Sustainable Development (SDGs)

IDEA supports municipalities and regions with regard to sustainable development. We use the SDG perspective for this, which contains 17 global goals. IDEA’s SDG services consist of:

• A customised SDG monitor;
• An SDG scan and an action plan;
• SDG implementation and coaching.

For municipalities that want to obtain an SDG Pioneer certificate, we, together with the VVSG (Association of Flemish cities and municipalities) and CIFAL Flanders, offer the SDG Pioneer Programme.

Customised SDG monitor

Do you, as a local authority, want to gain a better understanding of your position with regard to your SDG goals? Or do you want to be able to monitor the results of your SDG actions? We help you with a personalised SDG monitor. A login will give you access to your own SDG monitor with a personalised indicator set.

You can visit www.sdgmonitor.be to get an idea of what a monitor like this looks like. It displays the SDG profile of all Flemish municipalities in relation to the 17 development goals. The basis is formed by 67 indicators and data that are available for all Flemish municipalities. Customised monitors are supplemented with local indicators and data. Additionally, these monitors are fine-tuned in accordance with the municipal action plan.

SDG monitoring is also the central theme of Koen Borghys' PhD research, with application to the Brussels region. The research is hosted by VUB-SMIT and IDEA Consult and financially supported by INNOVIRIS. Read more.

SDG scan and action plan

Do you want to get started with an SDG action plan? IDEA Consult has developed an SDG scan that helps local authorities with this. The outcome of an SDG scan serves as the ideal basis for a customised SDG action plan. The action plan consists of a set of achievable actions, in which initiators are appointed and steps as well as intermediate milestones are defined for each action. We also examine the possibility of obtaining a grant for this.

SDG implementation and coaching

Do you need support or guidance for the realisation of your actions? IDEA Consult supports local authorities in the implementation of their SDG action plan.
From light coaching to in-house management, we unburden local authorities and management and, in doing so, make a real difference that is clearly visible to citizens and employees.

SDG Pioneer Programme

The SDG Pioneer Programme was launched by IDEA Consult, the VVSG and CIFAL Flanders to support municipalities that want to improve their SDG footprint. As part of this programme, local authorities will realise an ambitious action plan for each of the 5 Ps in Agenda 2030 (People, Planet, Prosperity, Partnership and Peace) within two years. Participating municipalities will receive the International SDG Pioneer training and implementation certificate from UNITAR, the UN training institute in Geneva, upon the successful completion of the programme.

Peter Wollaert, Managing Director of CIFAL Flanders, says: “Considerable efforts are still needed at both national and local policy level to achieve the SDG goals. Fortunately, we are seeing more and more local authorities getting to work with the SDGs. The SDG Pioneer programme was developed to help them draw up and implement an ambitious yet realistic action plan.”