DPCSD/UNEP
WORKSHOP ON INFORMATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND EARTHWATCH
Geneva, 24 September 1996
REPORT
1. The Workshop
on Information for Sustainable Development and Earthwatch, co-organized
by the UN Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development
(DPCSD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was held
on 24 September 1996 at the UNEP offices in Geneva. The purpose of the
workshop was to maintain the momentum in implementing Chapter 40 of
Agenda 21 on Information for Decision-making, and to follow up the meetings
in New York in January 1996 of the Earthwatch Working Party 3 (17-18
January), the DPCSD/UNEP Meeting on Common/compatible Systems of Access
to Data (19 January), and the Meeting of the Integrated Environmental
Assessment/Global Environmental Outlook (IEA/GEO) Core Data Working
Group (22-23 January 1996). There was a need to put the principles adopted
in January into practice, and to assemble the best ideas available for
the design and implementation of information systems for sustainable
development and Earthwatch. The focus was on the Internet and electronic
implementation, which allow levels of information integration never
before possible, assuming that printed products can be derived from
the electronic versions for distribution to those who do not have electronic
access.
2. As this was a
technical workshop, it was agreed that procedures would be informal,
with conclusions reached by consensus. The workshop was chaired jointly
by Ms Mary Pat Williams Silveira of DPCSD and Mr Arthur Dahl of UNEP.
The list of participants is given in Annex II.
Common
and compatible access to UN system information
3. The meeting on
Common and Compatible Systems of Access to Data, (New York, January
1996), was convened in response to a decision by the Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD), at its third session in April 1995. As a result of
that meeting and of the subsequent decisions by the Inter-Agency Committee
on Sustainable Development at its seventh session, the Commission on
Sustainable Development, at its fourth session in April-May 1996, requested
DPCSD, in cooperation with other organizations of the UN system, and
within available resources, to establish a Sustainable Development Home
Page on the World Wide Web, with "hot links" to relevant data bases
throughout the UN system, as a means of facilitating access by countries
to sources of information relevant to sustainable development.
4. The discussion
in this Workshop (24 September) was concerned with implementing the
decision of the Commission on Sustainable Development. This included
attention to the following issues: (1) the organization and content
of the Sustainable Development Home Page, (2) maintenance of the Home
Page and linkages to data sources; and (3) identificationof key words.
The January meeting had also agreed upon the principles that should
underlie the design of any UN information system (Annex I), and implementing
these principles was further discussed at this meeting.
Organization
and Content of the Home Page.
5. The Workshop
made a number of suggestions for the structure and content of the Sustainable
Development Home Page, keeping in mind that the creators of the home
page will require a degree of flexibility in their final design.
6. The home page
should contain: (i) historical information on sustainable development;
(ii) virtual regional and country files, and links to city files elsewhere;
(iii) virtual indicator files; (iv) a Youth Corner; (v) key issues,
including, among others, Small Island Developing States (SIDS); (vi)
relevant documentation (CSD and other); (vii) information on partners
in sustainable development; and (viii) sustainable development activities.
The page may also contain a section on "new and emerging ideas,"
and mechanisms for user feedback.
7. With regard
to the Regional and Country Files, it was agreed that information would
follow the structure of Agenda 21, although some effort should be made
to collapse the categories to fewer than forty, perhaps around twenty-five.
Country files would also contain other relevant information, such as
whether or not the country is a member of the respective UN system organisations
and signatory to conventions related to sustainable development.
8. To enhance
the relevance of the information for decision-making, Country and Regional
Files would also include indicators for which data are available, a
synopsis of the content of the file, and "boxes," as relevant, to highlight
particular information or examples. Some core information for the country
and regional files would be maintained centrally. City files would be
linked to information on Chapter 7 of Agenda 21, Human Settlements held
elsewhere.
9. All information
should be completed with date and source tags, to ensure that it is
accurate and up-to-date.
10. It was also
agreed that only official information will be posted on the Home Page.
11. In addition
to the elements for the structure and content of the Home Page, other
related issues were discussed. It was agreed that every attempt should
be made to have all material available in all official languages, with
particular emphasis on translated text for the "Youth Corner". To the
extent possible, "language transparent" data, such as numbers, tables
and graphs, should also be used.
