Description

OVERVIEW
This assignment is due on Friday, November 1, 2019 before 11:59 pm (end of day). The assignment is
worth 15% of your course mark.
There are three parts to this assignment:
I. Exploration of online, open-source sustainability-related data – nothing to hand in for this part.
II. Exploration of online tools for tracking and monitoring progress towards sustainability goals –
there is nothing to hand in for this part, either.
III. Questions about the challenges of knowledge-sharing for sustainability – written responses to
the questions in Part III.
The assignment should be completed in full-sentence prose, approximately 3-4 pages in length (singlespaced, 1500-2000 words of text). Completing Parts I and II will give you some background on which to
base your answers for Part III.
You shouldn’t need to do any additional outside research, beyond the explorations and resources
provided in the assignment. The questions are meant to provide an opportunity for you to offer your
thoughts and demonstrate your understanding, rather than looking for answers somewhere else.
However – as always – if you do use information, ideas, or examples from other sources, they must be
properly cited and referenced; please use APA Style.
OBJECTIVES
In completing this assignment, you will:
• explore and become familiar with an online, open source of sustainability-related information,
tools, advice, and opportunities;
• critique the strengths and weaknesses of online, open-source tools and data for sustainability;
• explore and become familiar with an online tracking tool and set of indicators for sustainability;
• critique the pros and cons of tracking, monitoring, and reporting on the progress of nations
towards sustainability goals;
• familiarize yourself with Canada’s (and one other country’s) performance in some indicators of
sustainability; and
• critically assess some aspects of Canada’s sustainability progress.
INSTRUCTIONS for PART I: EXPLORATION OF ONLINE DATA AND TOOLS
There is nothing to hand in for this part of the assignment but completing it will give you a basis for
answering the questions in Part III. This part of the assignment should take about 30 minutes to
complete.
In this part of the assignment you will explore the Sustainable Development Goals Help Desk, which is
intended to be “a one-stop online service providing access to SDG-related tools, knowledge products,
data portals, expertise, advice and opportunities for peer-learning and regional South-South
cooperation.”
The SDG Help Desk was set up by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (UN ESCAP) in collaboration with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN
ESCWA), and the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (UN OICT). This is one of the
first online knowledge hubs that has been established for the purpose of information-sharing for the
Sustainable Development Goals.
In support of your exploration of open data sources, the following reading is suggested:
World Bank Group (2015) Open Data for Sustainable Development. Policy Statement ICT01.
http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/999161440616941994/Open-Data-for-SustainableDevelopment.pdf (and posted on Quercus)
If you reference any ideas or information from this source in your answers (Part III), please remember to
cite the source. You don’t need to cite the website repeatedly (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/) since it
is the main focus of your exploration.
STEPS for PART I:
1. Go to the SDG Help Desk: http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/
2. Scroll to the bottom and click on “About” if you would like to read a summary of what is included in
the SDG Help Desk (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/about-sdg-help-desk).
3. From the main site (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/), click on each of the following in turn:
• Knowledge Hub (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/knowledge-hub): What are some examples of
items found in the Knowledge Hub?
• Data Portals (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/data-portals): What are some examples of items
found in the Data Portals?
• Technical Assistance (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/technical-assistance): What are some
examples of items found in Technical Assistance?
• Community of Practice (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/community-practice): What are some
examples of items found in Community of Practice?
• Toolboxes (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/toolboxes): What are some examples of items
found in Toolboxes?
• Events (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/sdg-events): What are some examples of items found in
Events?
4. Now go back to Toolboxes (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/toolboxes).
5. Click on ESCAP Resource Efficiency Simulation Tool (https://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/re/index.html)
and “Select Your Country.” Canada is not represented because this is an Asia-Pacific Region website;
let’s choose CHINA as the focus for the exploration.
6. Did China’s domestic material consumption increase or decrease between 2000 and 2016? What
about energy intensity? Is China more or less water-efficient than the Asia-Pacific average?
7. Now try running some of the Material Resources, Water, or Energy Efficiency simulations for China.
What kinds of savings can China realize in terms of jobs, money, materials, energy, and water by
adopting some of these efficiency scenarios?
8. Back at Toolboxes (http://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/toolboxes), try at least one more of the tools.
(The Social Protection Toolbox is cool.)
INSTRUCTIONS for PART II: EXPLORATION OF ONLINE TRACKING TOOL
There is nothing to hand in for this part of the assignment but completing it will give you a basis for
answering the questions in Part III. This part of the assignment should take about 30 minutes to
complete.
