Configure Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals can be used to share progress made on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, and their key indicators, with the public and other interested stakeholders.

In this topic, you'll learn how to configure the Sustainable Development Goals solution to meet specific needs of your organization.

Load data

The Sustainable Development Goals solution includes an Indicators feature layer used to store indicator descriptions and metrics and a ReportingAreas feature layer used to store the geographies that are being reported on. After the indicator descriptions, metrics, and reporting areas are loaded into the solution, the SDG goal dashboards can be used to monitor SDG indicators and communicate progress.

Load descriptions

The Sustainable Development Goals solution includes a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet prepopulated with the definitions of the 248 indicators defined by the UN. Each indicator is associated with a goal and a target, and this information drives the indicators and the informative text that is displayed in each of the SDG goal dashboards.

To load your indicator descriptions, complete the following steps:

1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the SDG Source item.
2. From the item page, click Download.
3. Browse to the folder to which you downloaded the .zip file and extract its contents.
4. Open the Descriptions Excel file.
5. In the Descriptions worksheet, update the indicator definitions by following these steps:
   1. Update the description field to provide additional details about the indicator.
   2. If the indicator is nonstatistical, change the nonstatistical field to Yes
   3. If the indicator is not being reported on, change the reported field to No
   4. If applicable, provide a reference to data source by populating the source and sourceurl fields.

      The text from the source field will display in the SDG goal dashboard for each indicator, and if a sourceurl is provided, it will display as a hyperlink.

   5. Add additional rows to add your own custom indicators and set indicatortype field to Custom.

      The valid values for the indicatortype field are Tier I, Tier II, Tier III, Proxy, Custom, and Unassigned.

6. Save and close the file.
7. In your ArcGIS organization, browse to the Indicators feature layer.
8. From the item page, click Update Data > Append Data to Layer.
9. Click Choose File, browse to the spreadsheet, and click OK.
10. Click Upload and Continue.
11. Click the Choose the layer to update drop-down arrow and choose Descriptions.
12. Click the Choose the layer that contains the updated data drop-down arrow and choose Descriptions.
13. Uncheck Update existing features.
14. Click Show field matching to map the fields from the file to the fields in the layer.
15. Click Apply Updates.
16. Click the Data tab and choose Descriptions from the Layer menu to view the indicator descriptions.

    Tip:

    Indicator descriptions can be modified by double-clicking in the table and making the desired change.

Load metrics

The Sustainable Development Goals solution includes a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with worksheets for each of the 17 goals. Each worksheet can be used to tabulate the metrics across all the indicators you want to report on for the goal. The schema is designed to support reporting metrics across multiple geographies and years for each indicator. In addition, when available, you can disaggregate the data reporting using the category and subcategory fields, which allows you to visualize the data in smaller groupings on characteristics such as sex, income, race, ethnicity, or employment status. If no category or subcategory is provided, it will default to All when loaded into the feature layer. The geoid field is optional, if you are only reporting on a single geography you can leave this field blank.

In the example below, the table demonstrates how the data would be stored to report on indicator 1.1.1 for a single geography in 2019, disaggregated by age and employment status.

indicator	geoid	year	category	subcategory	value
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Age	All	10.2
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Age	Under 18 years	13.8
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Age	18–64 years	12.8
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Age	65 years and over	6.5
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Employment	All	10.2
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Employment	Employed (full-time)	1.2
1.1.1	01001	2019	Percent by Employment	Unemployed	23.3

To load your indicator metrics, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Goal 1 Excel file.
2. In the Goal 1 worksheet, input the metrics for the indicators associated with Goal 1.
3. Save and close the file.
4. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Indicators feature layer.
5. From the item page, click Update Data > Append Data to Layer.
6. Click Choose File, browse to the spreadsheet, and click OK.
7. Click Upload and Continue.
8. Click the Choose the layer to update drop-down arrow and choose Goal 1.
9. Click the Choose the layer that contains the updated data drop-down arrow and choose Goal 1: No poverty.
10. Uncheck Update existing features.
11. Click Show field matching to map the fields from the file to the fields in the layer.
12. Click Apply Updates.
13. Repeat these steps for each goal.

Load goal statuses

The SDG Reporting Status dashboard can be used to share the status of SDG data reporting. This dashboard displays the progress being made to organize data required to measure SDG progress by reporting the number of indicators associated with each goal and the percentage of those indicators that are being reported on. In addition, you can provide a status of the goal overall and whether it has been achieved, is on track or is underachieving. The Sustainable Development Goals solution includes a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with a Goal Status worksheet that can be used to define the current status of each goal.

To load your goal statuses, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Goal Status Excel file.
2. In the Goal Status worksheet, update the status for each goal.

   The valid values for the status field are Achieved, On Track, and Underachieving.

3. Save and close the file.
4. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Indicators feature layer.
5. From the item page, click Update Data > Append Data to Layer.
6. Click Choose File, browse to the spreadsheet, and click OK.
7. Click Upload and Continue.
8. Click the Choose the layer to update drop-down arrow and choose Goal Status.
9. Click the Choose the layer that contains the updated data drop-down arrow and choose Goal Status.
10. Uncheck Update existing features.
11. Click Show field matching to map the fields from the file to the fields in the layer.
12. Click Apply Updates.
13. Click the Data tab and choose Goal Status from the Layer menu to view the goal statuses.

