You can use the information of the SSI in various ways, depending on your role and position in society, and of course depending on your interest, time and ambitions. Let’s briefly outline some possibilities.
Policymakers, government officials
- Use this information to show the public the actual situation concerning sustainability, not in a impressive but overwhelming report but just at a glance, very transparent and easy to understand.
- Use the 24 indicators – maybe completed by additional indicators you may require for your specific situation – to set the policy with respect to sustainability. For instance, at national level, each indicator can be assigned to a specific ministry. This ministry will be responsible for the development towards sustainability with respect to this indicator. The SSI can monitor the results of projects and programmes with respect to the contribution to sustainability. For example, what is the actual progress towards sustainability? Will the targets set by the government be met in time? This will be an input for the revision of projects and for the revision of strategies.
- Use the SSI as a benchmark instrument for comparing countries and regions, and thus stimulating each other to make progress on the way towards sustainability.
Individuals
- See how your own country performs with respect to development towards sustainability, where are the best possibilities for improvement, where is the necessity most urgent etc.?
- Compare your country with neighbouring countries and see on which aspects these are performing better or worse than your own country. Why is this, what can you learn by this information?
- Use the information to urge yourself and your community to take measures to speed up progress towards sustainability.
- Tell your representatives and politicians what you expect them to do to enhance the level of sustainability, on short term as well as on the long run.
Education institutes
- Include sustainability and development towards sustainability in the curricula at all levels, in schools as well as at university level. Use the information from the SSI to illustrate what is happening in the world around us.
- Assign further research projects, using the information from the SSI, to pupils in secondary schools and students in high schools and universities.
- Set up specific research programmes for subjects you’re interested in.
NGOs
- Evaluate your sustainability strategy using the SSI-information and adjust if necessary. Communicate this new strategy to the public.
- Monitor the development and implementation of the national sustainability policies using the SSI and hold politicians responsible in case of underperformance.
Industry
- Use the SSI-information to increase your own awareness of the actual level of sustainability in countries where your firm is operating.
- Improve your own performance with respect to sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
- Introduce further innovations. An example is the development of a tailor-made sustainability index for greenhouse cultures in the Netherlands, based on the concept of the SSI. This new index is already operational.