12. As at the January
meeting, concern was expressed about the small numbers of people globally
who have Internet access and would therefore be in a position to make
use of the Home Page. It was reiterated that other means of communication
would continue to be used, including both print and other electronic
means such as gopher and e-mail. It was also agreed that attention should
be given to the amount of graphical material, since extensive graphics
require extensive computer memory and thus, again, limit use.
13. The Workshop
proposed that, should the Home Page contain graphics, it should be designed
to provide the alternative to turn the graphics off and still have the
essentialinformation on the page.
14. In order to
facilitate access in a number of different time zones and to provide
users with optional access during peak demand times, it was suggested
that mirror sites be established in two to three time zones; for example,
in North America, Europe and Japan.
15. A number of
other "best practices" for Web Page design were suggested. These included
the provision of an overview of the content at the beginning of the
Home Page; where links to other pages or sites exist, provision of a
brief explanation of what those sites contain; and avoidance of links
or pages "under construction". The relative merits of providing long
pages or many linked pages were reviewed. It was felt that the best
approach is to balance the length of pages and the number of pages to
minimize the total time downloading and searching pages and the number
of mouse clicks required, or to provide the user with a choice where
appropriate.
Maintenance
16. As recommended
by the IACSD and decided by the CSD, the Home Page would be created
and maintained by the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable
Development. Certain core data, particularly for the Regional and Country
files, would also be maintained by DPCSD, based on the country profiles
being prepared for the Special Session of the General Assembly in 1997.
17. Consistent
with the principles of subsidiarity, efficiency and economy, other information
would be accessed through linkages to the Home Pages of the other organisations
of the UN System. These organizations would have a responsibility
to organize data on their Home Pages consistent with this approach.
Identification
of Key Words
18. In the January
meeting it was agreed that a Sustainable Development thesaurus would
be developed, using, inter alia, standardized country codes, as a basis
for creating the virtual country directory and data base, and standardized
codes for data related to the indicators of sustainable development,
as the basis for creating the virtual indicator directory.
19. This was again
discussed in the Workshop, and it was felt that what was needed was
not a new thesaurus, since excellent ones already exist, but to identify
the key words necessary to search for sustainable development information,
to review the UNBIS thesaurus to determine to what extent it includes
these key words, and to fill in any gaps. For this purpose the Workshop
agreed that the IACSD should request each of the Task Managers for Agenda
21 in the UN System to take responsibility for identifying the key words
associated with their respective chapters, within a framework to be
provided by DPCSD, and to forward these to DPCSD as Task Manager for
Chapter 40. DPCSD would then circulate all of the key words to all Task
Managers for their comments and additions. Finally, DPCSD would determine
which of those key words already appear in the UNBIS thesaurus, and
which might need to be added.
20. It was also
suggested that it would be useful to review various World Wide Web sites
with search facilities to determine what key words associated with sustainable
development are used most in searching for information. Efforts will
be made in the future to develop a software package that allows for
automatic classification of electronic documentation.
Principles
21. The full text
of the Principles for a UN information system adopted at the January
meeting is contained in Annex I. In general, the Principles state that
information systems should be governed by subsidiarity, responsibility,
transparency, efficiency, and economy. Data collected and stored within
the UN system should be in the public domain, freely available to all
users, unless Member States have specifically prohibited open access.
As far as possible, data collected and stored within the UN system should
be accompanied by an acknowledgement of sources and the metadata necessary
to ensure quality, timeliness and appropriateness for different uses.
In special cases, data access may be restricted.
22. The Chair of
the Information Systems Coordination Committee of the ACC, Mr. John
Northcut, noted that these are essentially the same principles that
have been accepted by the ISCC Task Force on this topic. It was agreed
by the participants in the meeting that, while there appears to be a
general consensus across the UN system on these Principles, the issue
is to find the means for their dissemination to the appropriate persons.