    Tip:

    Goal statuses can be modified by double-clicking in the table and making the desired change.

Load reporting areas

Note:

This workflow is optional if you are only reporting on one geography.

The Sustainable Development Goals solution can be used to visualize indicators across one or more geographies. These geographies or reporting areas can be a county, postal code, state, municipality, or any other geographic area you are using to tabulate metrics. Each reporting area needs to have a unique geoid and a name to display in the SDG goal dashboards. In addition, each geography needs to define how it fits withing a hierarchy with other geographies. To do this, you can use the parentgeoid and geolevel fields.

The following example shows five reporting areas across three levels of geographies. The largest reporting area is the United States and is the first level of geography. There are then two states, Alabama and Alaska, whose parent geography is the United States and are at the second level of geography. Finally, we have two counties, Autauga and Baldwin, whose parent geography is Alabama and are at the third level of geography.

Note:

The parentgeoid and geolevel fields are required for all reporting areas. If there is no hierarchy in the geographies give all reporting areas the same parentgeoid and a geolevel of 1.

geoid	name	parentgeoid	geolevel
US	United States	World	1
AL	Alabama	US	2
AK	Alaska	US	2
01001	Autauga (AL)	AL	3
01003	Baldwin (AL)	AL	3

To load your reporting areas, complete the following steps:

1. Create a ZIP file of a shapefile of your reporting areas.
2. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the ReportingAreas feature layer.
3. From the item page, click Update Data > Append Data to Layer.
4. Click Choose File, browse to the ZIP file containing the shapefile with the your reporting areas, and click Open.
5. Click Upload and Continue.
6. Uncheck Update existing features.
7. Click Show field matching to map the fields from the file to the fields in the layer.
8. Click Apply Updates.
9. Click the Data tab to view the reporting areas.

   Tip:

   Reporting area attributes can be modified by double-clicking in the table and making the desired change.

Configure SDG goal dashboards

The Sustainable Development Goals solution includes 17 goal dashboards used by government agencies to monitor SDG indicators and communicate progress. The information displayed in the dashboard map, chart, and table are dependent on the data that is loaded into the supporting layers. After loading data into the layers, you will need to configure the map and chart symbology to reflect the data loaded for each goal and indicator.

Update map symbology

Note:

This workflow is optional if you are only reporting on one geography.

Each SDG goal dashboard references a corresponding web map, and each map includes a layer for every indicator associated with that goal. Each layer is configured to use the Counts and Amounts (Size) map style using the High to low theme. The range and breaks of this style need to be updated to reflect the range of values for the indicator.

To update the map symbology, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the SDG Goal 1: No Poverty map.
2. Open the item page, and then click Open in Map Viewer.
3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers to open the Layers pane and select the first indicator layer.
4. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Styles to open the Styles pane.
5. On the Styles pane, click Style Options to open the Style Options pane.
6. On the Style Options pane, click Reset slider postions to update the ranges and breaks to reflect the range of values for the indicator.
7. Optionally, on the Style Options pane, click Edit next to Symbol style to update the symbol and color ramp.
8. Click Done.
9. Repeat these steps for each layer in the map.

   If you are not reporting on any of the default indicators included, you can remove the corresponding layers from the map by clicking Options next to the layer and then clicking Remove .

10. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Save and open and click Save .
11. Repeat steps these steps for each SDG goal map.

Update dashboard chart colors

Each SDG goal dashboard contains a chart used to visualize an indicator's performance over time across one or more categories and subcategories. These categories and subcategories are displayed dynamically based on the values loaded into the supporting feature layers. After the data is loaded into the layers, the chart symbology can be updated to reflect the unique subcategories for each goal.

To update the dashboard chart colors, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the SDG Goal 1: No Poverty dashboard.
2. From the item page, click Edit Dashboard.
3. Hover over the upper-left corner of the Chart element and click the Configure button.
4. Click the Series tab and click the Load Series button.
5. Click the Apply Colors button and select a color ramp.
6. Optionally, modify the color for any of the individual series values.
7. Click Done.
8. After you are satisfied with the content and appearance of the dashboard, click Save.
9. Repeat these steps for each SDG goal dashboard.

Configure the Our SDGs site

The Sustainable Development Goals solution includes the Our SDGs ArcGIS Hub site. This site can be configured with your organization's branding and used to share progress made on SDG goals with the public and interested stakeholders.

Update with organizational information

After deploying the Sustainable Development Goals solution, the Our SDGs Hub site layout requires a few updates to fit your local context.

To update the site with your organizational information, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Our SDGs site.
2. From the item page, click Configure.
3. Scroll to any sections that you want to update, hover over the card, and click the edit pencil that appears in the horizontal toolbar, and then edit the content with information specific to your organization.
4. In the side panel, click Footer.

   A custom footer is provided. In most cases, you will need to update it with your organization's branding, contact information, and social media references.

