The Flemish local governments are frontrunners when it comes to the local translation of the Agenda 2030. They have put the SDGs right at the heart of local policy making: 20% included the goals in their administrative agreements, 60% integrated them into their policy planning process, and 35% signed the SDG Declaration of Commitment of VVSG, the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities.
VVSG provides training on the local implementation of the Agenda 2030 and developed an extensive set of tools, both to raise local awareness about the SDGs and to incorporate the SDGs into the local policy planning process, ranging from policy preparation to monitoring and reporting.
The next tool that VVSG wants to develop is a project-level SDG assessment tool. Together with a working group of some 20 municipalities, VVSG is currently exploring how this tool should be designed. The objective of the tool is to make local projects more sustainable in terms of the SDGs, ideally mapping both strengths and weaknesses and providing suggestions for improvement.
In order to feed and inspire the working group, VVSG is looking for existing tools that evaluate or assess projects in relation to the SDGs. These can be overarching SDG-tools, but equally tools used for projects of specific policy areas. VVSG is especially looking for tools developed and used by local governments, but tools from provincial or national governments can also be inspiring. Do you use such an SDG project assessment tool or do you know of good practices? Or would you like to be updated on the progress of the working group? Please contact Jules De Winter (International Policy Officer at VVSG, jules.dewinter@vvsg.be).