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In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, local sustainability indicators were put on the local government agenda as one way for making progress towards sustainable development.
Quality of life indicators are useful tools for helping Local Authorities understand their role in promoting quality of life. They successfully provide information on progress towards quality of life when they are well communicated. Evidence shows that they are also useful in raising awareness and encouraging partnership working amongst statutory and non-statutory organisations. These are worthwhile successes and make use of one of the strengths of indicators – the ability to simplify complex information.
Yet 10 years after Rio, and despite new powers granted to local authorities to promote the "economic, social and environmental well-being" of their communities, fewer than half of all Local Authorities in England and Wales have used quality of life indicators, and there are examples of authorities that have started using and then discarded them.
The latest NEF report, "Making Indicators Count: Using quality of life indicators in local governance", released at a conference with the Audit Commisssion on Tuesday the 8th of April, tracks the progress of indicators and looks at how they can be given a more central role in influencing policy and measuring its success.
Making Indicators Count: Using quality of life indicators in local governance
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