RELAy – Research for Local Action towards Sustainable Human Settlements (2005/2006)
Specific Support Action funded by Directorate-General Research of the European Commission
Coordinated by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
www.iclei.org/itc/relay
The STATUS Project - researchers and
practitioners identify common indicators
for urban sustainability target-setting in
Europe
- Summary version -
By Prof. Bob Evans
Director
Sustainable Cities Research Institute, University of Northumbria at Newcastle
[email protected]
6 North Street East
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8ST, UNITED KINGDOM
www.sustainable-cities.org.uk
and
Paul Fenton
ICLEI European Secretariat
[email protected]
Leopoldring 3
D-79098 Freiburg
GERMANY
www.iclei-europe.org
Prof. Bob Evans and Paul Fenton, The STATUS Project – researchers and practitioners identify
common indicators for urban sustainability target setting in Europe
The STATUS Project - researchers and
practitioners identify common indicators
for urban sustainability target-setting in Europe
Prof. Bob Evans
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
[email protected]
and
Paul Fenton
ICLEI European Secretariat
[email protected]
Summary
The Internet is now the most effective mechanism for communication between local
governments, but it can also provide exciting opportunities for supporting policy
development, for monitoring outcomes and for evaluating and benchmarking local policy
initiatives. Drawing upon recent research projects, the case study outlines the development of
an internet based tool for supporting and evaluating local sustainable development in Europe.
The project was funded by the European Commission.
The STATUS tool has been developed to support the European Union's Urban Thematic
Strategy, and it provides support and assistance to local governments in setting local
environmental targets to meet the Strategies’ objectives. Through participating in STATUS,
local governments receive support in the target setting process and feedback on their progress
as the Strategy is implemented.
Please see the following websites:
www.localevaluation21.org and www.sustainable-cities.org.uk\status
RELAy – summary of case studies, April 2006
1
Prof. Bob Evans and Paul Fenton, The STATUS Project – researchers and practitioners identify
common indicators for urban sustainability target setting in Europe
About the authors:
Bob Evans is Professor and Director of the Sustainable Cities Research Institute (SCRI)
based at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. SCRI is an interdisciplinary
research and consultancy organisation, which has developed strong collaborative links
through a range of projects in the environment and sustainable development arena with other
academic institutions both nationally and internationally. These include Government, the
European Commission, European and national standards organisations, local authorities,
business, industrial and environmental agencies.
Bob Evans has researched and published widely in the fields of urban sustainability, urban
governance, local environmental policy and town planning. He is co-founder and co-editor of
the international journal Local Environment and has worked as a town planner in the public,
private and community sectors. He is the UK Chair of the European Union Working Group
on Environmental Management and a member of the Award Panel for the 2003 European
Sustainable Cities and Towns Award.
Paul Fenton is a Project Assistant at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. Prior to
Assistant at ICLEI, Paul worked for various media organizations and studied at the
University of Nottingham, Toronto and Uppsala, specialising in European and International
politics. He has lived in six countries and speaks various languages.
RELAy – summary of case studies, April 2006
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Prof. Bob Evans and Paul Fenton, The STATUS Project – researchers and practitioners identify
common indicators for urban sustainability target setting in Europe
This case study has been produced in the context of the project RELAy – Research for Local
Action towards Sustainable Human Settlements. It was edited by Dr. Willi Zimmermann,
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand, and can be found published on the
website www.iclei.org/itc/relay.
The partners of the RELAy project, funded by Directorate-General Research of the European
Commission, have been:
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
(www.iclei.org)
UN-HABITAT
(www.unhabitat.org)
AIT - Asian Institute of Technology
(www.som.ait.ac.th)
ETH - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
(www.nsl.ethz.ch)
UNN - University of Northumbria at Newcastle,
Sustainable Cities Research Institute
(www.sustainable-cities.org.uk)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For further information on the RELAy project and its outcomes please contact:
Barbara Anton
International Training Centre
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
Leopoldring 3, D-79098 Freiburg
Phone: +49-761/368 92 20
Fax:
+49-761/368 92 29
E-mail: [email protected]
RELAy – summary of case studies, April 2006
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