Indicator Conferences: Past, Present, and Future

Below are a list of upcoming indicator-related events as well as links to past events that have proceedings and other information on the web. If you know of other meetings that would be appropriate to include here, please send information to

September 13-14, 2005: Seattle, Washington, USA. Driving Change and Getting Results: Exploring Approaches to Performance Measurement and Community Indicators in the Cascadia Region. Sustainable Seattle, one of the leading organizations in the sustainable community indicator movement, will offer a unique two-day conference on using performance measures and community indicators to achieve desired outcomes. The conference will be in Bellevue, Washington, USA. For conference registration and information, visit the website and click on the Indicator Conference logo.

December 1-3, 2005: Burlington, Vermont, USA. 4th International Conference on Community Indicators: Marking the Evolution of the Movement. This conference is being organized by the Community Indicators Consortium, which promotes communication among and helps integrate the efforts of various networks, organizations and individuals involved in community indicators work in the U.S. and around the world. The ultimate goal of the Consortium is to enhance the effectiveness of these networks, organizations and individuals in advancing the art, science, and impact of indicators for improving the health, quality of life and sustainability of communities. This International Conference is under development and updates on speakers, registration information and the developing agenda will be available this summer at .

Past indicator-related meetings and events for which information is available on the web include:

• Boston, April 13-14, 2005: Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) conference, "Building Equity, Reducing Risk," looked at measures related to sustainable economic development that promotes social and environmental well-being. Use of these types of measures can assist company directors and investors in minimizing risk while seizing new market opportunities. Through better analysis, stronger reporting, and reduced environmental, social and economic risks, companies will build equity -- including all facets of financial, social, and environmental worth. For more information about Ceres see .
• June 20-24, 2005: Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Rethinking Development: Local Pathways to Global Wellbeing. The Second Annual Conference on Gross National Happiness. This landmark international conference, a follow up to the First International Conference on Gross National Happiness held in Bhutan in 2004, examined successful initiatives world-wide that attempt to integrate sustainable and equitable economic development with environmental conservation, social and cultural cohesion, and good governance. Conference proceedings are now available at .
• June 14, 2005: The Global Footprint Network and WWF's released their report Europe 2005: The Ecological Footprint at the European Parliament in Brussels. The report shows that the European Union uses 20 per cent of what the world's ecosystems provide in terms of fibres, food, energy, and waste absorption. Yet E urope is home to only 7 per cent of the world population. Europe's demand on the planet has risen by almost 70 per cent since 1961. For more information, read the report at .
• February 2004: Bhutan. First Annual Seminar on Operationalizing Gross National Happiness. In order to develop real progress and sustainability and to effectively combat trends which compromise the planet's natural and human ecosystems, the Gross National Happiness measure has been proposed as a more appropriate and inclusive indicator which truly measures the quality of life within nations and organizations in ways that are not well accounted for by conventional development concepts such as GNP and Per Capita Income. The proceedings for the first seminar on operationalizing the GNH are available on line at the web site of the .
• October 2003. Curitiba, Brasil ICONS; the International Conference on New Indicators of Sustainability and Quality of Life (see ), co-sponsored by many key government and academic institutes, business and civic society organizations. The conference had two tracks (1) on macro indicators, (2) on municipal, local and corporate social performance indicators. It was my privilege to serve as a pro bono advisor on the design of this event, which gathered expert participants from many countries and reported to the top echelons of the Brasilian Administration. Tarso Genro, Minister of Social Development opened this event, which drew 700 statisticians and policy makers from Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
• March 2003. Toronto, Canada hosted the 2nd biennial conference of the , including presentations by David Berry, Chair of the Federal InterAgency Task Force on Sustainability Indicators (and a member of the Calvert-Henderson Advisory Board), and by myself as Partner of the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators.

Other initiatives include early stage work on Quality of Life Indicators for Mexico City and the City of Shanghai, China; a Local Sustainability Certification initiative by the Institute for Political Ecology, Santiago, Chile (www.sustainabilitycertification.org). A new set of indicators, Social Watch 2003 was released at the World Social Forum in Brasil, a Citizens Report on the Quality of Life in the World. This is available on a CD (www.socialwatch.org). Japan for Sustainability is a non-profit platform for disseminating information on Japan's progress toward sustainability (www.japanfs.org). The European Commissions Joint Research Center is continuing work on its Dashboard Tool for Measuring Policy Performance, designed by the Consultative Group on Sustainable Development Indices (CGSDI). Their Policy Performance Index (PPI) evaluates governmental policy and performance on Economy, Environment and Social Care. Contact Jochen Jesinghaus, European Commission, Joint Research Centre IPSC/TERM, TP 361, 1-21020 ISPRA (VA), Italy - email . The contrasting paradigms have crystallized between the Davos-based World Economic Forum vis-à-vis the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brasil. Regional forums followed in Europe and another in Hyderabad, India in 2004. The 2005 Forum was in Porto Alegre, Brasil, which will also host the 2006 Forum.