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What is the 'Beyond GDP' initiative

The Beyond GDP initiative is about developing indicators that are as clear and appealing as GDP, but more inclusive of environmental and social aspects of progress.

This website aims to promote sharing of information on recent developments and ongoing work.

News

09.07.2014
New report shows the need to improve quality and access to early childhood education and care in EU Member States
Childhood education and learning can effectively influence children's social, emotional and behavioural well-being. The European Union therefore aims that all young children can access and benefit from high quality education and care. The Eurydice report, Key Data on Early Childhood Education and Care 2014, offers insights into what constitutes high quality early childhood education and care through internationally comparable indicators. It provides 61 indicators and a comparative analysis of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in 32 European countries. Drawing on data from the Eurydice National Units, Eurostat, as well as international student achievement surveys (PISA, PIRLS), the results show that a legal right to ECEC soon after a child's birth is only guaranteed in eight European countries. Apart from those countries, parents have to bridge a time period of more than two years between the end of maternity/parental leave and legal entitlement to ECEC. However, it was shown that children who attended ECEC for longer periods are more successful in primary education and show better reading results.

Find more information on the Eurostat website.
Download the full report (pdf, 8.1 MB).

30.06.2014
FSI Index 2014 underlines urgent need for increasing global security and well-being
The US NGO Fund for Peace has published its 2014 Fragile States Index (FSI). According to the results, only 12 out of 178 countries are ranked “Sustainable” or “Very Sustainable”, with Scandinavian countries ranking at the top. In contrast, 126 countries fall in the categories ranging from “Very High Alert” to “Warning”, comprising 83% of the global population. The FSI is based on 12 indicators measuring social, economic, political and military variables, such as uneven economic development, human rights and rule of law. The new title of the index, formerly known as Failed States Index, is intended to draw attention to all people living in harsh conditions in order to improve those circumstances.

Read full article.
Get access to FSI data and find more information.

30.06.2014
End of the e-Frame project
Although in the last years a lot has been achieved regarding reliable statistics on well-being and progress, providing a solid basis for policy-makers, some major measurement challenges remain. This also applies for environmental indicators, covering more and more phenomena and improving measuring tools. However, a still unsolved issue pertains to monetization, which neglects several aspects of environmental sustainability such as biodiversity. Integrating economic measures with ecological indicators and concepts thus appears to be useful. These are some of the results of the e-Frame project (European Framework for Measuring Progress) supported by the European Commission, that finished by the end of June 2014. The outcomes of the e-Frame project are represented in a number of policy documents released.

Link to project results.
Find more information on the project.

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