5. Click the HTML box.

   The HTML window appears.

6. Make the necessary changes and click Apply.
7. Click Save.
8. Click the Save drop-down arrow and click Publish Draft.
9. In the upper-left corner of the page, click the Exit edit mode button.

Update the SDG goal pages

The Our SDGs site include a page for each of the 17 SDG goals. Each page can be configured to share information specific to its goal.

To update the Our SDGs goal pages, complete the following steps:

1. If necessary, sign in to your ArcGIS organization, browse to the Our SDGs site item page, and click View.
2. Scroll to the Sustainable Development Goals section and click a goal card to open its corresponding goal page.
3. If necessary, click the Edit button to open the site editor.
4. Scroll to the Additional Resources section, hover over the card, click the edit pencil , and update the content.
5. Click Save.
6. When you are finished, click the Save drop-down arrow and click Publish Draft.
7. In the upper-left corner of the page, click the Exit edit mode button.
8. At the top of the site, click Our SDGs to return to the site home.
9. Repeat these steps for each goal page.

Share items with the public

Several layer views, maps, and apps included in the Sustainable Development Goals solution must be shared with everyone so they can be accessed by the public on the Our SDGs site.

To share items with the public, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Sustainable Development Goals folder.
2. Next to each of the following items, check the check box:

   Name	Item type
   Indicators_public	Feature layer (hosted, view)
   ReportingAreas_join	Feature layer (hosted, view)
   ReportingAreas_public	Feature layer (hosted, view)
   SDGActivities_public	Feature layer (hosted, view)
   SDGSurvey_public	Feature layer (hosted, view)
   SDG Activities	Form
   SDG Survey	Form
   SDG Map (Goal 1-17)	Web Map
   SDG Dashboard (Goal 1-17)	Dashboard
   SDG Reporting Status	Dashboard
   SDG Page (Goal 1-17)	Site Page
   Our SDGs	Site Application

3. Click Share.
4. In the Share window, click Everyone (public) and click Save.

   The Warning: Sharing editable layers publicly message appears notifying you that you are sharing editable layers publicly.

5. Click Update.

Add custom indicators to the map (optional)

Note:

This workflow is optional and doesn't need to be completed in order to work with the solution.

The Sustainable Development Goals solution comes configured for the 17 goals, 169 targets, and 248 indicators defined by the UN. In some cases you may want to add your own custom indicators and visualize them in the map.

Add a new indicator layer

Each SDG goal dashboard references a corresponding map, and each map includes a layer for every indicator associated with that goal. To add a custom indicator and visualize it in the map, you will need to add a new layer to the map for the indicator.

To add a new indicator layer, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the SDG goal map associated with the custom indicator.
2. Open the item page, and then click Open in Map Viewer.
3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers to open the Layers pane.
4. On the Layers pane, next to one of the layers, click Options and click Duplicate.
5. Next to the new layer, click Options , click Rename , and give the indicator a unique name.
6. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Filter to open the Filter pane.
7. Update the indicator value in the expression for the custom indicator.
8. Click Save.
9. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Styles to open the Styles pane.
10. On the Styles pane, click Style Options to open the Style Options pane.
11. On the Style Options pane, click Reset slider positions to update the ranges and breaks to reflect the range of values for the indicator.
12. Optionally, on the Style Options pane, click Edit next to Symbol style to update the symbol and color ramp.
13. Click Done.
14. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Save .

Update dashboard filters

When new indicator layers are added to the web map, the dashboard selectors need to be updated to apply the appropriate filtering to the layer.

To update the dashboard filters, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the SDG goal dashboard associated with the custom indicator.
2. From the item page, click Edit Dashboard.
3. Hover over the upper-right corner of the Indicator selector and click the Configure button.
4. Click the Actions tab and expand the Filter menu.
5. Under the Map element, find the new indicator layer and enable the toggle to apply the filter.
6. For Source field, select Indicator and for Target field, select Indicator.
7. Click Done.
8. Repeat the five previous steps for the Category, Subcategory, and Geography selectors.

   Note:

   For Source field and Target field, use Category for the Category selector, Subcategory for the Subcategory selector, and Parent Geography ID for the Geography selector.

9. After you are satisfied with the content and appearance of the dashboard, click Save.

Remove map from goal dashboards (optional)

Note:

This workflow is optional and doesn't need to be completed in order to work with the solution.

The Sustainable Development Goals solution can be used to visualize indicators across one or more geographies. In some cases, you may only be reporting on one geography and in those cases, the map doesn't add much value to the dashboard. In this case, the dashboards can be simplified by removing the map.

To remove the map from the goal dashboards, complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the SDG Goal 1: No Poverty dashboard.
2. From the item page, click Edit Dashboard.
3. Click the Map tab, hover over the upper-left corner of the Map element, and click the Delete button.
4. Click Delete.
5. Hover over the upper-right corner of the Geography selector and click the Delete button.
6. Click Delete.
7. After you are satisfied with the content and appearance of the dashboard, click Save.
8. Repeat these steps for each SDG goal dashboard.