23. The Workshop
therefore invited DPCSD to undertake the task of circulating the Principles
to all Task Managers for Agenda 21 within the UN System; it further
requested the ISCC to circulate the Principles among all of its members
and to bring the Principles to the attention of the ACC. It was also
agreed that all participants would try to disseminate the Principles
through internal and external newsletters and other means, as appropriate.
Common
core data sets
24. Following on
the meeting of the working group on common core data sets organized
by UNEP and DPCSD in New York 22-23 January 1996, the workshop considered
progress made in this area and further actions that may be required.
The report of the meeting was available as a background document (UNEP/DEIA/MR.96-3).
UNEP indicated that the funding allocated to follow up the meeting recommendations
had not been released because of the cash flow problem in the Environment
Fund, and little progress had been made. Each agency responsible for
specified data sets should therefore try to implement the meeting proposals
within existing resources.
25. There were some
concerns that information about the data sets needed to be checked and
completed. It was suggested that UNEP circulate the list to agencies
for their review. It would be useful to know in what forms the data
sets were available, and whether there were charges for the data sets.
After further review, it would be useful to make the core data set
list available on the Internet to encourage wide use of the standard
core sets.
Development
of the Earthwatch World Wide Web site
26. The UN system-wide
Earthwatch Coordination office has surveyed and assessed a wide range
of relevant web sites. The experience from this survey was discussed
with reference to the Sustainable Development Home Page, and will also
be used to make the Earthwatch home page more effective and interactive,
providing descriptions of and links to relevant web sites in the UN
system and elsewhere. It was agreed that the same design principles
adopted for the sustainable development web site could also apply to
the Earthwatch site. The sites should be two steps in a nested hierarchy
of UN web sites with different levels of coverage and specificity, which
should be interconnected to make a coherent information system.
The clearing-house mechanism for land-based activitiesaffecting the
marine environment, to be designed at a technical meeting immediately
following the Workshop, would be another even more specific element
in the information system. Experience among the web sites should be
shared to encourage best practices.
27. The UN System-wide
Earthwatch Programme Document that is the basis for the present web
site contains information collected in 1994 by the Task Managers for
the Secretary-General's report on Chapter 40 to the Commission on Sustainable
Development. It should be up-dated prior to the 1997 review of Agenda
21. It was suggested that the Earthwatch Coordination office
should send each agency its section by e-mail, to make it easy to introduce
modifications and return it. Some agencies and activities that had
been missed in the last edition should now be added.
Collaboration
with the scientific community and non-governmental organizations
28. A number of
participants described their good cooperation with non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), and the need to maintain a certain level of quality
in selecting NGOs as partners. It is important to maintain the scientific
quality and objectivity of the information included in Earthwatch, whether
that information comes from official sources or from scientific and
expert organizations.
29. The International
Institute for Sustainable Development wanted to find the right niche
in relation to Earthwatch, although it had a wider mandate covering
all aspects of sustainable development, and its resources were limited.
It wants to be a major data source for sustainable development, and
has a well-developed and innovative home page with many linkages and
connections to the UN system. Its calendar of significant events was
a useful resource.
30. Collaboration
between Earthwatch and the scientific community was also important,
in particular with the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)
and the International Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme (IHDP).
Review
of the draft UNEP Global Environment Outlook 1 report, and mechanisms
for participation in the ongoing Global Environment Outlook process
31. The draft of
the first Global Environment Outlook report being prepared by UNEP with
the help of various collaborating centres had been circulated to all
Earthwatch focal points. UNEP explained that extensive revisions had
since been undertaken, and described some of the major conclusions.
Most organizations were pleased with the draft and encouraged UNEP in
its efforts. Some sections that were still weak or incomplete were commented
on, but most of these had already been revised since the draft was circulated,
based on the results of regional meetings. ESCAP drew attention to some
recent reports and meetings in their region that should also be referred
to.
32. There was a
general interest on the part of the agencies present to be involved
in and contribute to the continuing process of preparing these forward-looking
biennial reports. They agreed to provide data early in the report preparation
process, and to review chapters as they were drafted. Some offered to
help in drafting sections in their areas of expertise.
Closing
of the meeting
33. After thanking
the participants for their active and constructive participation, the
co-chairs closed the workshop.
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