Andalusia in the "Regions 2030" Project: Open Data for Monitoring the SDGs in EU Regions

El Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía (IECA), in collaboration with the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID), has incorporated new indicators at the municipal level into its Sustainable Development Indicators System for Andalusia for the Agenda 2030. This effort aims to integrate statistical and geographical information while enhancing the efficiency of the Andalusian public administration and the information services provided to society.

Thanks to these efforts, Andalusia has been selected as one of the participating regions in the European project "REGIONS 2030: Monitoring the SDGs in EU regions," along with nine other regions in the European Union. All of these regions share a strong commitment to the analysis and fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), recognizing the importance of this work in decision-making and sustainable regional development.

The "REGIONS 2030" project, funded by the European Parliament and developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and EUROSTAT, aims to fill data gaps in monitoring the SDGs in EU regions.

Image 1: "REGIONS 2030" Project: Monitoring the SDGs in EU regions.

Source: Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography (IECA)

The new indicators incorporated are essential for measuring the progress of the SDGs

The Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography, in collaboration with AACID, has created a set of indicators that allow for evaluating the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals at the regional level, available on their website. All the new municipal-level indicators are identified with the Joint Research Centre (municipal) for Andalusia, and they address 9 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The methodology used for most of the indicators is based on georeferenced information from the Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography, using publications on the Spatial Distribution of the Population in Andalusia and the Characterization and Distribution of Built Space in Andalusia as reference points.

One of the indicators provides information on Goal 1: No Poverty and measures the risks of poverty by assessing the percentage of people residing at an address where none of their members are affiliated with Social Security. This indicator reveals more unfavorable conditions in urban municipalities compared to rural ones, consistent with previous studies that identify cities as having more acute poverty situations than rural areas.

Similarly, the per capita Built-up Area indicator for Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities has been calculated using cadastral data and geospatial processes in geographic information systems.

Visualization and query of the new municipal indicators

Allow for obtaining information at the municipal level about the value and variation of the indicators compared to the previous year, both for the entire Andalusia region and different degrees of urbanization.

Image 2: Data visualization of the indicator.

Source: Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography (IECA)

Moreover, the applied filter enables an analysis of the temporal and geographical evolution of the indicators in each of the considered areas, providing a temporal and territorial perspective.

Image 3: Visualization of the indicator's evolution by area.

Source: Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography (IECA)

These results are presented through an interactive map at the municipal level, displaying the distribution of the indicator in the territory.

Image 4: Interactive map of the indicator.

Source: Andalusian Institute of Statistics and Cartography (IECA)

The data for the indicators are also available in downloadable structured formats (XLS, CSV, and JSON). Methodological information regarding the calculations for each indicator is provided as well.

The inclusion of Andalusia in the "REGIONS 2030" project

Has integrated all of this work with the existing Sustainable Development Indicators System for Andalusia for the Agenda 2030, which has been calculated and published by the IECA to date. This collective effort among different regions will serve to establish a methodology and select the most relevant regional indicators in Europe (NUTS2 European level) so that this methodology can be applied to all European regions in the future.

The "REGIONS 2030" project, after completing its initial work in Andalusia, has disseminated its results in the article "Monitoring the SDGs in Andalusia region, Spain," published by the European Commission in July 2023, and in an event held at the Three Cultures Foundation of the Mediterranean on September 27, under the title 'SDG Localisation and Monitoring Framework for 2030 Agenda Governance: Milestones & Challenges in Andalusia.' In this event, each selected region presented their results and discussed the needs, deficiencies, or lessons learned in generating their reports.

The "REGIONS 2030" project will conclude in December 2023 with the presentation and publication of a final report. This report will consolidate the ten regional reports generated during the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals at the regional level in Europe, contributing to their effective monitoring as part of the proper implementation of the Agenda 2030.