The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic presents a risk to key dimensions of national institutions highlighted in Sustainable Development Goal 16 (in terms of limiting transparency and access to information, eroding safeguards to accountability including integrity violations, fraud and corruption, and restricting participation and engagement). However, these institutional dimensions are also critical to providing a resilient response to the crisis. In many countries, governments, accountability institutions and civil society are innovating to mitigate institutional disruptions while ensuring an effective response to the pandemic. In the aftermath of the crisis, drawing lessons in terms of the resilience of national institutions will be a key undertaking in order to ensure effective and accountable government.

Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) have started to audit the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While there is no one single audit model or approach to audit SDG implementation, audits should incorporate a few core methodological features related to the principles of the 2030 Agenda. Four methodological and practical challenges associated with conducting performance audits of SDG implementation, as they differ from traditional audits, are discussed in this paper: 1) problem definition, including the level of investigation in the SDG hierarchy of goals and targets and the audit scope; 2) conceptual challenges inherent in going from the level of individual entities or programs to that of whole-of-government performance; 3) practical considerations that should inform an analysis of the coherence of government actions in a given policy area; and 4) the ways in which audit guidance at the international level can help individual SAIs going forward. Ultimately, this paper aims to inform the broader discussion on evaluation of the SDGs.

This paper briefly takes stock of two decades of e-participation initiatives based on a limited review of the academic literature. The purpose of the paper is to complement the results of the e-government Survey 2020. As such, the emphasis is on aspects that the e-government survey (based on analysis of e-government portals and on quantitative indicators) does not capture directly. Among those are the challenges faced by e-participation initiatives and key areas of attention for governments. The paper maps the field of e-participation and related activities, as well as its relationships with other governance concepts. Areas of recent development in terms of e-participation applications are briefly reviewed. The paper selectively highlights conclusions from the literature on different participation tools, as well as a list of key problematic areas for policy makers. The paper concludes that while e-participation platforms using new technologies have spread rapidly in developed countries in the first decade of the 2000s and in developing countries during the last 10 years, it is not clear that their multiplication has translated into broader or deeper citizen participation. Beyond reasons related to technology access and digital skills, factors such as lack of understanding of citizens’ motivations to participate and the reluctance of public institutions to genuinely share agenda setting and decision-making power seem to play an important role in the observed limited progress. JEL Classification: D73, D78, O17

This paper examines the involvement of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in auditing the preparedness of governments for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2015. These audits have covered institutional arrangements put in place to implement the SDGs, the mobilization of resources, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks. SDG preparedness audits have produced valuable information that is not necessarily available from other national processes linked with SDG follow-up and review. As such, audit recommendations can be a powerful tool to help governments improve SDG implementation. The paper reflects on the impact that SDG audits have made, and on the challenges and opportunities for SAIs that have engaged in this exercise. While many of these challenges are generic to the work of SAIs, SDG audits also present specific political, institutional and technical problems. Finally, the paper explores questions that this new area of engagement poses for SAIs, including the long-term prospects for institutionalization of SDG audits and the relationship with other accountability mechanisms for the SDGs at the national level.

Abstract This chapter focuses on the relationship between international organizations (IOs) and information. It is organized in four parts. Part I explains why mandates provide the best analysis category for information management by IOs. It also gives examples illustrating the different categories of information managed by IOs. Part II briefly surveys common ways by which IOs gather, analyze, and disseminate information. Part III identifies criteria by which the ‘performance’ of IOs in the gathering, analysis, and dissemination of information might be assessed. Part IV concludes the chapter with an overview of some of the opportunities and challenges facing IOs with respect to information production and dissemination.

Based on an exhaustive content analysis of 37 global reports, this paper examines how well links between education and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are represented in flagship publications of the United Nations system. Taken together, the reports identify links between education and all the SDGs, with the notable exception of SDG 14 on oceans. However, some goal areas have received much more attention than others. While some causal links are identified and highlighted as important, relevant constraints are sometimes not extensively discussed, and few concrete policy options to act on these links are provided. Going forward, it would be important to assess whether the messages contained in UN flagship reports adequately reflect the state of scientific knowledge and the lessons learnt from development programs that focus on education in relation to specific SDGs. The systematic analysis provided here can offer a basis for an integrated analysis of policy priorities for education as a whole. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

