| Producing reliable knowledge and information on the trends, dynamics and possible directions of the global environment is a precondition of intelligent policy-making. Besides assessments dealing with particular issues and sectors, there is a well-established need for regularly pulling together and synthesizing knowledge in ways that reflect the interconnectedness of environment and development. The resulting integrated assessment and reporting (IAR) systems need to reflect an understanding of cross-scale interactions from the local to the global level, link past trends and emerging issues, and cover all key sectors of the environment. The assessment systems have to be approached as a reflexive, evolving, and largely experimental process. As an important element, we need to identify and understand linkages between assessment design and effectiveness.; This study looks at the connection between design elements and effectiveness in the Global Environment Outlook (GEO), currently the most comprehensive global reporting system on the environment from the perspective of sustainability, produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and a global network of collaborative centres. Taking a practitioner perspective, I was interested in how selected criteria of effectiveness, including saliency, credibility, legitimacy and awareness are influenced by key design elements of GEO, including: framing, governance, participation, capacity, communication, data and indicators, and feedback to research agenda setting.; My research found that while the GEO scores well on several of these criteria, significant opportunities for improvement remain. Saliency could be increased through strengthening early and substantive participation in the assessment process, and using the process to understand and directly respond to the questions of key policy audiences. These should include the identification and systematic use of a core set of indicators. There are important opportunities to strengthen credibility by providing detailed blueprints for assessment methods, and that both these and final results are subject to rigorous peer review. Legitimacy could be enhanced by applying a governance model that provides organizations participating in the assessment significant responsibilities, but also contributes to their increased capacity. Finally, in order to increase awareness of environment and development problems and solutions, IAR systems need to establish and systematically implement effective communication strategies. |
