UN DESA | DPAD | Development Policy Analysis Division
Capacity Development and Advisory Services
Integrated Modelling Tools to Support National
Development and SDG Strategies
Genève, Switzerland, 26-28 August 2015
UN Photo/DESA
In recent years DPAD's capacity development projects have focused on economy-wide models and micro-simulation methodologies to inform policy decision making about the macro, meso, and micro economic effects of alternative policies, including policies in response to economic and natural shocks, notably of policies to achieve MDGs covering the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development. More recently, DESA added the OSeMOSYS dynamic energy systems modeling and the extended economy-wide MAMS tool to inform policies related to energy and natural resource management.
Building on this initiative, DESA organized the workshop “Integrated modelling tools to support national development and SDG strategies” at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, to gather experts in modeling tools and government officials from countries with recent experience in DESA's capacity development projects, to discuss a way forward to improve and update DESA's tool package to support countries towards the transition to SDGs and inform national development strategies and policies.
The workshop gathered 24 experts from selected member states, UN agencies, and research institutions in a three day intensive workshop where discussions and creative inputs were shared towards the common goal of improving modelling tools that address the complexities and interlinkages between the economic, social and environmental dimensions in order to inform and facilitate the analysis of sustainable development strategies of developing countries. Building on DESA's ongoing pilot integrated assessments of the climate, land, energy and water strategies, the workshop discussed the challenges to develop tools and the quantity and quality of data to escalate these type of studies without losing country-specific issues and specificities.
The workshop draw the contours of a roadmap to develop tools that could be readily accessible to a variety of development stakeholders in countries seeking to assess climate, land-use, energy, water, food, social and economic issues with integrated methodologies.