Module 4: Monitoring, Data and Indicators

A steady increase in reporting on environmental trends and performance during the past decade reflects a broad societal need for strengthening the evidence base for policy making. We also see a growth in systems for collecting and analysing data about the environment and human well-being at local, national, sub-regional, regional and global levels. Interest in fine tuning monitoring and data collection systems to reflect the real needs of society and decision-makers is now part of the mainstream. At some point during the process of developing your integrated environmental assessment (IEA), you will need to collect, process and analyze data. As you begin, you will need to know essentials about data collection including selecting the most appropriate and reliable types and sources of data and how to collect, store and analyze your data. This module addresses these issues, with particular focus on statistics and spatial data collection, analysis and the use of tools such as the GEO Data Portal and regional data portals to support IEA.