Description/achievement of initiative
The OpTIMUS community of practice builds human capacity and adds to sustainable development knowledge by building and applying open source modelling tools. It is not an advocacy group. It does not recommend or implement policy. Rather it provides decision makers with a set of tools, supporting data and theory that enable them to chart national sustainable development strategies and policies. To do so it accumulates and applies scientific knowledge. OpTIMUS is organized in three practices capacity building, academic excellence with real world relevance and open source modelling tools the latter including nine established and emerging modelling tool networks.
Implementation methodologies
The objective of OpTIMUS is to build capacity, to use and develop models based on the best available science. In Practice one (P1) Capacity Building four networks (P1N1-4) are maintained. The first three are at a government level. They include network P1N1: High-level policy makers. Funding permitted, they are provided with high-level scoping missions from a roster of OpTIMUS ambassadors that organise and coordinate training of their analysts and model users. They are also invited to an annual high-level event at the ICTP summer school. At that event they share experience and provide clear needs to be addressed by OpTIMUS community. Network P1N2: Government analysts and model users. They are provided with training courses that occur in four settings i. In country training ii. Regional Training (in particular associated with Energy Modelling Platform (EMP) Meetings) iii. International training during the ICTP summer school and iv. Via online distance learning material. Network P1N3 includes so called OpTIMUS ambassadors. They have experience that bridges the gap between modelling needs and policy realities and can set up effective training. Network P1N4 is the Development community, including international, donor and other development organisations. They are kept informed of OpTIMUS products including updated lists of service providers including: OpTIMUS Ambassadors, trainers, policy analysts and model developer.
Practice two (P2) Academic excellence with real world relevance provides three key services (P2S1-3). Service P2S1: scientific and real world review of OpTIMUS outputs. Those include regular publications documenting code and application of OpTIMUS tools. This is undertaken by academic, industrial and donor bank review. Service P2S2: A summer school, MSc course and academic network. Service P2S3 is the active building of a body of scientific knowledge by holding open annual academic meetings, such as at the European Geo-Sciences Union (EGU), journal special issues and developing teaching curricula for partner universities and hubs.
Practice three (P3) Open Source Modelling Tools, provides two key services (P3S1-2). Firstly, P2S1 the coordination of open source tool communities to provide up-to-date tools, training material, case studies and SDG outlooks. Secondly, P2S1 a roster of experts that can be called on to undertake training, analysis and model development. The focus is on mobilising, consolidating and supporting open source tool communities. Each of these will be encouraged to hold steering committee meetings on the side of the ICTP summer school.
Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
OpTIMUS, funding permitting, will facilitate and provide the following in country services:
- High level scoping mission assessing and communicating.
- Condensed introduction to modelling for sustainable development.
- Detailed introduction workshop for each modelling tool.
- Advanced training for each modelling tool
- Self teaching material, data and tool support services
- Case studies (country validated and peer reviewed applications)
- Discussion forum (Decision makers and tool users)
Subject to funding, Optimus will also provide, in partnership with external and governmental analysts both in and external to the country:
- Data collection and processing,
- Interactive modelling building
- Analysis and
- Model Transfer
Annual ICTP activities center around an annual summer school and facilitated teaching sessions for a masters degree. Specifically, these are to include:
A summer school with:
- High-level policy dialogue during the summer school.
- Detailed tool by tool introduction summer school.
- Steering committee meetings for each open source modelling tool.
Full year annual taught coursework including advanced training on each tool to contribute to a MSc degree. Thereafter, thesis work will be carried out at an OpTIMUS partner institution.
Annual regional meetings will be held in Asia, Latin America and Africa. The entry point for those meetings will be energy.
Outlook and pathways to achieve SDG7 as well as energy related SDG13 mitigation and SDG17 investment opportunities:
- Energy Modelling Platform Africa (EMP-Af)
- Energy Modelling Platform Asia (EMP-A)
- Energy Modelling Platform Latin America (EMP-LA)
These will be available where appropriate to:
- High-level policy makers
- Government analysts and model users
- Development community networks
- Academic networks
- Industrial community
Coordination mechanisms/governance structure
The community is lead by three executive directors, advised by a consultative board with a secretariat. Each practice is lead by one or more champions. The consultative board, the directors and each practice champion meet each year at the ICTP summer school. The secretariat organises weekly meetings with practice champions and executive directors. The initial champions (to be revised as needed) of each practice are as follows: Practice 1: Capacity Building - is championed by a representative of UNDESA; Practice 2: Academic excellence with real world relevance - is championed by a representative of Cambridge University (taking a lead, with), ICTP, ABB and the World Bank Group; Practice 3: Open Source Modelling Tools is championed by a representative of KTH. All three practices will report to executive directors and the Consultative Board at an annual meeting. Each practice has obligations and responsibilities to the others. Each practice, in turn, coordinates - and reaches out - to a network of related actors. In the case of practice 1, it is to international organisations, funders and recipient governments. In the case of practice 2, it is to academic institutions, industry and development banks. In the case of practice 3, it is to the open source modelling community, including teachers, developers and consultants. The secretariat (to be revised as needed) is provided by representatives of KTH.
Partner(s)
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), University of Cambridge, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), World Bank Group (WBG), ABB.
Progress reports
Goal 1
1.1 - By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
1.2 - By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
1.5 - By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
Goal 2
2.3 - By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
2.4 - By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
Goal 4
4.1 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
4.7 - By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
Goal 5
5.2 - Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation
5.4 - Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate
5.6 - Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences
Goal 6
6.1 - By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
6.4 - By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
6.5 - By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate
6.6 - By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
6.a - By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
Goal 7
7.1 - By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services
7.2 - By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
7.3 - By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
Goal 8
8.1 - Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries
8.2 - Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors
8.4 - Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead
8.5 - By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value
8.6 - By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training
8.9 - By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
Goal 9
9.1 - Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all
9.2 - Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries
9.4 - By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities
9.5 - Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending
Goal 10
10.1 - By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average
10.2 - By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
10.4 - Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality
10.6 - Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions
10.7 - Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies
Goal 11
11.1 - By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
11.3 - By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
11.6 - By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management
11.7 - By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities
11.a - Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
Goal 12
12.2 - By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources
12.5 - By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse
Goal 13
13.1 - Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.2 - Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.3 - Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
13.b - Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities
* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international,
intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.
Goal 14
14.5 - By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information
Goal 17
17.6 - Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
17.9 - Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the sustainable development goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation
17.14 - Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
17.16 - Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
17.18 - By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts
Annually