In this part of the assignment you will explore an online tool for tracking, monitoring, and promoting
accountability related to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level.
The tool is called the Sustainable Development Goals Interactive Dashboard, and it was set up by the
Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations. Using the SDGs Interactive
Dashboard, you will examine some aspects of the SDG Index.
In support of your exploration of online tracking tools, the following reading is suggested:
Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G. (2019): Sustainable Development
Report 2019. New York: Bertelsmann Stiftung and Sustainable Development Solutions Network
(SDSN). https://www.sustainabledevelopment.report/ (and posted on Quercus)
If you reference any ideas or information from this source in your answers (Part III), please remember to
cite the source. You don’t need to cite the website repeatedly (http://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/) since
it is the main focus of your exploration.
STEPS for PART II:
1. Go to the SDG Interactive Dashboard: https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/
2. Click on each of the goals, in turn, to see them displayed on the map.
3. Identify:
• one goal for which Canada has “achieved” the goal (green)
• one goal for which Canada has “significant challenges” remaining (orange)
• one goal for which Canada has “major challenges” remaining (red)
4. Scroll down through the list of countries to Canada. What is Canada’s overall score and global rank
in the SDG Index?
5. Choose one of the “significant” or “major” challenges remaining for Canada. Click on it to see how
we’re doing in detail.
6. In “Current Assessment” does it show Canada’s trend for that goal as “on-track or maintaining
achievement” (green arrow); or “moderately improving” (yellow arrow); or “stagnating” (orange
arrow); or “decreasing” (red arrow)?
7. Scroll down to “Performance by Indicator” on that page (https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/CAN).
8. What is Canada’s score for that goal? What are the indicators for that goal? For which indicators
does Canada have “significant challenges” (orange) or “major challenges” (red) remaining?
9. Return to https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/ Choose one other country that interests you and do
the same steps again.
INSTRUCTIONS for PART III: QUESTIONS
Now that you have explored the online data and tracking tools, answer the following five questions
about the challenges of data- and knowledge-sharing and monitoring of progress towards sustainability.
Your answers should be in full-sentence prose, using examples from the online data explorations in
Parts I and II of the assignment. Length suggestions are given below for each question
It shouldn’t be necessary to do any outside research, aside from doing the online guided explorations
and reading the suggested resources. However, as always, if you do use outside sources they should be
properly cited and referenced, in APA style. If you reference any ideas or information from the
suggested readings, they also should be cited. You don’t need to repeatedly cite the websites that are
the main focus of the online explorations; we will assume that your examples and screen shots have
come from the two websites if you don’t cite a different source (https://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/ and
https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/).
When your answers are ready, go to Assignment #2 on our Quercus site and upload the file in .doc,
.docx, or .pdf format.
Q1. What do you think are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the SDG Help Desk that you
explored in Part I of the assignment (https://sdghelpdesk.unescap.org/)?
Notes: A half-page (250-300 words) would probably be appropriate for the answer to this question.
Please use specific examples from your exploration of the SDG Help Desk in your answer.
Q2. In the context of working towards the Sustainable Development Goals, what do you think is the role
or importance of open data, technology transfer, and knowledge-sharing among the countries of
the world? What do you think might be the biggest challenges involved in sharing data, knowledge,
and technologies openly among people in different countries and regions?
Notes: One page (500-600 words) would probably be appropriate for the answer to this question.
Make sure that you know what “open data” means. This is meant to be your opportunity to reflect
on this topic, rather than just searching for answers in other sources.
Q3. What do you think are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the SDG Dashboard that you
explored in Part II of the assignment (https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/#/)?
Notes: A half-page (250-300 words) would probably be appropriate for the answer to this question.
Please use specific examples from your exploration of the SDG Help Desk in your answer.
Q4. Do you think it is important that we, as a global community, track and report on the progress of
countries towards the SDG indicators? Why (or why not)? Are there pros and cons of tracking and
reporting on the progress of nations?
Notes: One page (500-600 words) would probably be appropriate for the answer to this question.
This is meant to be your opportunity to reflect on this topic, rather than just searching for answers
in other sources.
Q5. Comment on Canada’s performance in the SDG indicators that you explored in Part II of the
assignment. Was Canada’s performance in any of the indicators surprising to you? Why (or why
not)? Provide and briefly discuss a couple of examples from your exploration of the SDG Dashboard.
Notes: A half-page (250-300 words) would probably be appropriate for the answer to this question.
This is meant to be your opportunity to reflect on your findings, rather than just searching for
answers in other sources.

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