Concept information
Preferred term
ASI
Definition
- The Arctic Social Indicators project (ASI) is a new project following up on the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR). The ASI project seeks to devise indicators to facilitate the tracking and monitoring of human development in the Arctic, and is being developed under the auspices of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) of the Arctic Council. The project period is 2006-2008, with the final report being planned for late summer of 2008, and a presentation of results at the Sixth International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS IV) in Nuuk, Greenland. The project’s main objective is to devise a limited set of indicators that reflect key aspects of human development in the Arctic, that are tractable in terms of measurement, and that can be monitored over time at a reasonable cost in terms of labour and material resources. The goal is to weigh the relative merits of a range of proposed indicators of human development in the Arctic, to select a number of indicators that seem most likely to prove successful in this context, and to test indicators with existing data and in discussions with representatives from various Arctic communities. The project, which covers the developmental stage in a long-term effort to measure and monitor human development on an integrated basis in the circumpolar Arctic can benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including those involved in Arctic policy making processes, residents of the North, and those engaged in the Arctic social sciences. The scope and significance of the AHDR report has been recognized and widely praised both among those concerned with Arctic affairs and among those who deal with human development in the world at large. It presents a broad overview of the state of human development or social well-being in the circumpolar Arctic as of the early years of the 21st century, and as such, provides a baseline or a starting point from which to measure changes over time in the state of human development. The development of a suite of indicators was a part of the original vision of those who articulated the rationale for the development of the AHDR, but there was neither the time nor the material resources needed to produce a high quality product of this type. Therefore, the AHDR does not present quantifiable indicators suitable for monitoring or tracking changes in human development in the Arctic. There remains, however, an obvious need for indicators of this sort, and this is where the ASI follow-up project will seek to fill a critical gap. When determining the usefulness of an indicator and deciding among a group of possible indicators we can look at whether the chosen indicators are generalizable and stable, easy to measure in a broadly accepted manner, and suitable for use in longitudinal analyses. Thus, the exercise of devising useful indicators is indeed a challenge. From this perspective, then, it is desirable to develop a small suite of indicators that capture the essential features of the phenomenon in question and can be measured empirically in a simple and intuitively appealing manner. The ASI working group has so far decided on six domains for the construction of social indicators, and team leaders have been assigned to each of these domains: (1) Fate control and or the ability to guide one’s own destiny; (2) Cultural integrity or belonging to a viable local culture; and (3) Contact with nature or interacting closely with the natural world. Three additional domains have been identified – namely, the domains used by the UNDP in constructing the Human Development Index: (4) Education; (5) Demography/Health; and (6) Material Well-being. The work on the construction of indicators for these six domains is now underway. There will be a number of components to the project’s assessment strategy, which will include a consultation process and the testing of indicators using existing data and discussions with representatives from various Arctic communities. Community and indigenous feedback will be a critical part of the evaluation process. The development of a report on Arctic Social Indicators will enable various stakeholders to evaluate trends that affect sustainable human development among residents of the Arctic over time. The ASI report will make it possible to compare and contrast conditions of human development throughout the Arctic. This will assist policymakers and the Arctic Council working groups to identify priorities. While the AHDR provided a baseline to human development in the Arctic, the proposed Arctic Social Indicator project will better enable the SDWG and policymakers at large to identify major changes relating to human development in the Arctic and hence provide a tool for measuring development, the effectiveness of policies and appropriateness of actions to address issues of human development. Summary provided by http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=462 (en)
Broader concept
- A - C (en)
URI
https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/51aaa152-f21c-4fb7-b287-4b345563596a
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