IGES is pleased to announce that, in collaboration with Hosei University and the town of Shimokawa in Hokkaido, it plans to develop the “Shimokawa SDGs Indicators” to measure the degree to which local governments’ visions and plans incorporating the SDGs are being achieved. This is the first initiative conducted under a new partnership agreement to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concluded between Hosei University and Shimokawa.
Although responsibility for SDGs implementation lies with national governments, actions by non-state actors, especially local governments, are key to achieving the goals. Since the current 232 indicators were established globally to evaluate national progress against the 17 goals and 169 targets of the SDGs, they are not necessarily practical for local governments. This has led, therefore, to the increasing global necessity of localising indicators.
In Japan, since the selection of SDGs Future Cities started in 2018, common indicators have been developed for all local governments, based on the 232 indicators. The “Shimokawa SDGs Indicators” will go further and realise the SDGs philosophy of “no one left behind”, through a local-based approach which gathers specific local data to develop useful indicators. Such bottom-up development is quite progressive and suggests the possibility of deployment to other local governments.
Following a partnership agreement with Shimokawa concluded in January 2018, IGES has been promoting a practical approach for the town to achieve the SDGs, including support for the creation and presentation of its Voluntary Local Review (VLR) report at the 2018 High Level Political Forum (HLPF). For this upcoming initiative, IGES will contribute to the development of local indicators having gained an understanding of both international perspectives and trends, as well as the specific characteristics of Shimokawa. IGES expects this project will encourage local governments and other non-state actors to take increased action and steadily accelerate progress on the SDGs.
Related links
“Shimokawa Town the Sustainable Development Goals Report －The Shimokawa Challenge: Connecting people and nature with the future”
SDGsの社会実装化を推進 法政大学と北海道下川町が持続可能な開発目標（SDGs）推進に係る協定を締結－9月24日（火）法政大学市ケ谷キャンパスで調印式を開催－(Press release by Hosei University, Japanese only)