In 2014, United Nations member states proposed a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as reference goals for the international development community for the period 2015–2030. The proposed goals and targets can be seen as a network, in which links among goals exist through targets that refer to multiple goals. Using network analysis techniques, we show that some thematic areas covered by the SDGs are well connected with one another. Other parts of the network have weaker connections with the rest of the system. The SDGs as a whole are a more integrated system than the MDGs were, which may facilitate policy integration across sectors. However, many of the links among goals that have been documented in biophysical, economic and social dimensions are not explicitly reflected in the SDGs. Beyond the added visibility that the SDGs provide to links among thematic areas, attempts at policy integration across various areas will have to be based on studies of the biophysical, social and economic systems at appropriate scales. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

In exploiting big data, international organisations (IOs) are dependent on partnerships with private companies that own the data. There are concerns that disparity in financial resources and commitment between IOs and the private sector may not play in favor of IOs.

In spite of the importance of coastal tourism for the economies of many developing countries, tourism infrastructure has often been developed without full consideration of long-term impacts on the environment. The simulation model presented in this paper aims to address critical gaps in awareness and capacity for integrated decision-making and planning in tourism infrastructure development in a developing country context. We build a simple closed-loop model of tourism infrastructure investment, which integrates typical economic, social and ecological dimensions of the problem. The model is calibrated so that within 20 years, investment projects in tourist capacity done without concomitant investment in solid waste and wastewater treatment result in a collapse of fish stocks and a sharp drop in tourist attendance. The model includes several policy options that allow users to intervene at various points in the loop, allowing stakeholders to explore how various combinations of policies perform in financial, environmental and social terms over the long period. The model can, therefore, be used as an educational tool for training and capacity-building.

Climate, Energy, Water and Land-use Systems (CLEWS) are closely integrated. Yet, most related decision and policy making occurs in disparate institutional entities, informed by relatively disconnected assessments of the individual resource systems. This paper presents the added value of an integrated analytical assessment approach. In doing so, it explicitly values various interdependencies and interactions between CLEWS primarily from an energy sector perspective. The island state of Mauritius was identified as a useful case study given its diverse climate, its increasing water stresses, and its policy focus on reshaping agricultural land-use and reducing fossil fuel imports. Several scenarios to 2030 were defined and analysed to demonstrate the tensions around the CLEWS nexus. Results from an assessment of the energy system with no modelled interlinkages to land-use, energy and water systems are first presented. Then, these are compared to those from an integrated CLEWS assessment. This serves to highlight important dynamics that would have been overlooked without such a systems approach. As an example, the added value of this approach is clearly demonstrated when rainfall reductions are taken into account, and where future land-use changes might occur. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Natural Resources ForumVolume 37, Issue 2 p. 67-69 Introduction Special issue on tourism Ralph Wahnschafft, Ralph WahnschafftSearch for more papers by this authorDavid Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this author Ralph Wahnschafft, Ralph WahnschafftSearch for more papers by this authorDavid Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this author First published: 14 June 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12017Citations: 1Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume37, Issue2Special Issue: TourismMay 2013Pages 67-69 RelatedInformation

Natural Resources ForumVolume 36, Issue 1 p. 1-2 Special issue on institutions for sustainable development David Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this author David Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this author First published: 20 February 2012 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2012.01444.xCitations: 2Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume36, Issue1Special Issue: Institutions for sustainable developmentFebruary 2012Pages 1-2 This article also appears in:Towards the Rio+20 Conference RelatedInformation

Natural Resources ForumVolume 35, Issue 3 p. 151-154 Special issue on green economy and sustainable development David Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this author David Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this author First published: 05 August 2011 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2011.01398.xCitations: 20Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume35, Issue3Special Issue: Green Economy and Sustainable DevelopmentAugust 2011Pages 151-154 This article also appears in:Towards the Rio+20 Conference RelatedInformation

Natural Resources ForumVolume 34, Issue 4 p. 233-235 Special issue on transport David Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this authorRalph Wahnschafft, Ralph WahnschafftSearch for more papers by this author David Le Blanc, David Le BlancSearch for more papers by this authorRalph Wahnschafft, Ralph WahnschafftSearch for more papers by this author First published: 25 November 2010 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-8947.2010.01334.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume34, Issue4Special Issue: TransportNovember 2010Pages 233-235 RelatedInformation