The project on "Measuring the Progress of Societies"- is hosted by the OECD and run in collaboration with other international and regional partners - it seeks to become the world wide reference point for those who wish to measure, or assess, the progress of their societies.
The project has been built around a series of World Forums and encompasses associated work within and outside of the OECD. Read more. The last World Forum was held on 27-30 June 2007 in Istanbul and focused on "Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies".
Announcements
Newsletter on Measuring the Progress of Societies – Issue 2 - July 2008, is now available online at: Newsletter Issue 2 - July 2008
In this issue: Gross National Realisation Measurement, Hong Kong, China. What makes a successful set of progress indicators? International Youth-Adult Research Partnership to Study Indicators of Youth Well-being. The International Society for Child Indicators. A Naturalistic Approach to the Narrative of Progress.
Highlights: Presentations and Video from the Conference “Turning Statistics into Knowledge”. Training Course on Measuring the Progress of Societies, September in Italy.
Video of the Seminar on International Approaches to Turning Statistics into Knowledge, Stockholm, 26-27 May 2008 available here
Jointly arranged by Statistics Sweden and the OECD, this conference contributed to the development of tools to help people transform statistics into knowledge and decisions. For further information visit: www.oecd.org/oecdworldforum/statknowledge
Eurobarometer Survey about Europeans Knowledge on Economic Indicators
In 2007 a survey was coordinated by the Directorate General Communication of European Commission with the assistance of the OECD. The survey was conducted between 10th of April and 15th of May 2007 under the framework of the Standard Eurobarometer 67. For the first time a study about the perception and the evaluation of economic indicators by European citizens has been implemented. It is focused on three main indicators: growth rate, unemployment and inflation rate. An interesting outcome of the analysis is the strong correlation between the European citizens’ trust in official statistics and the fact that political decision are made on the basis of statistical information. Read the report: “Special Eurobarometer: Europeans Knowledge on Economical Indicators"(PDF Format)
Wikigender
Wikigender http://www.wikigender.org is a project initiated by the OECD Development Centre to facilitate the exchange and improve the knowledge about gender-related issues around the world. A special focus of this project is to collect empirical evidence and to identify adequate statistics and measurement tools of gender equality. In this respect, Wikigender serves as a pilot project for the OECD proposed Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies.
In particular, Wikigender aims to highlight the importance of social institutions such as norms, traditions and cultural practices that impact on gender equality. Examples of such measures are presented in the OECD Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base.
Wikigender, was officially launched on 7 March 2008 on the occasion of International Women's Day. The site is now open and freely accessible to the public. Wikigender invites everybody to actively use and participate in this new online resource.
The Istanbul Declaration
At the end of the Istanbul World Forum , the OECD, the European Commission, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations, the UN Development Programme and the World Bank affirmed in a declaration their commitment to measuring and fostering the progress of societies in all dimensions, with the ultimate goal of improving policy making, democracy and citizens’ wellbeing.
See why the head of UNDP, the OECD’s Secretary General and the Chief Economist of the World Bank are among those who think the time has come to get serious about Measuring the Progress of Societies. Watch the 12 minute movie we made in Istanbul. The movie is available online in different video formats .
Community Indicators Consortium Conference- CIC to be held on the June 26-28 in Arlington, VA, USA.
Applied Survey Research (ASR) has been helping to organize this conference about community indicator projects in the United States and around the world.
The focus of this year's CIC Conference is "Moving Information to Action."
The 'Working Group Social Indicators' within the 'International Sociological Association' (ISA) calls for papers for its sessions at the "First ISA Forum of Sociology: Sociological Research and Public Debate". Sessions of the 'Working Group Social Indicators' are addressing the theme "Are things getting better, or worse, and why? The role of social indicators to inform public policy."
This Training course will focus on the importance of statistics for democracy and democratic decision-making; measures of progress that go “beyond GDP”; tools to transform statistics into knowledge; evidence, civic engagement and policy making; the role of National Statistical Offices in the 21st Century.
The 4th edition of the Women’s Forum Global Meeting will be held in Deauville from 16 to 18 October 2008. Sessions will focus on the crucial theme: “Progress to share, future to dare“ and explore in innovative ways the many facets and implications of progress.
Past Events
Measuring Progress:What Behavioral Economics Tells Us About Economics, Finance and Politics On the 4th of June 2008 Gallup CEO Jim Clifton will introduce the Gallup World Poll and show leaders how its key findings can help them anticipate major economic, political, and social trends. Drawing on the science of Behavioral Economics, the Gallup World Poll helps leaders move beyond traditional economic measures of progress, such as GDP, to understand -- and influence -- where the world is headed. The event will also include a presentation and comments by Dr. Enrico Giovannini, Chief Statistician at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
This Seminar jointly organised by Statistics Sweden and the OECD aims to contribute to the development of tools to help people transform statistics into knowledge and decisions. Held in the context of the OECD Global Project on “Measuring the Progress of Societies”, it should contribute to one of the goals quoted in the Istanbul Declaration: "produce a broader, shared, public understanding of changing conditions, while highlighting areas of significant change or inadequate knowledge".
Second World Forum: Istanbul 2007 - "Measuring and Fostering the Progress of Societies" The second World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy" was held in Istanbul (Turkey), 27-30 June 2007. Attended by 1200 people from about 130 countries, the Istanbul World Forum has given a unique opportunity for in-depth discussions about the measurement of progress.
Regional Conferences
Regional Conferences in 2006 and 2007 played an important role in informing the discussion at the World Forum in Istanbul. Regional "pre-conferences" are being held in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Knowledge Base on Local, National and International Initiatives
The OECD knowledge base covers indicators initiatives around the world. It contains hundreds of publications, articles, conference announcements, working papers, and links to internet sites etc.
Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies
Document title
The Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies exists to foster the development of sets of key economic, social and environmental indicators to provide a comprehensive picture of how the well-being of a society is evolving. Visit our website: www.oecd.org/progress
OECD Factbook 2008: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics
some of the most comprehensive information on the origin and characteristics of the immigrant populations in OECD countries
