Launch of the “EO Toolkit for Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements”

Today the “Earth Observation Toolkit for Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements” was officially launched at a side event of the United Nations Statistical Commission. The event brought together actors and experts from both the statistical and geospatial communities and situated the EO Toolkit within the global data environment and the newly introduced SDGs Geospatial Roadmap. 

The Toolkit is the result of a collaborative effort between the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Earth Observations for Sustainable Development Goals (EO4SDG) Initiative, UN-Habitat and many international collaborators (see Contributors, https://eo-toolkit-guo-un-habitat.opendata.arcgis.com/) to advance the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11 to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.”

Earth observations data is an essential resource for measuring and reporting on the targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals. By putting EO data and tools into context for analysts and decision makers, the EO Toolkit will enable governments, international organizations and policy makers to collaborate and develop strategic priorities based on evidence-based decisions. Currently, the EO Toolkit hosts more than 25 urban related data sets, 10 interactive tools and 10 good practice use cases. 

The EO Toolkit is a unique resource that will facilitate knowledge sharing, skill-building and collaboration between the EO and urban communities, bringing us one step closer to achieving SDG 11, as well as addressing aspects of the New Urban Agenda.