The Self-Assessment Tool for Sustainable Urban Development strategies (SAT4SUD)

Background and objectives

The tool aims to support Local Authorities and relevant actors to assess to what extent the strategy builds on an integrated and participatory approach as set in the New Leipzig Charter and supported in Cohesion Policy 2021-2027. Furthermore, it provides guidance when evaluating the strategy’s completeness and quality, from its design and implementation, to its monitoring and evaluation. The tool can also be used by Managing Authorities when assessing the strategies and providing feedback to Local Authorities during the strategy design and implementation processes.

The tool focuses at promoting self-assessment as an important learning practice to critically reflect on the strategy, recognise strengths and identify opportunities for improvement. Moreover, the tool can usefully support and provide valuable information for other activities, such as discussion and working sessions between Local Authorities and relevant stakeholders, peer-reviews, benchmarking, dissemination activities as well as external expert involvement.

It is important to notice that the self-assessment exercise may require time and resources to set the process, organise the tasks and collect information.

The SAT4SUD allows tackling all the main elements of the EU integrated approach to territorial development in urban areas, which according to the Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies promote:

• A strategic vision for the sustainable development of urban areas.
• Integration across spatial scales, from neighbourhoods to wider functional territories, targeting cities of all sizes.
• Multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance coordinating different actors according to their respective roles, skills and scales of intervention, ensuring that citizens are actively engaged.
• Integration across sectors, pushing cities to work across policy-areas.
• Integration of multiple sources of funding.
• Result-oriented intervention logic, establishing frameworks for monitoring and evaluation.

The structure

The Self-Assessment Tool covers a comprehensive set of statements related to the strategy cycle (design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation). Statements are articulated around 

the six building blocks of the Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies:

1. strategic dimension;
2. territorial focus;
3. governance;
4. cross-sectoral integration;
5. funding and finance;
6. monitoring.

For each statement the SAT4SUD offers references, examples for improvement and a space for taking notes. As soon as the strategy is assessed, two charts are created according to each score. The self-assessment can be saved and retaken as it was left in a second moment and all results can be easily downloaded in Excel or PDF format.

How to use the tool

Write the name of the strategy 

If the strategy was implemented during 2014-2020, you should find it and select it from the list.
If you do not find it in the list, you can simply add your strategy name.
By clicking the blue button 'Strategy factsheet' you can access basic information on the strategy mapped in the STRAT-Board dashboard.

Chose the score 

Read carefully each statement and choose the most appropriate score.

The self-scoring goes from 1 to 4, being:
1 = the statement is relevant for the strategy, but currently there are no or very few approaches to comply with it;
2 = the strategy partly complies with the statement, although there is still significant space for improvement;
3 = the strategy complies with all the components of the statement;
4 = the strategy fully complies with the statement and can be counted as a good practice on this matter;
NA = the statement is not applicable to the strategy.

Consult references and recommendations to find help

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Click on this icon to help yourself improving the scoring of each statement. It consists of useful references and recommendations coming from the ‘Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development strategies’ directing you to face most critical challenges. At the same time, examples to draw ideas and inspiration, are offered.

Record the evidence supporting the scores 

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By clicking on this icon you can use this space to record the evidence supporting the scores. Everything you write here will be reflected also in the final pdf to download. Taking note of what has been done and how the related activities have been performed can help fostering transparency and promote informed dialogue and policy learning.

As soon as the user starts the selected rating strategy, two graphs associated to the scoring of the statements appear. Such graphical support, in form of filled-radar-chart and a bar-chart, offer a comprehensive overview of the entire self-assessment process.

Final steps 

If you haven’t finished to assessing the strategy on all statements, click on 'Save your draft' and a file will be downloaded in your device.

Once you want to retake the assessment, click on 'Resume your draft' and you can upload the previously downloaded file, resume the scores and notes and continue the assessment from where it was left.

Once the assessment is completed you can click 'Download your result', this command automatically downloads a PDF or an Excel file with all statements, scores, resources, notes and graphs. Such pdf is precisely thought as a document to be shared among Local Authorities’ departments and between Local Authorities and other stakeholders to foster discussion, peer-reviews, benchmarking and dissemination.

By clicking on the final command 'Send your result to JRC functional mailbox', an email directed to the Knowledge Centre of Territorial Policies JRC-KCTP@ec.europa.eu automatically generates. You can upload here the final Excel file with your results. In addition, you can also choose one of the following options:

• I’m available to be contacted for future knowledge building, communication and capacity-building activities and events related to SUD strategies.
• I want to flag the strategy as a good practice to share with other cities in Europe.

Don’t worry about your scoring! Results will be treated anonymously as sources of aggregate data for research activities only.