structuring of knowledge to gain a overview of sustainability issues which are both multifaceted and interconnected. A key part of knowledge structuring involves shaping instruments and tools that provide baseline data of what is known. Sustainability science can assist and coordinate a framework to develop national and global baselines where they do not yet exist and identify which data does exist. An important theme in sustainability science is the science-policy interface the ways in which scientists, policy makers and other stakeholders communicate, exchange ideas and jointly develop knowledge to enrich policy and the decisionmaking processes and/or research. This primarily involves the communication of relevant and timely data. Another key area within sustainability science is how to 9 (UN-DESA/DSD, 2014) United Nations, Assessments for Sustainable Development in Prototype Global Sustainable Development Report 10 Kates, R.; Clark, W.; Corell, R.; Hall, J.; Jaeger, C. et al. (2001). Sustainability science. Science, 292 (5517): Stock, P and Burton, R.J.F. 2011, Defining terms for integrated (multi-inter-trans-disciplinary) sustainability research, Sustainability, vol. 3,

6 formulate and implement the post-2015 development agenda and the SDGs, similarly to the way FORMAS works to satisfy the Swedish National Environmental Goals (Miljömålen). A.7 Project implementation by deliverable The implementation of the project consists of four deliverables: 1. Concept note describing the role and value of visualized data 2. Interactive online survey to provide insights on most relevant variables and parameters for data disaggregation and interlinkages within the Sustainability Atlas interface 3. Updated concept note including overview of online survey results and recommendations 4. Demo pilot of the Sustainability Atlas based on limited data input. Deliverable 1 Produce a digital concept note that illustrates the key concepts of ICT and the need and added value for data visualization interfaces such as the Sustainability Atlas as well as mapping databases and assessment tools (what exists and what is missing). Beyond simply informing stakeholders, this concept note will serve as a guide for participating in the interactive online survey (deliverable 2). Note that the actual writing and design of this concept note will be funded via Formas. Supporting dialogues on the topic between and within stakeholder groups will be facilitated within the existing programme of the SDSN NE. Deliverable 2 Create an interactive online survey that will be embedded in the SDSN NE website. This survey is inspired by the success of the UN My World online survey 12. The survey, will allow target audiences to engage in priority settings that will articulate a consensus with regard to the input and output for the Sustainability Atlas interface based on the SDGs. The survey will engage target audiences with questions such as: What should the principles and standards on data input be (primary and secondary data; in what way it will be recorded; with what algorithms or crowd-sourcing and from which existing databases)? What searchable indicators should/can be used, how many should they be, what the best indicator sources and indicator descriptions are relevant to the SDG baseline? What the best existing methodologies and assessment tools for monitoring indicator impact on the SDGs or sustainable development? For example should the 100 methodologies in the Global Sustainable Development Report be used? What interlinkages and contact points between and within typologies and data are most useful? 12 My World Survey; 6

7 What data different stakeholders need to have access to and what data stakeholders can participate with? What data should be used in the demo pilot (deliverable 4)? The design and implementation of the survey will be funded via Formas. Preparation for question s content is part of the existing programme of the SDSN NE. Target audience participation will be mobilized through the SDSN NE. Note that the survey will not be communicated to civil society at this stage due to cost effectiveness, however My World Survey 13 results will be taken into consideration. In the fully functional Sustainability Atlas, input from civil society will be mobilized through Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability (CAPS) funding from the EU Commission DG Connect. Deliverable 3 The concept note (deliverable 1) will be updated with the survey results (deliverable 2) and with recommendations for producing a demo pilot of the Sustainability Atlas interface. Deliverable 4 The consultants that shaped the OECD Better Life Index and staff at the Chalmers ICT Area of Advance will create a demo pilot of the Sustainability Atlas interface dashboard predicated on deliverable 3. The demo pilot will be based on limited data, as the primary purpose is to test the interface and attract multistakeholder participation and further funding for scale up. Only design development will be funded via Formas. Dialogue on data input for the demo will be carried out with stakeholders within the existing programme of the SDSN NE. For example, the SDSN NE will mobilize Swedish researchers to localize the SDGs using the methodology proposed in Universal Sustainable Development Goals; Understanding the Transformational Challenge for Developing Countries. This can provide data to be used for the demo pilot. Another data source could be the UN DESA scientific brief database. A.8 Target audience The deliverables for the Sustainability Atlas will be disseminated to all stakeholders to gain insights that can enable the development of the demo and create an enabling environment for scaling up. Communicating the deliverables will record answers for the survey (deliverable 2) from all stakeholders. Find below specific communication outputs for each stakeholder: STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION TO THIS STAKEHOLDER ALLOWS ACCESS TO: Researchers / Knowledge about which indicators are key for national and universities regional contexts across all disciplines within sustainability science (primarily environment) relevant with SDGs and targets Data on research and impact Funding agencies Additional funding 13 My World Survey: 7

8 Data on funding flows for R&D and impact assessment, congruent with gaps in research funding as potentially illustrated by the Sustainability Atlas visualizations Government Funding (example: Sida, Swefund) Databases and assessment tools Support structures and mandates for embedding Sustainability Atlas in national and regional development practices and strategies including stakeholder engagement Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) EU Commission DG Connect Databases Partnership for knowledge exchange related to building and managing data visualization interfaces like the OECD Better Life index Talent for building data visualization interfaces and related algorithms Additional funding Funding for ICT projects Databases Support in coordinating across the region Funding for the CAPS segment of the Sustainability Atlas WBCSD Coordination and access to databases and the SDG Compass visualization tool for business reporting data on progress for SDGs Global business network World Bank Funding World Bank Open Databases UN DESA UN foundation and GRI Funding Databases on the global SDGs and assessment methodologies Participation in working groups on global data consensus Private sector Funding Databases Knowledge about sectorial interconnections that need to be visualized and how they connect to SDGs. Facebook and Google Knowledge and competence 8