Guidelines for content on wikiprogress

From Wikiprogress.org

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Forms of content on wikiprogress

This page is for guidelines on wikiprogress content and details what is progress content for wikiprogress articles and data. Other content on wikiprogress includes:

• Progress datasets (wikiprogress.stat guidelines for content)
• Progress papers and publications
• Progress Initiatives
• Progress events
• Progress in the news

What is progress content?

Progress in society... is life getting better? Wikiprogress is concerned with measuring the things that matter.

For a good portion of the 20th century there was an implicit assumption that economic growth was synonymous with progress: an assumption that a growing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) meant life must be getting better. The world now recognizes that it isn’t quite as simple as that. Despite high levels of economic growth in many countries many experts believe we are no more satisfied (or happier) with our life than we were 50 years ago; that people trust one another - and their governments - less than they used to; and that increased income has come at the expense of increased insecurity, longer working hours and greater complexity in our lives.

Although most regard GDP as an important measure of progress, there is a growing recognition that any assessment of a society’s progress requires evidence about social and environmental concerns as well as economic performance. In modern societies, economic wealth is only one dimension of progress and several studies show that as a country reaches higher levels of income, the more it cares about other life satisfaction dimensions (leisure time, environmental status, health, etc.).

Content and contributions to the site are welcome by all societies. International organisations, NGOs, private sector and academic in the developed, emerging and developing, post conflict and conflict communities are welcome to join the community.

Progress means different things to different people, and sets of indicators or composite indicators approach -setting out key aspects of progress side by side and discussing the links between them is a way to try to address the different dimensions in the area of progress.

Progress Topics

Final goals

Ecosystems Condition: outcomes for the environment

• Land (geosphere)
• Freshwater, Oceans and Seas (hydrosphere)
• Biodiversity (biosphere)
• Air (atmosphere)

Human Well-Being: outcomes for people

• Physical and Mental Health
• Knowledge and Understanding
• Work
• Material Well-Being
• Freedom and Self-Determination
• Interpersonal Relationships
• Happiness
• Development and Poverty
• Inequality
• Children
• Statistics and human well-being

Intermediate goals

Economy

• National Income
• National Wealth

Governance

• Human Rights
• Civic and Political Engagement
• Security and Violence
• Trust
• Access to Services

Culture

• Cultural Heritage

Links between the two sets of goals

Resource management, use, development and protection

• Resource Extraction and Consumption
• Pollution
• protection and conservation of economic and environmental assets

Ecosystem services

• resources and processes provided
• impact of natural events

Cross-cutting perspectives

Intra-generational aspects: equity/inequality

Inter-generational aspects: sustainability/vulnerability/resilience

Data

Guidelines for data content can be found on the Wikiprogress.stat Guidelines for Content article. See also, the metadata template should you wish to upload your data.