Social cohesion indicators to measure your city’s policy effectiveness 04-04-2007 European societies are facing growing disparities in individual wealth and
well-being. To reverse this trend, the Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities urges towns and regions to develop social cohesion indicators with
which they can assess and improve their social policy effectiveness. According
to the Congress, which is a Council of Europe (CoE) consultative body, the
indicators should be formulated and evaluated by all stakeholders in society.
Local or regional authorities should not monopolise this process.
A guide developed by the CoE in 2005 provides practical advice on how to
jointly develop social cohesion indicators at local or regional level. It
provides tools for fostering the consultation process, from the initial sharing
of thoughts to translating objectives into indicators and measuring their
impact. In 2006, the Congress conducted a trial of the guide’s method and tools
with local partners in the city of Mulhouse, France. The experiment highlighted
the contribution that an approach of this kind can make to strengthening social
cohesion and democracy at local and regional level.
During its spring session at the end of March, the Congress therefore called
on Europe’s local and regional authorities:
Source: Congress of Local and Regional Authorities LinksExplanatory report ‘The development of social cohesion indicators – the concerted local and regional approach’ Files back |
