Frequently asked questions

1. Why do you come up with this index? Are the existing indexes not good enough?
The answer to this question could very well be a counter-question: Do you know an index on sustainable society, besides this one, that is generally used in Romania? No, indeed there is no such index as yet. In 2006, the SSI was developed for the first time in the Netherlands. Romania will be the first European Country that will benefit from this Index.
Several other good indexes have also been developed. However, they often comprise only part of what is meant by sustainable society. Most indexes focus on aspects of nature and environment, on sustainability or on quality of life. Seldom all aspects are integrated in one index. »» Read more

2. Is the SSI useful for me too?
Romanians are more and more aware about the concept of sustainability. But so far, nobody could answer the question how sustainable Romania is. Thanks to the SSI this will be possible soon.
Everyone can use the SSI, without any exception. The SSI is a practical and meaningful instrument enabling everyone to get a clear view on the level of sustainability of his or her society.
The SSI stimulates everyone to devote himself or herself more to a sustainable society. It also stimulates people to push ‘their' politicians to take the required measures. It offers politicians a good handle to outline their policy. Also private companies and not-for-profit organizations may use the SSI as a guide-book for their policy with respect to Corporate Social Responsibility.
The SSI is a simple instrument, easy to understand and use, for measuring and monitoring the effect of the measures that are taken.

3. What are the benefits of the Romanian SSI?
The Romanian SSI:
- offers a clear image about the sustainability level of Romanian society
- stimulate the discussions about sustainability in Romania
- helps in defining new national/regional/local policies and concrete targets for sustainable development of Romanian society
- provides a monitoring instrument for policy implementation process
- supports the efforts of the educational organisations for articulating the sustainability concept.

4. What can I do with the information out of the SSI?
The results of the SSI give an insight in the level of sustainability of a society, based upon a limited number of indicators. They show clear as glass what is going well and for what there is still a long way to go. The figures make us, individually and together, more aware of the necessity of taking specific measures for our future. So, let's do it.

5. How did we select the indicators?
The foundation for the development and calculation of the SSI is the definition of sustainable development, designed in 1987 by the well known Brundtland Commission, already twenty years ago. For the SSI we have extended the definition with an extra aspect in order to examine also the society we're living in and the opportunities for individual development for all people. Based on this extended definition the indicators have been chosen, taking into account the following criteria:
• an indicator must have real added value. In other words, it must be clear what the indicator expresses about the extent of sustainability;
• an indicator has to be independent of other indicators;
• an indicator must have as little overlap as possible with other indicators;
• basic data for an indicator must be available for sufficient countries and must be reliable.
In order to make the SSI clear and transparent and easy to manage we aimed at a limited number of indicators.

6. How do you calculate the indicators?
The indicators are calculated based on mathematical formulas as described here.

7. Who are the target groups who can use the Romanian SSI?
SSI can be used by ’everybody’, ranging from National Government to Regional Governments, Universities, Secondary schools , NGO’s and the public at large. National Government and Regional Governments can use the SSI for defining policies, establishing targets for working towards sustainability and monitor the progress. The Universities and schools can use this instrument for setting curricula for teaching about sustainability, while the NGOs can focus on one or more indicators, according to their specific interests, and elaborate special action plans for improvements. In general, the SSI is a tool which helps to increase the awareness about sustainability of the public at large.

8. What is the target area of the Romanian SSI?
The Romanian SSI started to be elaborated at national level. During the discussions with some of the stakeholders, the idea of elaborating a regional SSI was born. So the North West Region of Romania will be the pilot region where the SSI will be developed. This will enable the Romanian authorities and all the other stakeholders to observe the sustainability level of a region in Romania. The next step will be to introduce the regional index to the other seven regions as well.