Geo-Information and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Dear Colleagues,

In 2015, the international community agreed on an ambitious global agenda to promote social development and economic prosperity while protecting the environment. To implement this agenda, 193 countries agreed to achieve, by 2030, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 Targets, accompanied by specific Indicators. The Inter-agency Expert Group on SDG indicators (IAEG-SDGs) clusters and regularly updates indicators around three tiers, depending on (a) whether they are conceptually (un)clear, (b) whether the methodology and standards are available or not, and (c) whether the data are regularly produced by countries, or not. The SDG agenda is already influencing national policy-making and business activities, especially in the global North, as well as the academic community and activists. Social scientists and the GIS/RS research community are positioning themselves to contribute to this transformative agenda.

Nevertheless, researchers and advocates are expressing concerns, some of which this special issue addresses. Concerns are related to the availability of suitable data and methodologies to measure and monitor the indicators; the suitability and local relevance of indicators for tracking a certain target; the processes through which indicators to achieve a certain goal and target have been formulated in global consultations. To address these concerns and contribute new insights into how indicators are constructed, monitored and achieve local relevance, a critical examination is required.

Aim of the Special Issue

This Special Issue examines these issues critically from the perspective of the GIS/RS community. We solicit contributions related to how indicators are constructed, how and why they can be improved (if needed), how indicators are achieved in specific social contexts, as well as the potential and limitations of RS/GIS in measuring progress in the years to come. We ask for contributions from authors involved in particular in SDGs for cities and human settlements (SDG#11), end of poverty (SDG#1), peace and inclusion (SDG#16), climate change (SDG#13) and water (SDG#6), among others.

Topics: In line with the context and aims outlined above, we invite original research contributions on the following topics (may be extended):

• Innovative GIS/RS methodologies and data collection approaches to measure the indicators of SDGs
• Analysis of indicator formulation—e.g., which views are inscribed in a certain indicator? To what extent do indicators include displaced communities, the homeless and those with diverse gender and sexual identities?
• Local relevance and successful production of indicators in different geographic and social contexts
• Scalability of indicators
• Comparative analysis of indicators across different geographic areas
• Influence of indicators on urban and regional planning and policy, especially in the global South
• De-construction of SDG goals, targets and indicators

Prof. Dr. Karin Pfeffer
Prof. Dr. Yola Georgiadou
Guest Editors

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