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Overview
A steady increase in reporting on environmental trends and performance during
the past decade reflects a broad societal need for strengthening the evidence
Module
4 base for policymaking. We also see a growth in systems for collecting and analysing
data about the environment and human well-being at local, national, sub-regional,
regional and global levels. Interest in fine tuning monitoring and data collection
systems to reflect the real needs of society and decision-makers is now part of
the mainstream.
At some point during the process of developing your integrated environmental
assessment (IEA), you will need to collect, process and analyze data. As you begin,
you will need to know essentials about data collection including selecting the most
appropriate and reliable types and sources of data and how to collect, store and
analyze your data. This module addresses these issues, with particular focus on
statistics and spatial data collection, analysis and the use of tools such as the GEO
Data Portal and regional data portals to support IEA.
With data in hand, the next step will be to convert the data into a meaningful
form that can be used during decision making processes. Indicators and indices
help us package data into a form that speaks to a relevant policy issue. You will
learn the basic building blocks of indicators and indices, including frameworks,
selection criteria, and elements of a participatory indicator selection process. The
module outlines these elements, and includes examples of indicators, including the
GEO core indicator set.
Once you have developed indicators, you will need to derive meaning from them.
What trends, correlations, or spatial relationships are revealed through the data?
To answer these questions, you will need familiarity with various non-spatial and
spatial analysis techniques.
A common theme running through this module is the importance of participatory
processes. Understanding which stakeholders and experts need to be involved in
8 Monitoring, Data and Indicators
